Be Who You Are: Plays of the week(May 13th-May 20th) and Surgery Time

Plays of the week(May 13th-May 20th)

Last week was a long week waiting for surgery. Monday we went to riding which was nice because Dad and Brenda came along to watch and help with Landyn. I may have enjoyed the ice cream on the drive home as much as Addi enjoyed the horse!! We spent the day with Debbie and the kiddos on Tuesday. Now that she is back to work we don't have our weekly playdates as much. Jared is too cute. He is 2.5 years old and loves Addi. He gives her hugs and kisses and will bring her toys. He doesn't stare at her or question why she is different. I love it!
Wednesday Landyn had his nine month check up at the doctor. He weighs 18lbs 12 oz and is 28 inches long. Dr. Murray was happy with everything. It is so different taking him to the doctor. He is now taking two bottles(he will finally drink a bottle again) every afternoon. I hope to have him completely weaned off by Jills wedding which is the beginning of July. He is eating like a champ. I can't explain the satisfaction I get by feeding him a meal that I cooked. Tonight I made beef stew for supper and we all had it(of course Addi's was blended). It was a great feeling:) The one thing I can't seem to get him to like much is bananas and strawberries. I will keep working on them though the dietitian told me kids have to try something 15 times before they can't really say they don't like it. He is officially crawling. It is too cute. I am just amazed at how much can change so quick. He also can pick food up and put it in his mouth, and drink from a straw. Thursday I brought Addi to playdate with us because we kept her out of daycare to keep the germs away before surgery. Of course having two kids there isn't as enjoyable because it is more busy. However, it was nice to get out and see the moms and babies! I feel so fortunate to have so many people to connect with. It would be hard to do this "mom" thing alone! Thursday night was spent getting ready for the stay at the hospital and I was thankful my Dad came up to help watch the kids while I got ready.

Surgery

-tonsils, adenoids, and hip abductor release

Addison once again proved to everyone that she is stronger then most of us and can handle way more then her mother in regards to pain:) On Friday morning we left home by 9am(then I thought I lost my wallet...which ended up being in my suitcase...stund..lol). We dropped Landyn off to Poppy Halloran and Auntie Whitney where he stayed for the day and night. He was really good for them and they had a blast. I got a text with a picture of him sitting in a cardboard box on the side of the road with For Sale 1 cent written on the side. It was nice to have that humour to get through the day. Poor Addison wasn't able to eat at all on Friday just Apple Juice first thing in the am. Surgery was not until 1pm but she did great. We even had her laughing before surgery.

After seeing all the doctors and nurses they took Addi off and it was three hours until we got to see her again. She was a trooper and did good during surgery. She was cold when she woke up so they wrapped her in a thing called a bear hugger that got her warm. She had to have morphine twice that night and had to be on oxygen because it made her really drowsy. She also had to have a muscle relaxer nytrasapam. She gets advil and tylenol around the clock for at least seven days. It was so pitiful when she cried because we kept thinking about how much it must hurt. She slept straight through that night thanks to the medications. She needed more pain meds on Saturday morning but then Saturday after supper we got to come home with some morphine since she was doing so well. They did tell us that the pain would probably get worse before it got better on days 5-7. She has a wedge that she has to keep between her legs 23 hours a day for six weeks, then twelve hours a day for three months. Hopefully she learns to sleep well with it on and the three months can be majority at night.

While in the hospital there were a few frustrating times.....

1. She came out of surgery with no wedge. When asked where it was no one knew. The next day a physio"found" one on a desk called the OT and she said,"oh, I thought Addi was going to have casts for a few weeks before she needed the wedge." We were told this same OT would be in the operating room making finishes touches to the wedge.........In the end we came home with a wedge that doesn't fit properly and now have to pack up a sore little girl tomorrow and bring her back to the hospital to have the wedge fixed to fit her better.

2. We asked the doctor if we could give her magnesium after surgery. He told us yes we could(it is a muscle relaxer that we had stopped before surgery and her tone got so bad). When we got to the floor the nurse told us no, then she said the pharmasist wanted to see our magnesium. I gave it to her and when I asked for it back she said when we leave. Well guess what she forgot and then we had to send someone back to get it when we realized the next day...and the didn`t even so much as say sorry.

3. One doctor said advil, one said no advil...then they agreed

4. One doctor said no morphine home, one said yes morphine home.

5. Nurse says we can feed her Saturday morning. Saturday morning the next nurse says not until lunch time. Kitchen shows up with food tray for Addison(thought she wasn`t supposed to eat). The tray has jello, cranberry juice and tea on it(don`t they know shes tube fed a blended diet that I met with the dietician about and set all up less then 24 hours before)Two doctors said why isn`t she eating, nurse argued with me and wouldn`t let her eat even though Dr said it was ok. I finally said ok I want her food we are feeding her shes hungry. We were supposed to be getting a blended diet that they made. The snacks they made went though the tube but the meals didn`t so next time we have to bring our own blender.

Sunday ended up being a good day for Addi. She was good most of the day and extra cuddles helped that. Sunday night she was in bed at 9 however was up at 1 am and stayed up until near 6 am. She didn't cry the entire time but in the end she had morphine and nytrasapam and eventually went to sleep in our bed with the light on. It was a rough night but the poor girl went through a lot so it is expected. Sunday she slept until 9:15 but that didn't much matter as Landyn was up at 7:30! Today she was not as good as yesterday. If it wasn't for Tyler being off work with us it would have been very hard. Landyn is crawling now and is busier so requires more of my time and she needs 100 percent right now. Thankfully Tyler has a good boss who understands and doesn't mind him being off work. She had quite a few crying spells today but did have two happy times. She was in bed asleep at 8:10(YAY for having melatonin again...it was a long 2 months of never having a break...I mean we went to bed before her most nights..lol). I am anxious to get this week over with. The tonsils have a risk of bleeding which I worry about and just her crankiness(we don't want her crying for long periods right now just not fair to her if we can help stop it by cuddling we will). Tyler is taking tomorrow off again to be home to help. We are hoping by Wednesday things will be a bit better. The poor girl has been through so much. It is great she has so many people who love her and think about her. We get lots of phone calls, visitors, and texts. I don't think people realise how important that is to us. It helps us get through the days especially when in the hospital and stranded at home.

We are very excited the surgery is over so now we can move on. We hope that there will be not as many sicknesses with the tonsils gone, more sleep since she can breathe better without adenoids, and just overall happiness!

Just for Fun!!!

5 facts about Ashley!

1. I am addicted to diet pepsi....I hate that I am, I try not to buy it. I love carbonated beverages...ie...bubbly:) These last few days I have drank way to much of it and must stop.

2. I am a life time member of weight watchers. It is a bitter sweet relationship. It means I am very conscious of how many points something is and that I am always watching what I put in my mouth but I don`t always take it seriously. I have lost all of my baby weight from Landyn...one pound extra actually but still have five pounds to get rid of to be at my pre Addison weight....the battle of my life is that silly five pounds and being married to a chocolate addict has turned me into one too and isn`t making it easy! I just wish food wasn`t so good...haha

3. Everything in my house has a place. Ask me where something is and I can find it. Junk doesn`t stay. I am the opposite of a hoarder.

4. My favourite color is blue!

5. Shopping is my number one feel good activity and stress reliever!