Thursday, March 18, 2010
St Patty's Day
We had an all green dinner for St. Patrick's Day this year. Zach had a hard time eating green mashed potatoes. :) It was also a celebration dinner for Zach since he completed his first round of national boards yesterday! WOO HOO! I am excited to have my husband back now!
These next pictures weren't taken yesterday but sometime in the last week. Here is Declan amusing me by wearing a small mixing bowl as his hat. It's actually the perfect size for his head! :)
This is how we often find Declan in the morning when we go to get him out of his crib. Silly boy.
I had to take him to the doctor this morning because he woke up with a low grade fever and was really congested. I think I gave him the cold that I had last week. Poor guy. Anyway, they weighed him while we were there and he is currently 19 lbs 9 oz. Just keeps growing!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
More pictures
Here are some pictures from when Zach's mom, Ann, visited. We were able to go to the Botanic Gardens, shopping, and ate out lots. It was so much fun!
This is the face Declan gives us every time we put food in his mouth. It cracks me up! It doesn't matter if it's his favorite or not - he just has to taste it to figure out what we are putting in his mouth.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
hospital adventures
Last week was an eventful one! This is a pretty long story and somewhat graphic...there, I warned you before you decided to read it. It all started on Saturday (13th) night. Zach and I were watching a movie and I was baking some cupcakes for the linger longer for our ward the next day. I started to have this pain in my back and as the night went on the pain got worse. When it came time to go to bed I couldn't get comfortable and just kept moving around waiting for it to go away. I had had this back pain a few other times since having Declan and figured it was because I was now carrying a heavy baby around everywhere. This time was much different though, it started making me nauseous and I soon spent the night with my head in the toilet.
I finally fell asleep around 7 AM and woke up an hour later to return to having my head in the toilet and then I told Zach there was no way I could go to church. I was supposed to give a talk in Sacrament meeting so Zach being the great husband he is, offered to give it for me. Lucky for him I have to write out word for word what I plan on saying so he pretty much just had to read it. Zach took Declan to church with him so I could try and get some rest and I was starting to feel better until about 4 PM when I again started vomiting until bed that night. Happy Valentine's Day! ha! Thankfully, I was able to sleep through the night and when I woke up on Monday I felt a lot better. I was actually able to keep down some food and my backache was finally gone.
Monday afternoon was a totally different story, my back ache came back worse than ever and I started having really bad chest pains. I called my mom to tell her that I was feeling horrible again and when I started to describe the symptoms she said it sounded like gall stones. The same thing had happened to my mom 6 months after my brother was born and so I was convinced that I had gall stones. Zach got home around 6 that night and as soon as he walked in the door I told him I needed to go to a doctor and told him what I thought was going on. He was a little skeptical but realized that it wasn't just the flu like we thought since I wasn't getting any better. We found an urgent care that was open until 8 in Cordova so we drove there and waited for a few hours.
I described the pain to the doctor and asked him if it could be gall stones. He said the pain that I was experiencing didn't match the pain of gall stones because it was on the opposite side. He was extremely concerned about the chest pain I was having and gave me a G.I. cocktail to drink. It was disgusting and it made me feel worse. He then had the nurse do and EKG on my chest and there were some abnormalities. We were at the office until 10:30 that night and before we left he advised us to go to the E.R. I talked Zach into just taking me home because the chest pain wasn't as bad and I just wanted to sleep. On the way home I started having shooting pain in both sides of my stomach. We got home and I fell asleep for a few hours and then found myself vomiting once again. I kept getting really bad chills and was shaking really bad.
At 2:30 AM we packed up some stuff, got Declan in his car seat and headed for the E.R. Luckily, we didn't have to wait at all when I walked in and told them I was having chest pain, back pain, stomach pain, and vomiting. They immediately hooked me up to another EKG and then put me in a room where I told a doctor what I was experiencing and once again asked if it could be gall stones. He said no that it sounded more like a kidney infection. Zach told him that we had done a urine sample at the doctor earlier that night and it came back fine but he didn't listen. So, they took another urine sample, did a pregnancy test (just to make sure - it came back negative, thank goodness!) Finally they gave me some really nice pain medicine that knocked me out for a little bit. Then they sent me off to have an ultrasound and CT scan. When I came back to my room Zach asked me if the doctor had found me. I told him no and he said, "oh, he has already reviewed the ultrasound and CT scan and knows what is going on." GALL STONES! I knew it! They did a chest X-ray just to make sure everything was okay there and then admitted me to the hospital by 7 AM on Tuesday. Thankfully Declan slept peacefully in his car seat until 8 AM.
I met with the surgeon a few hours later and he explained that I didn't just have gall stones but I also had a very bad case of pancreatitis and he wouldn't be able to perform the surgery until my pancreas wasn't inflamed. He then told me the soonest he thought he could do the surgery would be on Friday and I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything until after the surgery. So, there I sat in the hospital with Zach and Declan on Tuesday not able to get up since I was on strict bed rest. When I called my mom to tell her what was going on her and my dad immediately started to look for plane tickets. How amazing are my parents?!
On Wednesday Zach had a mid term in the morning and had to be in the clinic that afternoon so my awesome friend Marissa watched Declan all day while Zach was at school. Wednesday afternoon I was told by the 2 surgery residents and the 2 med students who were all working on my case that my pancreas was almost back to normal and they were going to be able to do the surgery on Thursday morning! I was so excited!! No more just lying in a hospital bed getting my blood drawn every few hours, getting a shot of heparin (blood thinner) every 8 hours, and not being able to eat anything but a few ice chips a day. Thank goodness the Olympics were on while I was there or else I would have been even more bored! Zach picked up my parents on Wednesday night and they all stopped by the hospital on their way home. It was so great to see them all before having surgery the next morning.
So I got my gall bladder taken out on Thursday morning at 7 and I woke up to the anesthesiologist saying that I need to drink a little or do some sort of recreational drug so that I react to anesthesia better. ha ha. I pretty much was knocked out the second they put the stuff in me. Before the surgery the anesthesiologist said he had never seen such high numbers with a pancreas before (not sure what that means - except that it wasn't good.) I wasn't in my room for more than a half hour after the surgery when my dad came up and stayed with me the whole day. I was so out of it all day long - I think I fell asleep in mid conversation more than a few times! My mom stayed home with Declan all day and Zach came up to the hospital after he was out of clinic that night. Zach had used all his clinic days when Declan was born so he couldn't miss anymore days. The residents came to talk to me about the surgery and they told me it had gone well but that my liver count was high so I would have to stay in the hospital until my numbers went down. Joy. I told the residents what the anesthesiologist had said about my numbers with my pancreas and all their faces kind of dropped and then one said, "yeah we weren't going to tell you how bad it was." When I talked to the surgeon I asked him about the numbers and he said they were one of the highest he has seen also and he specializes in pancreas. Crazy. I guess it's a good thing we went to the E.R. when we did!
Thankfully, my liver count was stable by Friday and I was released from the hospital Friday afternoon. Happy 5 year Anniversary to Zach and me! It was great to come home and have my parents there. They went home yesterday and they did so much while they were here. They completely took care of Declan which was great since I was sore and couldn't lift him, woke up with him in the middle of the night, cooked dinner for us, and just let me rest. Thank you so much mom and dad! I wouldn't have been able to do this without your help.
The hardest part about this whole thing was by the time I finally felt okay to nurse Declan again he refused. He was also having a hard time taking the bottle so I was worried about him getting enough fluid. On Wednesday morning he was laughing and my dad noticed he had another tooth! Dang teething messes up everything! He still won't nurse so I guess we're done with that but he is now taking the bottle just fine. Thank goodness. He had so much fun with my parents and really grew up in the last 2 weeks. He has his own little personality now and is definitely letting it show!
The funniest part about all this is while I was in the hospital we got a check from Baptist Women's Hospital for overpayment on Declan's birth. Too bad we just handed them a check for way more than the overpayment! Because of Zach's kidney stones, blood clot, Declan's birth, and my gall bladder surgery we have definitely given our fair share towards Baptist Hospital in Memphis! Too bad this couldn't have happened last year when we had already met our deductible!
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and awesome friends. It was great to have my parents here while I recovered and did I mention Zach's mom is flying out on Tuesday to spend a week with us? We are so lucky! I can't wait to spend time with her and I know Declan will LOVE having his grandma here!
I finally fell asleep around 7 AM and woke up an hour later to return to having my head in the toilet and then I told Zach there was no way I could go to church. I was supposed to give a talk in Sacrament meeting so Zach being the great husband he is, offered to give it for me. Lucky for him I have to write out word for word what I plan on saying so he pretty much just had to read it. Zach took Declan to church with him so I could try and get some rest and I was starting to feel better until about 4 PM when I again started vomiting until bed that night. Happy Valentine's Day! ha! Thankfully, I was able to sleep through the night and when I woke up on Monday I felt a lot better. I was actually able to keep down some food and my backache was finally gone.
Monday afternoon was a totally different story, my back ache came back worse than ever and I started having really bad chest pains. I called my mom to tell her that I was feeling horrible again and when I started to describe the symptoms she said it sounded like gall stones. The same thing had happened to my mom 6 months after my brother was born and so I was convinced that I had gall stones. Zach got home around 6 that night and as soon as he walked in the door I told him I needed to go to a doctor and told him what I thought was going on. He was a little skeptical but realized that it wasn't just the flu like we thought since I wasn't getting any better. We found an urgent care that was open until 8 in Cordova so we drove there and waited for a few hours.
I described the pain to the doctor and asked him if it could be gall stones. He said the pain that I was experiencing didn't match the pain of gall stones because it was on the opposite side. He was extremely concerned about the chest pain I was having and gave me a G.I. cocktail to drink. It was disgusting and it made me feel worse. He then had the nurse do and EKG on my chest and there were some abnormalities. We were at the office until 10:30 that night and before we left he advised us to go to the E.R. I talked Zach into just taking me home because the chest pain wasn't as bad and I just wanted to sleep. On the way home I started having shooting pain in both sides of my stomach. We got home and I fell asleep for a few hours and then found myself vomiting once again. I kept getting really bad chills and was shaking really bad.
At 2:30 AM we packed up some stuff, got Declan in his car seat and headed for the E.R. Luckily, we didn't have to wait at all when I walked in and told them I was having chest pain, back pain, stomach pain, and vomiting. They immediately hooked me up to another EKG and then put me in a room where I told a doctor what I was experiencing and once again asked if it could be gall stones. He said no that it sounded more like a kidney infection. Zach told him that we had done a urine sample at the doctor earlier that night and it came back fine but he didn't listen. So, they took another urine sample, did a pregnancy test (just to make sure - it came back negative, thank goodness!) Finally they gave me some really nice pain medicine that knocked me out for a little bit. Then they sent me off to have an ultrasound and CT scan. When I came back to my room Zach asked me if the doctor had found me. I told him no and he said, "oh, he has already reviewed the ultrasound and CT scan and knows what is going on." GALL STONES! I knew it! They did a chest X-ray just to make sure everything was okay there and then admitted me to the hospital by 7 AM on Tuesday. Thankfully Declan slept peacefully in his car seat until 8 AM.
I met with the surgeon a few hours later and he explained that I didn't just have gall stones but I also had a very bad case of pancreatitis and he wouldn't be able to perform the surgery until my pancreas wasn't inflamed. He then told me the soonest he thought he could do the surgery would be on Friday and I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything until after the surgery. So, there I sat in the hospital with Zach and Declan on Tuesday not able to get up since I was on strict bed rest. When I called my mom to tell her what was going on her and my dad immediately started to look for plane tickets. How amazing are my parents?!
On Wednesday Zach had a mid term in the morning and had to be in the clinic that afternoon so my awesome friend Marissa watched Declan all day while Zach was at school. Wednesday afternoon I was told by the 2 surgery residents and the 2 med students who were all working on my case that my pancreas was almost back to normal and they were going to be able to do the surgery on Thursday morning! I was so excited!! No more just lying in a hospital bed getting my blood drawn every few hours, getting a shot of heparin (blood thinner) every 8 hours, and not being able to eat anything but a few ice chips a day. Thank goodness the Olympics were on while I was there or else I would have been even more bored! Zach picked up my parents on Wednesday night and they all stopped by the hospital on their way home. It was so great to see them all before having surgery the next morning.
So I got my gall bladder taken out on Thursday morning at 7 and I woke up to the anesthesiologist saying that I need to drink a little or do some sort of recreational drug so that I react to anesthesia better. ha ha. I pretty much was knocked out the second they put the stuff in me. Before the surgery the anesthesiologist said he had never seen such high numbers with a pancreas before (not sure what that means - except that it wasn't good.) I wasn't in my room for more than a half hour after the surgery when my dad came up and stayed with me the whole day. I was so out of it all day long - I think I fell asleep in mid conversation more than a few times! My mom stayed home with Declan all day and Zach came up to the hospital after he was out of clinic that night. Zach had used all his clinic days when Declan was born so he couldn't miss anymore days. The residents came to talk to me about the surgery and they told me it had gone well but that my liver count was high so I would have to stay in the hospital until my numbers went down. Joy. I told the residents what the anesthesiologist had said about my numbers with my pancreas and all their faces kind of dropped and then one said, "yeah we weren't going to tell you how bad it was." When I talked to the surgeon I asked him about the numbers and he said they were one of the highest he has seen also and he specializes in pancreas. Crazy. I guess it's a good thing we went to the E.R. when we did!
Thankfully, my liver count was stable by Friday and I was released from the hospital Friday afternoon. Happy 5 year Anniversary to Zach and me! It was great to come home and have my parents there. They went home yesterday and they did so much while they were here. They completely took care of Declan which was great since I was sore and couldn't lift him, woke up with him in the middle of the night, cooked dinner for us, and just let me rest. Thank you so much mom and dad! I wouldn't have been able to do this without your help.
The hardest part about this whole thing was by the time I finally felt okay to nurse Declan again he refused. He was also having a hard time taking the bottle so I was worried about him getting enough fluid. On Wednesday morning he was laughing and my dad noticed he had another tooth! Dang teething messes up everything! He still won't nurse so I guess we're done with that but he is now taking the bottle just fine. Thank goodness. He had so much fun with my parents and really grew up in the last 2 weeks. He has his own little personality now and is definitely letting it show!
The funniest part about all this is while I was in the hospital we got a check from Baptist Women's Hospital for overpayment on Declan's birth. Too bad we just handed them a check for way more than the overpayment! Because of Zach's kidney stones, blood clot, Declan's birth, and my gall bladder surgery we have definitely given our fair share towards Baptist Hospital in Memphis! Too bad this couldn't have happened last year when we had already met our deductible!
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and awesome friends. It was great to have my parents here while I recovered and did I mention Zach's mom is flying out on Tuesday to spend a week with us? We are so lucky! I can't wait to spend time with her and I know Declan will LOVE having his grandma here!
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