Fall fun 2011

Fall is a fun time of year!!!!!

It always seems to start with the Pig Race.

Though it was great that Jaylee caught the pig again and it was fun to watch Jenni sprint to the pig only to give 1/2 an effort to actually catch him, the real high light of the evening was Morgan... she walked soooo slow up the field while everyone else was sprinting around. her video is hilarious: (Don't mind Jackson SCREAMING in terror in the background)


GO SEAHAWKS!!!

 

I had a fun 33rd birthday!!
Jason totally surprised me with cake & a Laptop!!!!
Mom and Dad got me flowers and my car detailed.
Meg and Mandy got me Pajama Jeans, some shirts & shoes.
I got spoiled!!!

 

Here is our scarecrow and our pumpkins:

Grandma was able to make a pumpkin with us!!

Jason is the big one that he carved and then Jenni decided it needed some paint also!  I decoupaged mine.  Jackson's is plain b/c he fell asleep.  Jenni painted a rainbow and pot of gold on hers.  Grandma painted her pumpkin a face. And Jaylee carved out a face and painted it.  We tried to roast the pumpkin seeds but they got burnt this year :(

We spent an afternoon with Katrina and Serenity at a fall fest, where they designed and built the scarecrow.  The girls named him Farmer Reid!!

The weather has been colder than usual and Jackson has been fighting virus after virus since his surgery so he's not been outside too much.  JB and he got out to blow bubbles the other day...

I was a little stressed out about Jackson's health/impending surgery so there was only one thing to do...

KARAOKE PARTY!!!

 

Layla Bryan lives in the next farm house.  She and Jenni have become really good friends.  She had a Halloween party in their barn...

This year Jaylee was Cleopatra, Jenni is a butterflly, Jackson is a doggie, and Jason/I will be Pirates... IF it stops snowing and warms up so that we can trick-or-treat this year!

Jackson in his PJs

DARN... you found me!!

Jaylee's fall fest party at school,

with her friend Amelia Blevins.

Jenni's is Monday...

Yay... NOT another UTI!!

A few days of a 103 fever has been found to be a virus for Jackson.

Yay yay yay.

After an ER visit, tons of tests, a pediatrician visit and a 1 night  admit to LGH, he's back home feeling a little better.

Jaylee had strep 1 week ago, JB found out this morning that she has strep and Jackson's virus...

what a week!! Tonight it snowed 1 foot... yes, it IS October! So, we lost electric for 7 hours before we decided to crash at Nan and Poppop's. 

Glad tomorrow starts a fresh week!!


Update... Jackson later broke out in a weird rash - was diagnosed with roesola... that explains the high fevers!!

Thank God for...

Thank God for...

Grandma!!!!!

Grandma, Grandma, Grandma...

where do I begin?!?

She picks up and flies to PA when we need her the most.

She not only holds down the fort while Jason & I are off at hospitals, but she does our laundry, runs the dishwasher, makes meals, bathes the kids, grocery shops, vacuums, helps with homework, gets the girls off to school and even has story time each night with them.

But that is just the tip of it!!!

She offers peace to a very stressful situation.

She offers love and time to the girls when we are not around.

She offers nursing views aside from what I see as the Mom.

She offers cheers as she joins us on all of our extracuricular events.

She offer PEACE OF MIND.

And there is nothing that Jason & I need more than that right now.

I HONESTLY don't know how we would have survived this year without her.

I can't put into words my appreciation and love for her.

I just hope she knows how much Jason and I lover her and what an impact her actions of already made on our children.

What great memories they will treasure forever!!!!

Thank you, God, for Grandma!!!

And thank you, Grandma, for the love you show us all!!!

ANOTHER admission

I am soooooo bored of hospital posts!!!

Sooooo bored!!!!

BUT... I want to keep track of things while they are fresh in my mind.

So... no fancy sentences, just the facts...

 Urethral reconstruction surgery on Thurs 10/13...

D/C'd on Sat 10/15 with croupy cough, Pox 100%, LCTA, decreased input, diarrhea, irritability, and abd cramps 4 -5 x's and hour.

Sat night his cath suddenly stopped draining and was full of blood - straight to ER at HOLRMC where it was irigated by nurses and a small clot was removed. Bladder scanner read 234cc but unable to get any more out, so transferred to Geisinger ER in the middle of the night.  We saw Ped Uro Resident who irrigated catheter ALOT and used an US machine to show that there was no urine in bladder.  Aware of pain, spasms, diarrhea and decreased input.  He is an idiot... he told us that our Nepho Dr was wrong and that no kids concentrate urine, and that we over reacted when he suddenly had a decreased in urine output of cather, even though clots were removed and then it began to drain again.  He explained that Jackson should only urinate 4-8 cc/hr. D/C'd home 0500 on Sunday 10/16.

On Monday 10/17 Pediatrician was notified that Jackson had barely eaten thru the night and was dehydrated - Direct Admit to LGH.  A NG tube was placed to correct dehydration with Pedialyte.  Diarrhea and terrible cramping cont'd thru teh day.  BMP showed Na and K stable, CO2 very low at 16 and creatnin up to 0.6.  Cdiff was neg, UA was dirty and Urine culture is still pending.  He was kept on Amox to treat his last UTI and started on Omnicef to treat the probable new UTI. On Tues, 10/18 he was less crampy and irritable, able to take a few ozs orally and was D/C'd home. To see Dr Sumfest and have his  catheter D/C'd on Weds 10/19.
Jackson and his NG tube...

I have sooo many complaints about the "Pediatric Urology" staff at Geisinger that I am looking forward to our second opinion in Nov at John Hopkins.

Update 10/19: Urine culture was negative so Urology D/C'd all antibiotics and restarted daily Bactrim.  Will have f/u US and appt in 4-6 weeks.  Dr D/C'd catheter without problems... peed twice and then we were sent home.  We also saw Pediatrician for cont'd diarrhea and decreased intake - will switch to soy formula x 7 days.

Jackson's Second Surgery

OMG

 I am so scared/excited/nervous/anxious/happy...

Jackson is IN surgery and we're hopeful that this will stop his UTI problems.

Think Jason was nervous in pre-op?!?!

We took some pix of Jackson VERY naked last night -

I will miss his blow hole!!!!

I will miss his "Gonzo"!!!!

I will miss him being different!!!!

And
 I am sooo happy that he will be "normal" and that this will be behind him/us!!!!

Disclaimer...

These are VERY NAKED pix for the purpose of a record for him when he is older.

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BEFORE SURGERY 10/13/11:

Hypospadia, Chordee, Uncircumsized, Vesicostomy
I HAD TO DELETE PHOTO B/C I FOUND IT ON GOOGLE IMAGES!!!

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RIGHT AFTER SURGERY 10/13/11
*Surgery did NOT go as planned... He had a post-urethral valve and a stricture.  The stricture was, apparently, scar tissue from the "injury that ocurred during his last surgery"... Um.... WHAT?!?!?
So, they used a thin wire and dilated it to almost a normal-sized urethra.  They spent so much time doing that that they were not able to do the reconstruction.  They did also close up his vesicostomy (stitches on the inside, glue on the outside).  So... now he has a hypospadia, chordee, is uncircumsized and is catheterized (temporarily). He is also in a lot of pain!!  Poor poor Jackson!

*DELETED*

10/14: He had an OK night.  He was sent to the floor from PACU 1 hour after surgery withOUT a pain med order, so, after screaming for 1 hour straight, we got his pain under control and he got Tylenol #3 every 4 hours.  He is peeing only small amounts of blood now.  He's puffy from is IV.  He seems comfortable. His throat is really irritated though and he is breathing very Coarse. Dr Sumfest wants to keep him until tomorrow to watch his bloody urine and use his IV for antibiotics. 

He's so "chubby" now from the IV fluids...

Right before D/D he was also very dopey from the Codeine!!

10/21:  He has recovered.  His penis looks the same, but his vesicostomy site is healing well...

pic to come

Resistance

Resistance is such a scary word these days!

Jackson is in the hospital... again... and his infection is resistant to the IM meds he usually gets.

My girls are home with Nan and Poppop and my heart is broken that our family is not together...

again.

I should be getting them off of the bus in 15 minutes - I promised them I'd be there to get them today. (We were supposed to be D/C'd last night).

But, I am here at the hospital still because Jackson now needs 2 days of IV antibiotics and they have been unsuccessful at getting an IV, thus far.

Jason is here too, yet I feel disconnected from him, almost alone.

I realize that I am stressed out...

Gray hair, 30 lbs overweight, acne, shedding...

I often think about running around the hospital while he's sleeping,

or doing sittups while he's playing in bed.

But instead, I sit here dwelling on the issues, searching the internet for more info, drinking my Cokes and eatting my chips.

Just think... I could have burnt 50 calories by now!

And my house... oh golly, oh geez.

Makes me actually feel like a "failure" that I can't keep the dang thing clean.

This is my fault.

I keep telling myself "I should've raised these kids right" to put their stuff away.

I get more than frustrated with Jason.

But I, myself am a slob, I've learned.

We are so dang busy that nothing gets put away, the floors haven't been mopped in weeks, and the laundry: it  piles up dirty and then it piles up clean.

Mom is coming next week... Boy would I be embarrassed if she showed up early, And my poor Mom... she's picking up the girls for me and has to TRY to find them a clean matching outfit at the house.  uuughhh

So, if anyone out there knows the secret to successfully being a good Mom, having time to have fun with the family, working, being involoved with the girls' school, making dinner each night, cleaning up dinner each night, keeping the house actually clean (not just straightened up), picking up everyone's dirty laundry, cleaning and folding the laundry, feeding the baby his bottle every-other hour around the clock, getting the kids to their activities and having time to hang out with your husband... PLEASE let me know!!!

They're here to try an IV again...
Guess that means my pity party is over...
and I was just getting started;)