December blog catch up

The start of December was great. We had our tree up and decorated the first weekend after Thanksgiving. I managed to do some baking and also had a few presents wrapped…unheard of if you know me. Jake and I had taken the kids out to eat, and to pick out our annual Christmas ornament and then met my parents at Riverfront park for the Christmas tree lighting. We were seriously enjoying our “normalcy.” December, 13, we ended up having to take Claire to the ER at Doernbecher for increased seizure activity. The ER did their best to slow Claire’s seizures, but could not so Claire was admitted to the Pediatric ICU. On the 14th, Claire was having some airway issues and was on oxygen all day. Jake was out of town and my dad was kind enough to go up to the hospital to stay with Claire that evening. Prior to me leaving Claire was really out of it…nearly unresponsive. I learned a new medical term-“obtunded,” which is a state between aware and just before coma…Claire was conscious, but barely. Claire was not gagging and was basically laying in my arms just whimpering. Later that evening, Claire lost her ability to breathe on her own and was intubated. Claire stayed intubated for about 48 hours. On the 16th Claire was extubated, and showing improvement in her breathing. The breathing tube had left Claire very hoarse and raspy but at least she was breathing on her own. The overwhelming feeling of sadness and struggle that I had was monumental. I was struggling with how sick Claire was and feeling so sad that we were in the hospital so close to Christmas. As is always the case, God was faithful and helped me through it and healed Claire enough to be discharged on Dec. 21. Claire’s actual diagnosis was aspiration pneumonia. Claire had inhaled vomit and gotten sick. While hospitalized Claire received antibiotics and also had a test done to confirm reflux. We left the hospital with an altered feeding schedule and were able to have Christmas at home with our family!
In the midst of all of the chaos and sadness I was feeling with Claire, Tristan was being a good boy and growing like a weed. He was “furniture walking” eating more and of course flirting with the nurses every chance he got. Tristan was full of laughs and snuggles…something this mommy needed when I could not snuggle with Claire.
Should anyone wonder what our life was like with Claire in the hospital and Tristan still nursing…here is a small glimpse.
6 AM wake up…feed Tristan, shower, grab coffee and something to eat and hit the road hopefully by 8. Get to the hospital and spend all day with Claire while Jake worked. Try and eat dinner with Jake at the hospital before Tristan and I headed home. Jake lovingly stayed with Claire and though it was rough, God gave us the strength to make it through.
One other blessing…on December 17, 2011, my brother and his lovely wife welcomed their first baby…a beautiful girl born with a head full of hair. Cecilia Belle…I drove from Doernbecher to Corvallis to meet my niece…it was a long day…but worth it for newborn cuddles and to congratulate my bro & sis-in-law.

November blog catch up

November seemed to be a pretty quiet month. For Claire there were good days and bad, but she seemed stable and content. Tristan started pulling himself up on things and babbling a little more. We prepped for Thanksgiving and to decorate for Christmas and enjoyed our Thanksgiving tradition with my family.

October blog catch up

Looking back on October it was relatively quiet all things considered. After having the first VNS removed due to possible infection Claire had her VNS put back in the middle of the month. We stayed 3 days so Claire could receive antibiotics and then went home. We were home just a couple of days before we needed to call 911 in the middle of the night because Claire had quite breathing. To be honest I don’t remember much about that incident other than no one knew why Claire stopped breathing though this was the beginning of the concern for apnea. We were at the hospital a couple of days while Claire stabilized and then went home. Tristan started crawling in October and was starting to eat people food. I did a lot of baby snuggling in October and tried to enjoy every moment with my kids. We didn’t take the kids out trick-or-treating but I dressed them up and took them to Bank of the Cascades for a visit with my friends and former co-workers. Though I remember feeling stressed, it would be nothing compared to the months to come.

September blog catch up

September, 2011…
The month of September was fairly stable and filled with antibiotics for Claire…and waiting. The month went by without much excitement…except for one incident. Claire definitely keeps us on our toes.
September 21…we had an appointment with the neurosurgeon in Portland and my mom went with me and the kids. I believe this was the appointment we scheduled the placement of the second VNS for Claire. September 21…also my mom’s birthday. We decided to stop in Woodburn on the way home and do a little shopping. It was a warm day and we were enjoying shopping at Carter’s for the kids’ some new clothes. While at Carter’s Claire had a seizure or two…nothing out of the norm. I was looking at some clothing and looked down at Claire and she was not taking good breaths and was starting to turn blue. I put my stuff down, took Claire out of her stroller and was rubbing her back because she had at this point turned completely blue and was not breathing at all. We rushed back to the van because I keep an oxygen tank in the van and I got Claire hooked up and pink again. I had also called 911 at this point and the Woodburn fire department and ambulance were quick to respond. At the time, of course, this was not funny but looking back on all that occurred we were quite the spectacle. We followed the ambulance up to Doernbecher and got Claire all settled into the ER. By the time we got there, Claire had stabilized and we were waiting for Jake and my dad to get there. My parents left the ER and a couple hours later so did Jake, Claire, Tristan and I. I do believe to that point in time it was our fastest trip in and out of the ER.

So I can’t say it was a happy birthday, but it was a memorable day for sure.