The Suburban Blues

Let the drama continue.....You ever have a day where you KNOW you should have stayed in bed? Friday was that day for me! I have gone back to work this week so when Rob leaves to drive his school bus, I have about 20-30 minutes to get the 7 kids in the suburban or we will all be late. I don't think I mentioned that we bought me my very own suburban over Spring Break. I love it! It is very nice and even has a button I can push that brings the brake and gas pedals closer to me! Awesome for short people like me:-) BUT I can't drive it right now because we don't all fit in it. We need a bench seat in the middle-hopefully that will happen next week. Anyway, so I've been driving Rob's suburban this week. So we all get loaded up Friday and get ready to leave and as I walk around to get in, I notice the front tire-----it's flat! Nice! So I tell the kids unload and move to my suburban and they can just squeeze up in the back. So we unload car seats, car seat bases, kids, backpacks, trumpet, clarinet, lunches, etc., oh yeah, babies too:-) We get everybody in my suburban, I go to crank it.....Nothing! No click-click, no wrrrr-wrrr, complete silence! Really??!!! Yes, I can't make this stuff up. I honestly considered going back to bed, but I had a meeting at 1:00. So I knew I had until then to figure out what to do. One problem, my brain wasn't functioning on a full night's sleep so no solution was even coming to mind. So we unloaded again and went in the house. Then I decided that we just needed to change the tire. So I got to work with the kids helping me. We didn't get very far when Rob called and told me to air up the tire and pull over to the other suburban and jump it off. That's why I keep him around! It took about 15-20 minutes, but we got it aired up enough to move it next to the other one. But, alas, the riding lawn mower was in my parking space and had to be moved. Guess what? It had a flat and wouldn't crank:-) So the boys and I just pushed it out of the way. That was my first time to jump off a vehicle, so I was very excited when it cranked and nothing exploded! So we loaded back up AGAIN and got the kids to school by 9:30. The babies slept through it all!
The boys have had a good week. Josiah rolled from his stomach to his back 2 times tonight. Gideon is almost 7 pounds. They are growing so fast already!

Home at Last

Gideon is finally home!! He arrived Saturday and as many of you said "Let the fun begin!" OK, well, I'm still waiting for the fun:-) Three hours of sleep last night....not so fun:-( And Gideon isn't the problem, Josiah is having some tummy issues or he really has me snowed and thinks he should be held 24/7. Right now I can tell them apart, but the kids are really struggling. If you just take a quick glance at their faces, they are hard to tell apart. I have to look at the shape of their head. I'm trying to refrain from using the permanent marker, but we haven't ruled that out yet:-) Isaac is constantly asking me, "Is this Gideon or Josiah, mama?" The kids have been awesome with them. They love to hold them and are really good at calming them down when they are fussy. The boys are on the same feeding schedule, at least. Josiah will polish off a bottle in 10 minutes flat. Gideon likes to savor his and take about 30 minutes! Gideon weighs 6 lbs 8 ozs and Josiah is 7 lbs. They are continuing to grow and thrive. AND Josiah rolled over Friday!!!! What??? He's too little for that, you say! That's exactly what I said. They scoot in circles on the floor and off their blanket. Amazing! I have to keep reminding myself they weren't born last week, even though they look like it. Stay tuned for updates on their eyes and my expression of thanks to everyone!

Rachel's Story

We were supposed to pick Gideon up Wednesday. We kept the kids out of school and were planning to go get him and then go to Rachel's doctor appointment. As we were getting ready to walk out the door, the doctor called to say he couldn't go home today. He got a "little" upset during his eye exam the night before and they had to give him oxygen, so he wasn't ready to let him go home, maybe Saturday. So we are just in a holding pattern, praying he doesn't have any more episodes and we can bring him home this weekend. We shall see.
We still had to take Rachel to Scottish Rite for her appointment so we all loaded up to go do that. For those who don't know, Rachel is our other miracle. She is our 12-year old daughter, twin to Samuel. When she was 8 years old, she began to have trouble getting around. She had to have help brushing or washing her hair, tying her shoes, getting up from the floor, going up and down stairs and she would fall easily. We finally found out she had dermatomyositis. Her immune system was overworking, attacking her muscles. This is why she was so weak. She was trying to get ready for the soccer season, but she just couldn't keep up with the other girls anymore. The doctors immediately started her on IV and oral steroids and methotrexate shots. She did the IV steroids for a year and was gradually weaned off the oral steroids about a year later. She is now being weaned off the methotrexate as well. God has healed her body and she is now in remission. At her last visit, the doctors changed her meds to pills instead of the shot. Yesterday they lowered her dose to 4 pills once per week. In 4 months when she goes back, they'll lower it to 3 pills. So by next August (2013), she should be off all meds completely! That is an amazing answer to prayers! I'll never forget our first visit to Scottish Rite and she couldn't even bend over to pick a pen up off the floor. Now she aces every muscle test they throw at her. Last year, she had her best soccer season yet. Through it all, she has kept a positive attitude and a smile on her face.
So if anyone ever tries to tell you God doesn't perform miracles any longer, just send them my way. I've got 3 beautiful miracles (well, 7 actually) to show them:-)

More answered prayers

Just a quick update to let you know that Josiah's eyes are much better! The procedure worked and the disease is regressing! Thank you Lord! The eye doctor doesn't need to see the boys for 3 more weeks. Josiah is continuing to do well. We are hopeful that we will bring Gideon home this week. It was supposed to be early in the week, but he had a couple of bradys on Thursday so they want to watch him until this Thursday. He's on "brady watch"! Sounds like something between the Brady Bunch and Baywatch, idk! Crazy! Anyway, so hopefully Thursday will be the day. The eye doctor is supposed to look at Gideon tomorrow when he's at the hospital, then I can take them both to see him in 3 weeks. Taking twin babies to the standing room only doctor in Paris doesn't sound like a good time to me;-( But it will be entertaining, I am guaranteed that!

Birthdays and Miracles

Today Rachel and Samuel are 12 years old! So hard to believe I'm about to have 3 teenagers. Aaron does not enjoy this 2 1/2 months because he is also 12 until May 4. Fun times! Gideon is doing great! He is off everything. No oxygen, no feeding tube (since he ripped it out twice), no meds, no more respiratory therapy....it's awesome! He should come home early next week. He weighs 5 lbs 14 ozs, but he looks bigger than that because he has a triple chin:-) So cute! He has come so far since his 1 lb 9 ozs! He passed his car seat test, too. I think he finally decided it was time to go home and I think the nurses are ready, since the other day when he pitched such a fit he made himself throw up. Nice! He had an MRI on Wednesday for his head and everything looks good. I'm amazed when I look at them, at the miracles they are! Josiah is doing great as well. He goes back to see Dr Spencer on Monday to see how his eyes are doing. We went to the pediatrician last Monday and he weighed 6 lbs 8 ozs. I think he's getting spoiled. He's happy as long as someone is holding him or paying him some attention:-) I guess that's why he's happy most of the time because he gets plenty of both.

Josiah's week

I have to give props to the NICU nurses at Baylor. They have a very demanding, 12-hour per day, job and they take care of the babies and the parents with a smile on their face. AND before they send you home with your little bundle of joy they get him on a 4-hour feeding schedule!!! Woo-Hoo! You can set the clock by this boy. He begins to wake up about 30 minutes before he eats, feed him and he either goes back to sleep or he'll stay awake for a while looking around. He's only had a few fussy moments when his tummy hurt or his feeding was late. Like the other day in Paris when we had the follow-up with the eye specialist. OH MY WORD! I walked into the waiting room and it was standing room only! The receptionist says "He's running an hour behind", but the nurse says "We'll get you in quick because I know he only wants to check his eyes because of yesterday's procedure." Great! So I didn't wait 1 hour.... I waited 2 hours!!! They don't want you to feed him in case he spits up during the exam and might aspirate, so Josiah went about 6 hours between feedings. He was NOT happy with me at all! The doctor didn't see any change yet, but saw no sign of infection or complications. But we made good friends in the waiting room with several folks. I mean, we spent a lot of time together....we bonded!
Tomorrow the boys will be 3 months old. Gideon is only on .01 on his oxygen, you can't get any lower than that. So hopefully this week he'll come off that and start taking all of his bottles. He is taking most of them, but every now and then still has to have some through his tube. They are getting him ready, so it won't be long now!

Happy Anniversary and an eye exam

Today Rob and I celebrate 14 years of wedded bliss. That averages out to a kid every other year! LOL!! If only....! That might've been easier:-) The hospital called yesterday and the eye specialist, Dr. Spencer, wanted to see Josiah before next week, so we went to his office today in Dallas. We left home at 10:00 for a 12:30 appointment and got back home at 5:00. Long day! After looking at Josiah's eyes, he really felt he needed the shots like Gideon had to keep his retinas from detaching. But instead of having him go to the hospital for it, he did it in his office. Sweet! except I can't watch:-( He puts a clip in Josiah's eye to hold it open and literally uses an unbent paperclip to help him examine the eye. Just thinking about it makes me almost pass out! I was glad he did it today so I didn't have to drive back to Dallas tomorrow. BUT he wants to see him tomorrow in his Paris office to check him again. At least I can handle the driving better. SO ready for Spring Break. Gideon is doing much better on his oxygen, he is on minimal amounts. He still isn't taking only bottles, so not sure how long before he gets to come home. They would be 38 weeks today! People at the doctor's office kept asking me how old Josiah was. When I said 12 weeks, they were a little stunned since he's not even 6 lbs.

Always an Adventure...

Josiah is now home!!! He's been snoozing on dad most of the evening. He is doing great so far, eating every 4 hours. The eye doctor looked at him and said his eyes are the same, so he'll just see him at his office next week. The kids have been so excited to finally meet him. Isaac just grinned all the way home. He kept asking, can he walk? can he crawl? can he talk? can he eat ice cream? At one point he said, "Mom, why does no mean no?" Samuel and Rebekah couldn't keep from touching him and poor Rachel just had to look from a distance. She is running fever. We got the call to come get Josiah around 10:30. I gathered up all the kids and Rob, we came home and got the suburban, and headed to Dallas. We went through Chick-Fil-A for Rob and I some lunch and about that time Isaac started crying. He said "My throw-up hurts." After asking him 150 questions about what hurt, did his stomach hurt, did he need to go potty, etc, we pulled over and got him out. He didn't seem pale, but he convinced us he was going to throw-up. But no luck! So we gave him the Chick-Fil-A sack and told Rachel to watch him and use the sack if he needed to throw up. Yes, poor Rachel was the unlucky one who sat in the back with him:-) After about 5 minutes, he was crying and sticking his head in the sack. Picture this....we finally get to bring a baby home and we're headed to Dallas with a child who's bawling and sticking his head down in the Chick-Fil-A sack. Really???? Are we dreaming? This can't REALLY be happening!! Oh yes it can. This is our life!!! He then declared he needed a potty. So we made it to Rockwall, found a gas station and I took him in. No luck! So I questioned him some more. This is when he said "My throw-up hurts" and pointed to his throat AND he told me his stomach didn't hurt. SO, smart mom that I am, I finally realized he meant his throat hurt. Rob asked me if I had looked at it. Well, there's a novel concept! Didn't think of that! (No, I hadn't actually) So I looked and guess what... it was swollen to his uvula (that's the hangy-down thing). BAD MOM! Never fear, 2 tylenol and a push-up pop and all was well again. We finally made it to the hospital, just took 3 hours:-) We go to get on the elevator and 2 women act like they can't decide if they want to get on or not. They finally decide to get on after Rob almost lost an arm trying to hold the door for them. Well, one lady barely made it on, she was weaving pretty bad. We got to their floor and the other lady just about ran into the wall of the elevator when she was trying to get off... I think she was having trouble pinpointing exactly where the door was in her condition. You gotta watch those elevator doors...they'll move around on ya:-/
I guess we are experienced enough as parents, Rob signed a few papers, I fed Josiah, we told Gideon good-bye and we were outta there! We were home before dark. It was hard to leave Gideon, but I know he'll be with us soon. He's doing better on his oxygen, but there is a chance he may have to come home on some oxygen and the heart monitor. We'll see how he does over the next week. Josiah weighs 5 lbs 14 ozs and Gideon is 5 lbs 5 ozs. They are amazing little miracles and I'm overwhelmed at how good God is. Thank you everyone for your prayers! Please continue to pray that we get Gideon home soon and that they get through the rest of RSV season with no issues. Let the adventure continue!

Ready or Not.....

The playpen is set up, the changing table is ready, the car seat is ready, the suburban now can carry 9 people...we are ready!!! We just need a baby:-) or two! The nurse practitioner called today and basically said we won't know anything until the eye doctor looks at Josiah tomorrow. If he needs the eye procedure, he will have to stay, but if he doesn't need the procedure, he can come home Monday! How's that for planning! It's very tricky to plan, yet not plan. I stayed home yesterday to get things ready and even hung some curtains that we bought about a year ago! Rob has started working on a garden. It was nice to get some things on our list done. The NP said they will try and lower Gideon's oxygen level this week, but there's a possibility he may have to come home on oxygen. I will post as soon as I am able after hearing from the doctor.