Scary to Scarier

-We let Daniel sleep in our room last as night we anticipated a night of coughing and breathing treatments, much to our surprise (a pleasant surprise) Daniel only required one breathing treatment (around 2 a.m.). Daniel slept late (until around 8:30 a.m.) and woke up coughing and and the cough continued with no break (a sign of an asthma flare up). We gave him a dose of Orapred (oral steriod), Flovent, Albuterol and Zantac and our poor little guy just could not stop coughing. I called Dr. Amis' office to schedule his follow-up appointment. My original plan was to schedule the appointment for tomorrow (Wednesday) but Dr. Amis was not going to be in the office and I was not comfortable with waiting until Thursday. Pop-Pop drove Daniel and I to his appointment and Richard stayed with Caden and Isaac. We stopped at Sonic for lunch. (Daniel did not want anything to eat or drink.). We arrived at Dr. Amis' office around 1 p.m. (Daniel's appointment was at 1:15 p.m.) The wonderful office workers noticed that Daniel was coughing and working hard to breath, they said something to Linda (Dr. Amis' wonderful nurse) and we were taken back to a room. Daniel's o2 saturation was in the low 80s (should be high 90s). Daniel was given a breathing treatment, warmed Pedialite (to break up secretions) and put on o2, his saturation came up to the high 80s. We rushed over to Vanderbilt Children's ER where things went from scary to scarier. In the 10 minutes it took to get to the ER, Daniel's oxygen saturation dropped to 76%. He was rushed into one of the 2 trauma rooms (found out you never want to be in the trauma room). There were 4 nurses, 2 respiratory therapist and 2 doctors that quickly began working on Daniel and asking in me LOTS of questions. Daniel was in respiratory distress (I think that is what it's called.) After about 4 hours of a continuous breathing treatment, a NG tube placement to suction air and other junk from his tummy, a chest x-ray, a dose of antibiotics and a dose of mag. Daniel was stable enough to move to a critical care room (right next door to the trauma room). Daniel continued to get breathing treatments and was put on oxygen via a mask and eventually a nasal cannula.
-The doctors are waiting to see how Daniel will do on the nasal cannula before making a decision on moving him to a room on the floor. If he can remain stable he will moved to a regular room, if he needs anything more then o2 through the nasal cannula he will be moved to ICU. Richard is currently at the hospital with Daniel and I am home with Caden and Isaac. Please keep Daniel (and all our family) in your prayers. This is a scary time for all of us.

24 Hours @ VCH

-1 chest x-ray + 1 Flu test 1 RSV test + 1 - 3 hour continuous breathing treatment followed by a few spaced out treatments 1 dose of oral steroid + 1 prescription for oral steroids + 1 prescription for stronger Flovent all adds up to 24 hours in the ER at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
-Rewind to Saturday night -Daniel started running fever Saturday night (103) and was coughing and wheezing (the signs that Daniel has pneumonia). Nanny and Granny2 were visiting and said they would stay with Daniel Sunday morning while we (Daddy, Mommy, Caden and Isaac) went to church. Daniel's fever was down to 101 and we gave him a breathing treatment and Tylenol before we left. We picked up a pizza after church for lunch and headed home. Daniel's fever was up to 104, we gave him Ibuprofen and another breathing treatment and called the Pediatrician. Dr. Keown (the doctor on-call) said to alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen and call her if he gets in worse. Daniel spent the day wanting to be held or laying on our bed. His fever never really got below 103 and at one time was at 106. We called the doctor back since his fever was not going down and he was coughing and wheezing. Dr. Keown said to head to VCH and she would call and let them know we were own our way. Richard and I had a strong feeling that Daniel had pneumonia.
-Fast Forward to tonight - Daniel (and Daddy) arrived home around 8 p.m. - Daniel has RSV - not Pneumonia. He will continue on his regular meds - Zantac, Singular, Albuterol as needed and he will be on an oral steroid for 4 days and we were given a prescription for an increased dose of Flovent. We are to follow up with our Pediatrician (Dr. Amis) in 3 to 4 days. Daniel is still coughing A LOT and Daddy fears he (Daniel) will be going back to the hospital SOON. I am trying to think positive.
-Please keep Daniel in your prayers - his lungs are yucky due to his premature birth and he has had a rough winter when it comes to respiratory issues - he needs a break.

Crib Craziness Ended

-Our crib craziness has come to an end. Crib #3 had all the right parts and holes in the right place. Richard finished assembling the crib a little before 8:00 last night and I put the sheet on the mattress, the bumper pad around the crib and the cover on the changing pad. Isaac slept in his crib in his own room for the first time last night (until 3:17 a.m.). His room is not completely finished. I still need to put the dust ruffle on the bed and hang some pictures. I am hoping to get that done very soon. Nanny and Pam (aka Granny2) are coming to visit this afternoon and possibly spending the night and I am sure they will be more then happy to help me decorate.

Baby Crib Craziness

We found out that our Graco Aspen 4-in-1 crib had been recalled thanks to an e-mail from Nanny who had seen a news report on recalled cribs and internet research that led us to this site. We made a few phone calls and were told to take our recalled crib to the retailer that our crib was purchased from (Wal Mart). We returned our recalled crib to our local Wal Mart yesterday without any problems and were told to pick out a new crib that they had in stock. Decisions, decisions. We narrowed it down to the two 4-in-1 cribs (both Stork Craft) that Wal Mart had on display and then our decision was made for us when they only had one model in stock - Stork Craft Madison 4-in-1 crib with changing table (our second choice). A stock man was called and we went to the service desk where we completed the exchange (recalled crib for new crib), everything went smoothly, the manager had to do a price override since the new crib cost a little more then the old crib. The stock man along with his stock man friend (they were discussing how often they call out of work) helped us load the new crib into the van. When we arrived home Richard went right to work assembling the new crib so Isaac could sleep in his own room (for the first time). Richard immediately discovered that the left leg of the crib was messed up (the holes were not drilled in the right places). I called the Wal Mart in Franklin, KY because I knew Gallatin's Wal Mart did not have another Stork Craft Madison, I was excited that Franklin's Wal Mart did have a Stork Craft Madison crib in stock. Richard packed up new crib #1 and headed to Franklin, KY to exchange new crib #1 for new crib #2. Richard arrived home a little after 8 p.m. and again immediately started assembling new crib #2 only to discover that there were 2 left crib legs in the box and no right leg so crib #2 was not able to be assembled. We tried calling the 800 number and discovered we would have to wait till morning to talk to someone. Richard set up the pack and play in our room and we went to bed, very tired and very disappointed in Stork Craft.
We woke up this morning with a "game plan", Richard would take Daniel to school and I would call Stork Craft to see what they would do to make the problem right. I have tried calling Stork Craft all morning with no luck (busy signal). I decided to call other "close by" Wal Mart stores to see if they have another brand of 4-in-1 crib in stock. I had no luck with that, they all have a Stork Craft Madison 4-in-1. Time for another decision.....1.) exchange crib #2 for the 3rd Stork Craft Madison crib and hope the saying "3rd time is a charm" reigns true-2.) exchange crib #2 for a different crib that we don't like as much-3.) return crib #3 and get money back and go to another store in hopes to find what we like?????
Our decision-exchange crib #2 for the 3rd (and final) Stork Craft Madison and hope that the ole' saying reigns true. Richard is currently putting crib #3 together and so far every part seems to be there (we checked the box before leaving the store) and all the holes seem to be in the right place. I still have not been able to talk with anyone at Stork Craft. (I did send an e-mail) Everyone at Wal Mart (Gallatin, Franklin and Hendersonville) have been super helpful in solving our problem and they are not the ones at fault, Stork Craft is. I pray this is the end to our crib craziness (no more missing pieces, no more recalls). All the work and all the stress is worth it to keep our little guy safe.

Precious Noah

-While doing some organizing in the office I found this letter that I had written to Noah on Monday, September 24, 2001. I read it with tears in my eyes and realized how much I have "grown" in the past 9 years and how much things have changed (for the better).
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Noah,

I miss you so much! It's been one year, one month and two days since I held you. I miss holding you. I miss everything about you. I think about constantly. I miss your big, beautiful smile. I miss going in your room in the mornings and seeing you sitting in your bed with a big smile. You were a perfect start to my day. You were my comfort. You always knew when I was sad or having a bad day and you always cheered me up. Thank you. I miss your laugh. No matter how bad of a mood I was in once you laughed I would become much happier. I miss your big eyes and I miss walking through the mall and people passing by saying, "Look at those bis eyes." You had the most beautiful eyes. I miss watching you play. You loved to play. You would play in the floor for hours. Your favorite toys were your dump truck, balls and blocks. You also loved to watch baseball. Daddy and I took you to the Diamond Jaxx game on the fourth of July. I miss feeding you. When you were little your favorite baby food was sweet potatoes, spinach and blueberry buckle - you hated peaches. As you got older your favorite foods were crackers (cookies), mini pancakes, chicken tenders and black-eyed peas. I miss getting you to sleep and putting you to bed. We had a routine, you had to have your blankie and paci and you would lay your head against my chest and I would sing "Jesus Loves Me" until you fell asleep. I often wonder what you would be like if you were here today. How tall would you be? How much would you weigh? Would you still like the same things? When would've started walking? What words would you be able to say? You could say a few words - Mommy, Daddy, car, ball, bye-bye, hush and Bible. You loved Gimmie Pa and Nanny's dogs. You even had your own dog, Noah's Raggady Annie. Mommy loves you so much! You will always be my sweet little Noah Bear (Daddy gave you that name) Daddy loves you a lot too. I'm sorry Daddy and I fought a lot. We're really trying . We still have some problems but we're getting lots better. Our main problem is money now. Mommy is back in school and I have just found out about a very good job that I'm going to interview for this week. That will help out a lot. Plus it will keep me busy. Mommy and Daddy have talked about having a little baby probably within the next year. Would you like to have a baby brother or sister? Noah, I love you and I promise to live my life so that I can see you again.

Love you bunches,
Mom
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A lot of things have changed since writing this letter, maybe I need to write Noah a new letter. One thing still remains the same I still miss Noah and long to hold him in my arms.

Snow Day

-We did get snow. We have not gotten the 2-3 inches of snow that the forecast was calling for, without measuring I would say we have about a 1/2 inch and it has snowed off and on all day so we might get 2-3 inches when it's all over.




-Since we are snowed in (the driveway and road is covered) we have spent an enjoyable day at home. The boys spent the morning playing in the house while we attempted to get some things done. After lunch we bundled Daniel and Caden up in layers of clothes to go outside and play. (Isaac was asleep.) During the 20 plus minutes it took getting the kids dressed Richard mentioned that we should purchase snowsuits for the boys? (Does it snow enough in Tennessee to purchase snowsuits?) The boys LOVED being outside and playing in the snow. We stayed out for about 30 minutes. The boys would have stayed out longer but we were freezing. (We didn't have own several layers of clothing.) We convinced the boys to come inside with the promise of a bubble bath. The boys played in the bath and then took a nap (at the same time). Richard and I enjoyed watching a movie (World's Greatest Dad). The movie was not that great but to be able to set and relax and enjoy part of movie (the kids woke up before the movie was over) that does not involve animation was great. We ended the day with a yummy meal of Chicken and Dumplins and steamed green beans (only way Richard will eat them).

Winter Weather

-We are currently under a winter weather advisory (along with 54 other counties in Tennessee). The forecast is calling for 1 to 3 inches of snow (depending on the area) and extremely cold temperatures (it is currently 18 degrees). Schools have been closed in preparation of the not so common winter storm and people have flocked to area grocery stores for milk, bread and other needed supplies. We aren't use to weather like this down south, I am sure all our northerm friends are getting a good laugh out of our crazy preparation and excitement.