The boys and I went shopping tonight. That was both fun and very cold! We went to Payless for some boots for Dawson. They only had 1 pair for toddler boys! It was too narrow. The lady working there was pretty rude, didn't think they could possibly be too narrow since they make boots wider to begin with. I couldn't find boots either, not a big surprise there.
We went to Walmart and looked at toys. Trying to figure out what to get the boys for Christmas! I have no clue! I look at things and just know they'll play with it for a few days and it'll just end up being kicked around after that! The boys loved looking at toys, they were both trying to reach and push all the buttons. They weren't too happy that I limited their button pushing, for fear that everyone else had touched them too and who knows what germs are on there! After the toys Dawson had a meltdown. I'd wondered at what age they start realizing that you can bring home things from the store, thus wanting whatever they see. Apparently that is now! Unfortunately for Dawson, the only thing that resulted from his tantrum was being moved to the seat of the cart and strapped in, since he was trying to fling himself out of the cart basket.
After the toys we went to the Christmas section. I went over to the singing, dancing stuffed animals and they loved that. Tyler got excited from the beginning. Dawson was trying his hardest not to smile but I could tell he was struggling by the 3rd one. We came to this rapping Christmas puppy who was breakdancing on his butt and he totally lost it. Both the boys were all giggles, it was so cute. We had a smaller tantrum on the way away from those, I think he realized it did him no good the last time either!
I found boots for Dawson, they were cool Transformer boots, the only ones I found that fit him. I put them on and the velcro didn't even go all the way over to the other side! So they fit, they just wouldn't close! I was so frustrated. Don't they try them on a person before putting them on the shelves? The velcro would work great if his legs were the size of his wrist!
We also went to the library and got a couple movies for Dan and I this weekend and some Blue's Clues for the boys. That kept them entertained while I cleaned up and put away the groceries.
I still haven't decorated the tree, it has 1 ornament on it, one I just got in the mail yesterday. She found it at Target, from the Childhood Cancer Research Foundation. It's pretty! She also included a Leap Frog Phonics alphabet toy, a Moby Wrap for carrying Tyler in so I can get things done around the house, and a gift card, as if the gifts weren't enough!! Some people are just so nice, it's overwhelming.
I got Dawson's potty chair in the mail today. I didn't find one in the stores that I liked, people had said the store ones don't work well for boys so I got the one they recommended. It looks like it should work a lot better. Not pushing the potty training yet, he's just now starting to acknowledge when he needs a diaper. I thought it'd be nice to have it though, for whenever he's more ready.
Tomorrow Tyler gets labs and the lady is going to call to schedule Dawson's development evaluation appointment, based on how the labs are. Hopefully we can get going with this next round so we can get to maintenance and get into somewhat of a normal routine again.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Beginning to look a lot like Christmas....
Today went pretty fast. Tyler nursed a lot this morning as usual, so we just layed around and didn't do much all morning. It was snowing and blowing so I really wasn't in the mood to do much anyway!
I finished the movie we watched last night. I had fallen asleep towards the end. Then I had to return it before 9pm. I was hoping the snow would stop, or at least the wind would die down but it didn't. I finally ventured out around 8pm, at least there was less traffic. Dawson slept through the entire trip and Tyler wasn't so happy about being in his carseat again. He is really against that thing! Thankfully there's a redbox in the entry of the McDonalds that's like 6 blocks away, so we just went there, didn't even have to drag the kids in. So we were there and back within 10 minutes. :)
The snow put me in the mood to get the tree up. I've been meaning to do it but either I'm unmotivated or the kids are being too needy for me to get enough done. Today they were playing pretty nicely by themselves for a while so I decided to go at it. Got the entire corner cleaned up before Tyler started crying. I brought him over to help with the tree. He thought the branches were really funny. Dawson helped too, he handed me branches out of the box. I got the lights on the tree but that's as far as I got before Dan got home and Tyler wouldn't settle down anymore. Apparently holding him while still working on the tree isn't adequate attention! At least it's up, that's the biggest part. Dawson was so nice and layed out all the ornaments for me while I nursed Tyler. How helpful. :) I put them all away, much to his disappointment. It was his bedtime anyway so I figure he can help me decorate tomorrow.
That's about it for today, didn't seem like we did much. Tyler thought the snow was cool, the cold patio door was amusing to him. He's getting pretty close to crawling, he can move his knees but they slip on the carpet and he falls. He just needs to figure out the arms and we're in trouble!
I finished the movie we watched last night. I had fallen asleep towards the end. Then I had to return it before 9pm. I was hoping the snow would stop, or at least the wind would die down but it didn't. I finally ventured out around 8pm, at least there was less traffic. Dawson slept through the entire trip and Tyler wasn't so happy about being in his carseat again. He is really against that thing! Thankfully there's a redbox in the entry of the McDonalds that's like 6 blocks away, so we just went there, didn't even have to drag the kids in. So we were there and back within 10 minutes. :)
The snow put me in the mood to get the tree up. I've been meaning to do it but either I'm unmotivated or the kids are being too needy for me to get enough done. Today they were playing pretty nicely by themselves for a while so I decided to go at it. Got the entire corner cleaned up before Tyler started crying. I brought him over to help with the tree. He thought the branches were really funny. Dawson helped too, he handed me branches out of the box. I got the lights on the tree but that's as far as I got before Dan got home and Tyler wouldn't settle down anymore. Apparently holding him while still working on the tree isn't adequate attention! At least it's up, that's the biggest part. Dawson was so nice and layed out all the ornaments for me while I nursed Tyler. How helpful. :) I put them all away, much to his disappointment. It was his bedtime anyway so I figure he can help me decorate tomorrow.
That's about it for today, didn't seem like we did much. Tyler thought the snow was cool, the cold patio door was amusing to him. He's getting pretty close to crawling, he can move his knees but they slip on the carpet and he falls. He just needs to figure out the arms and we're in trouble!
Tyler exploring the tree
He liked hitting the branches
Dawson being helpful
The finished tree, Dawson had already started pulling ornaments out!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Home Care, Shopping and Crazy Boys
This morning started out with a visit from Tyler's Home Care nurse, Jenny. I like her a lot better than her substitute, that other lady annoys me to no end! Jenny is our case manager too. The only thing I didn't like was I smelled smoke on her when she arrived today. That really bothers me. Anyway, Tyler was perfect for her, sat still and smiled. He decided to do the syringe flush himself today, once the nurse got the syringe on his tube, Tyler grabbed it away from her and tried pushing on it. He's not quite strong enough though, I think he had a bad angle on it. Was pretty cute though, he defintely has the concept. How sad is that?!
I have Home Care call me as soon as they recieve his results. Jenny also said she put a rush order on the labs so they'll get done faster. They used to fax them to Children's Clinic and our clinic nurse Mary would call me. Well that takes half the day and I'd like to prepare if we need to go! I'm not taking Dawson with me this time because Tyler needs a bunch of things done and Dawson only lasts so long there. So Home Care called about an hour after Jenny left, saying the results are in. His counts were up but still far below normal. I asked for the ANC and she had no clue what I was talking about. Nobody does! I don't understand it, but I have to explain what ANC is to every person I call to get counts from, except the Children's nurses, they get it. An hour later she called back and said that she had recieved the ANC results. It was low, so we will be doing more labs on Friday.
I both like and dislike lab days. I like it because it drives me nuts not to know what his counts are, since I got used to that everyday in the hospital. I dislike lab days because I never know what time they are coming! It's not an appt, it's "we'll be there in the morning". To some nurses that means 8am, to others that means 10am! Being 2nd shift people, it's not easy getting up at 8, but I don't want to be scurrying to get dressed if they knock on my door at 8am either! So that's frustrating. I also don't like waiting around for results, I feel like half the morning is waiting and the other half is spent on the phone between Home Care and the Children's nurse! I consider myself lucky if we get everything figured out by 2pm!
Dawson slept through labs today, so Tyler and I got to go back to bed. For about an hour, which really means I didn't get any extra sleep! Tyler wants to nurse, then with waiting for the phone to ring, I really can't sleep anyway. Last night went well though, Dan put Dawson to bed and he didn't even cry at all! He was pretty tired. Tyler was awake and bouncing between Dan and I while we watched Pearl Harbor (Dan's idea, since today was the day it happened). He finally fell asleep and I tried putting him in his crib. It worked!! I don't know if it was the way I layed him down (boppy first, then him instead of all at once), or if he was just that tired. Who knows. Hopefully he'll sleep in there again tonight! He did wake up once and came in with me, so I think he slept in his crib about 4-5 hours.
Dawson had a bit of a rough day. He seemed to be trying to make a statement or something. For a while he was a 2 year old on a rampage! He knocked a couple speakers over, was hitting the tv, making a mess, taking Tyler's pacifier (hasn't happened in a while) and anything he could think of to get attention. Not sure what brought on this sudden bad behavior, nothing really changed in our schedule today. I actually had Tyler in my lap less today, so I don't get it. This was throughout the day. It ended with me finding that he'd chewed and spit out half his apple. I had him help me clean it up. Just what I need when I'm trying to keep the place clean for Tyler is tiny pieces of rotting apple all over!! He's especially sensitive to mold, so we had to make sure to clean it up really good.
Tyler was really good today for the most part. He played on the floor and scooted around backwards, sitting up when he found something he wanted to play with. It's cute how he can get around now. I'm sure I'll take that back later! He's been more curious lately. Last night he was trying to pick my moles off, which really hurts! Today he was sitting in my lap at the computer desk and was grabbing at things on my desk. I had been snacking, thankfully I was done. He threw my plate onto the floor, then grabbed my cup. Unfortunately I had just filled the cup with really cold water from the fridge. It spilled on both of us, getting our left legs wet. He didn't even cry! I was surprised, he looked more sheepish than surprised. I think he realized he did it to himself!
We went out for a bit today. I wasn't planning on it, but I realized some of the diapers on Tyler's shelf were actually Dawson's. This left Tyler with about 5 diapers! So we went to Target for diapers and got a free Redbox since it's the first Monday of the month (they text a code to my phone). We also went to Cub because we were out of some things already. Tyler barely made it through Target, and that was a quick 5 minute trip. I put him in the Bjorn for Cub and he was so happy with that. Got all my stuff, Dawson was sleeping in the basket so I was putting things around him and in Tyler's carrier. Got up to the register and the lady was asking questions about Tyler, I get that all the time. Then there was a goof up with an item so we had to wait a while. The manager came and fixed it, then bagged my groceries for me. She noticed Dawson in the cart and called someone to bring me another cart. Not only that, she made the cart boy wheel the other cart out for me. I'm used to doing everything myself, so this was weird and a little embarassing! As if having a baby with a mask doesn't turn enough heads! I even told her I usually just put the bags below the cart, but she insisted. It was nice though, the guy even offered to put the stuff in my car but I declined. Nice to see people thinking of others though. Half the time I feel rushed to get my change and wallet put away before the person behind me runs me over in a huff!
Other than shopping I really didn't get anything done today. Labs and cleaning Dawson's messes really took up the majority of my day! I'm hoping to get a bit cleaned tonight before Dan gets home so I can at least feel like I got something accomplished! As for pics, I'm using my desktop now, and all the new pics are on my laptop. I do have lots of cute new pics, so I think I'll have those uploading while I clean. :)
I have Home Care call me as soon as they recieve his results. Jenny also said she put a rush order on the labs so they'll get done faster. They used to fax them to Children's Clinic and our clinic nurse Mary would call me. Well that takes half the day and I'd like to prepare if we need to go! I'm not taking Dawson with me this time because Tyler needs a bunch of things done and Dawson only lasts so long there. So Home Care called about an hour after Jenny left, saying the results are in. His counts were up but still far below normal. I asked for the ANC and she had no clue what I was talking about. Nobody does! I don't understand it, but I have to explain what ANC is to every person I call to get counts from, except the Children's nurses, they get it. An hour later she called back and said that she had recieved the ANC results. It was low, so we will be doing more labs on Friday.
I both like and dislike lab days. I like it because it drives me nuts not to know what his counts are, since I got used to that everyday in the hospital. I dislike lab days because I never know what time they are coming! It's not an appt, it's "we'll be there in the morning". To some nurses that means 8am, to others that means 10am! Being 2nd shift people, it's not easy getting up at 8, but I don't want to be scurrying to get dressed if they knock on my door at 8am either! So that's frustrating. I also don't like waiting around for results, I feel like half the morning is waiting and the other half is spent on the phone between Home Care and the Children's nurse! I consider myself lucky if we get everything figured out by 2pm!
Dawson slept through labs today, so Tyler and I got to go back to bed. For about an hour, which really means I didn't get any extra sleep! Tyler wants to nurse, then with waiting for the phone to ring, I really can't sleep anyway. Last night went well though, Dan put Dawson to bed and he didn't even cry at all! He was pretty tired. Tyler was awake and bouncing between Dan and I while we watched Pearl Harbor (Dan's idea, since today was the day it happened). He finally fell asleep and I tried putting him in his crib. It worked!! I don't know if it was the way I layed him down (boppy first, then him instead of all at once), or if he was just that tired. Who knows. Hopefully he'll sleep in there again tonight! He did wake up once and came in with me, so I think he slept in his crib about 4-5 hours.
Dawson had a bit of a rough day. He seemed to be trying to make a statement or something. For a while he was a 2 year old on a rampage! He knocked a couple speakers over, was hitting the tv, making a mess, taking Tyler's pacifier (hasn't happened in a while) and anything he could think of to get attention. Not sure what brought on this sudden bad behavior, nothing really changed in our schedule today. I actually had Tyler in my lap less today, so I don't get it. This was throughout the day. It ended with me finding that he'd chewed and spit out half his apple. I had him help me clean it up. Just what I need when I'm trying to keep the place clean for Tyler is tiny pieces of rotting apple all over!! He's especially sensitive to mold, so we had to make sure to clean it up really good.
Tyler was really good today for the most part. He played on the floor and scooted around backwards, sitting up when he found something he wanted to play with. It's cute how he can get around now. I'm sure I'll take that back later! He's been more curious lately. Last night he was trying to pick my moles off, which really hurts! Today he was sitting in my lap at the computer desk and was grabbing at things on my desk. I had been snacking, thankfully I was done. He threw my plate onto the floor, then grabbed my cup. Unfortunately I had just filled the cup with really cold water from the fridge. It spilled on both of us, getting our left legs wet. He didn't even cry! I was surprised, he looked more sheepish than surprised. I think he realized he did it to himself!
We went out for a bit today. I wasn't planning on it, but I realized some of the diapers on Tyler's shelf were actually Dawson's. This left Tyler with about 5 diapers! So we went to Target for diapers and got a free Redbox since it's the first Monday of the month (they text a code to my phone). We also went to Cub because we were out of some things already. Tyler barely made it through Target, and that was a quick 5 minute trip. I put him in the Bjorn for Cub and he was so happy with that. Got all my stuff, Dawson was sleeping in the basket so I was putting things around him and in Tyler's carrier. Got up to the register and the lady was asking questions about Tyler, I get that all the time. Then there was a goof up with an item so we had to wait a while. The manager came and fixed it, then bagged my groceries for me. She noticed Dawson in the cart and called someone to bring me another cart. Not only that, she made the cart boy wheel the other cart out for me. I'm used to doing everything myself, so this was weird and a little embarassing! As if having a baby with a mask doesn't turn enough heads! I even told her I usually just put the bags below the cart, but she insisted. It was nice though, the guy even offered to put the stuff in my car but I declined. Nice to see people thinking of others though. Half the time I feel rushed to get my change and wallet put away before the person behind me runs me over in a huff!
Other than shopping I really didn't get anything done today. Labs and cleaning Dawson's messes really took up the majority of my day! I'm hoping to get a bit cleaned tonight before Dan gets home so I can at least feel like I got something accomplished! As for pics, I'm using my desktop now, and all the new pics are on my laptop. I do have lots of cute new pics, so I think I'll have those uploading while I clean. :)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Settling In
It's been a really long week! It's been nice to be home but it was a big adjustment for Tyler. He's used to the bright florescents, the beeping IV machines, the nurses coming and going. Here it's darker, quieter and with less people to spoil him. I don't get meals delivered and they sure don't make themselves, so Tyler has to get used to playing on his own.
The first day he was really clingy, I hardly put him down for anything because he'd scream. When he screams, he gets really sweaty and his chest dressing comes off. Yesterday I put him in the ring sling and worked for about 90 minutes. I got a lot done but my shoulder hurt. A couple people are sending other types of carriers, they are supposed to be easier on the back and shoulders. I heard from the other cancer moms that their babies were clingy and often needed to be worn or held all day. Can't really blame them, they are sore and feel like crap. With Tyler's upcoming round of chemo, I'll be needing that. He'll be on steriods and chemo, which was the worst time emotionally for both of us. He was moody and clingy and it was hard seeing him that way. The other moms refer to it as "roid rage" and for a good reason!
It seems like every method I learned from Dawson just doesn't work in Tyler's case! It's like starting all over again. I worked so hard not to spoil Tyler, he was so content, he even learned how to coo himself to sleep in his crib at just a few months old. Now he refuses his crib. I'd love to say he sleeps in there, but he doesn't. I have no clue how, but it doesn't matter how deep of a sleep he's in, when I try to transfer him to his crib, he screams. Not just lowering him in, he knows when I stand up to move him and he stirs. So I stand there and shush him back to sleep. Then I walk slowly to his room, feels like this takes minutes to even get there. Never fails, as soon as I walk into the room he fusses. If he doesn't fuss then (rarely), I'll be lowering him into the crib and he'll wake up, scream, arch his back and flop off the boppy pillow onto the crib mattress. Then he gets to his hands and knees, backs up to sit, reaches for the crib railing and is standing up. In seconds!! I have no clue how he can go from sleeping to actively climbing up in his crib in a matter of seconds but he does. Then he's WIDE awake. So we sit down and do it all over again.
Sometimes he sleeps on the couch, which I really don't like because he can move. I cram couch pillows all around him and he really can't move when he's on his back, so he just squirms and screams when he wakes up and I run in there and get him. He usually wakes up in the middle of the night once, so I bring him to bed to nurse. A bad habit, but after a couple nights of getting no sleep, trying to get him to sleep in his crib, I gave in. I need sleep to keep up with these 2! With Dawson I let him cry to sleep at this age. He knew it was bedtime, and it got easier each night we did it. I can't with Tyler, he'll sweat too much. So I'm at a loss. This will only get worse once we start the chemo, so I'm really hoping to get a routine established before then and stick with it. The other big thing is that he shares a room with Dawson, so his crying wakes him up. I would put Tyler to bed first, but Dawson cries when put to bed also, which wakes up Tyler. So it's a lose-lose situation. We're debating moving Tyler's crib into our room or something. I'm hoping he'll miraculously start sleeping well before it comes to that!
Tyler still isn't eating baby food but he's closer to it than before. He's playing with the spoon and a few times if we took it slow enough, he'd grab onto the spoon, stare at it a while and then open his mouth. The nurses and everyone were more pushy which really turned him away from eating solids. I always thought it's best to go easy and make it an enjoyable experience. I did get some in there a couple time just so he knew what it tasted like. He didn't seem to mind too much, so hopefully he'll start eating soon.
Dawson has settled in well. He's back to his old routines and old toys. He loves being home. He even puts up with Tyler a little better than before. I think he realizes that this is as good as it gets! He seems very happy to be home. He's been saying "hot" more often now. I haven't heard the other new words again though. I haven't heard from the EI (early intervention) lady yet, I'm hoping she'll call Monday since Tuesday will be crazy (if Tyler makes counts). Tomorrow we get a visit from Home Care to do labs, so I'll know sometime tomorrow afternoon if we're going in on Tuesday or not. I'm not looking forward to getting up at 5am to get there by 7! Thankfully chemo days shouldn't be that early, it's only a biopsy thing.
I'm doing pretty good. I've been having some weird abdominal pain. Tyler was standing in my lap and stepped right above my hip and I think he bruised something. Sometimes I don't feel anything, sometimes it hurts when I'm carrying someone around. I have no more jaw pain but that section of jawline, part of my lip and chin are still numb. 3 of the holes are healing up well. The one that keeps getting food stuck in it isn't healing so well. It's red and a little sensitive. Hopefully that'll start healing soon. I need to use that mouthwash more often, I've been bad about that!
I've been getting more done in the last couple days. I finally unpacked! I got the bottles washed, they just use and rinse them at the hospital, then send them all home for me to wash. I got everything sorted, including the medical bags from the last few times. I have quite an impressive drawer of ointments. Mostly diaper ointments, but also eye treatments, bone marrow site cream, even some aromatherapy. I'm moving some supplies to next to the changing table. They are currently across the room, which works well because I can't have that high of a thing on the tall dresser. I also need a spot for all the chemo stuff that's coming that needs to be higher up than his basic supplies, so this should work well.
I got my summer clothes put away, and my maternity stuff that I kept putting off. I can actually start using my dresser again! My next projects are the kitchen and getting the tree up. I need to sort and find homes for a bunch of stuff before I'm able to do the tree but I'm really hoping to get it up this week. The boys will love the lights so I'm excited to get it up. Yet I'm not looking forward to dealing with them messing with it!
The first day he was really clingy, I hardly put him down for anything because he'd scream. When he screams, he gets really sweaty and his chest dressing comes off. Yesterday I put him in the ring sling and worked for about 90 minutes. I got a lot done but my shoulder hurt. A couple people are sending other types of carriers, they are supposed to be easier on the back and shoulders. I heard from the other cancer moms that their babies were clingy and often needed to be worn or held all day. Can't really blame them, they are sore and feel like crap. With Tyler's upcoming round of chemo, I'll be needing that. He'll be on steriods and chemo, which was the worst time emotionally for both of us. He was moody and clingy and it was hard seeing him that way. The other moms refer to it as "roid rage" and for a good reason!
It seems like every method I learned from Dawson just doesn't work in Tyler's case! It's like starting all over again. I worked so hard not to spoil Tyler, he was so content, he even learned how to coo himself to sleep in his crib at just a few months old. Now he refuses his crib. I'd love to say he sleeps in there, but he doesn't. I have no clue how, but it doesn't matter how deep of a sleep he's in, when I try to transfer him to his crib, he screams. Not just lowering him in, he knows when I stand up to move him and he stirs. So I stand there and shush him back to sleep. Then I walk slowly to his room, feels like this takes minutes to even get there. Never fails, as soon as I walk into the room he fusses. If he doesn't fuss then (rarely), I'll be lowering him into the crib and he'll wake up, scream, arch his back and flop off the boppy pillow onto the crib mattress. Then he gets to his hands and knees, backs up to sit, reaches for the crib railing and is standing up. In seconds!! I have no clue how he can go from sleeping to actively climbing up in his crib in a matter of seconds but he does. Then he's WIDE awake. So we sit down and do it all over again.
Sometimes he sleeps on the couch, which I really don't like because he can move. I cram couch pillows all around him and he really can't move when he's on his back, so he just squirms and screams when he wakes up and I run in there and get him. He usually wakes up in the middle of the night once, so I bring him to bed to nurse. A bad habit, but after a couple nights of getting no sleep, trying to get him to sleep in his crib, I gave in. I need sleep to keep up with these 2! With Dawson I let him cry to sleep at this age. He knew it was bedtime, and it got easier each night we did it. I can't with Tyler, he'll sweat too much. So I'm at a loss. This will only get worse once we start the chemo, so I'm really hoping to get a routine established before then and stick with it. The other big thing is that he shares a room with Dawson, so his crying wakes him up. I would put Tyler to bed first, but Dawson cries when put to bed also, which wakes up Tyler. So it's a lose-lose situation. We're debating moving Tyler's crib into our room or something. I'm hoping he'll miraculously start sleeping well before it comes to that!
Tyler still isn't eating baby food but he's closer to it than before. He's playing with the spoon and a few times if we took it slow enough, he'd grab onto the spoon, stare at it a while and then open his mouth. The nurses and everyone were more pushy which really turned him away from eating solids. I always thought it's best to go easy and make it an enjoyable experience. I did get some in there a couple time just so he knew what it tasted like. He didn't seem to mind too much, so hopefully he'll start eating soon.
Dawson has settled in well. He's back to his old routines and old toys. He loves being home. He even puts up with Tyler a little better than before. I think he realizes that this is as good as it gets! He seems very happy to be home. He's been saying "hot" more often now. I haven't heard the other new words again though. I haven't heard from the EI (early intervention) lady yet, I'm hoping she'll call Monday since Tuesday will be crazy (if Tyler makes counts). Tomorrow we get a visit from Home Care to do labs, so I'll know sometime tomorrow afternoon if we're going in on Tuesday or not. I'm not looking forward to getting up at 5am to get there by 7! Thankfully chemo days shouldn't be that early, it's only a biopsy thing.
I'm doing pretty good. I've been having some weird abdominal pain. Tyler was standing in my lap and stepped right above my hip and I think he bruised something. Sometimes I don't feel anything, sometimes it hurts when I'm carrying someone around. I have no more jaw pain but that section of jawline, part of my lip and chin are still numb. 3 of the holes are healing up well. The one that keeps getting food stuck in it isn't healing so well. It's red and a little sensitive. Hopefully that'll start healing soon. I need to use that mouthwash more often, I've been bad about that!
I've been getting more done in the last couple days. I finally unpacked! I got the bottles washed, they just use and rinse them at the hospital, then send them all home for me to wash. I got everything sorted, including the medical bags from the last few times. I have quite an impressive drawer of ointments. Mostly diaper ointments, but also eye treatments, bone marrow site cream, even some aromatherapy. I'm moving some supplies to next to the changing table. They are currently across the room, which works well because I can't have that high of a thing on the tall dresser. I also need a spot for all the chemo stuff that's coming that needs to be higher up than his basic supplies, so this should work well.
I got my summer clothes put away, and my maternity stuff that I kept putting off. I can actually start using my dresser again! My next projects are the kitchen and getting the tree up. I need to sort and find homes for a bunch of stuff before I'm able to do the tree but I'm really hoping to get it up this week. The boys will love the lights so I'm excited to get it up. Yet I'm not looking forward to dealing with them messing with it!
Here's a really cute pic of Dawson
Here's the central line pouch/holder that I got for Tyler
It has a pouch in the front with velcro that we just tuck the end of the tubes in. Now they don't dangle in the way or get pulled on as easily.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
We're Home!
Had a busy but good day. There's no place like home! I got the official word around 10am that we're going home. I got the Ronald McDonald house packed up and cleaned in an hour! New record I think! I was prepared too though, I had already gathered things into boxes so I didn't have a ton to do. Picked up Tyler's antibiotic at the pharmacy, went over meds and things about Tyler with the nurse and got him out of there. We were pulling out around 12:45.
The boys did great once we got home. Tyler played by himself for 2 hours! He was loving the new place and new toys. Especially with his new abilities! He can go from sitting to laying, roll over, get on hands and knees, and hands and feet. He can also get back into a sitting position from his hands and knees. A bit later he was standing up against something and let go for a couple seconds. He fell down but that didn't faze him, he was laughing, happy at the fact that he actually stood by himself!
Dawson is enjoying being at home. Not liking that Tyler is getting so much attention though. Any attention at all and Dawson is right there, trying to get some of it back. He played with toys he hasn't seen in a while, so that kept him pretty occupied. I put in Blue's Clues and he smiled and said "Blue". Haven't heard that one before. He didn't get the L sound, but a lot of kids this age don't either. He was running back and forth through the apartment. He was just so happy to have so much space to run in! The hospital room doesn't really have enough room for a 2 year old to play.
I have a lot to do this week. We need groceries, I have to clean, unpack, organize several areas. Some of it I have to do tomorrow, other stuff will take a while. Now that I'm home I'd like to get working on some areas that are bugging me around the apartment. I want to especially organize Tyler's stuff a bit better. Everytime we come home from the hospital, we get more supplies and stuff that's half used up. Then we get back and get more of it. I cringe to think about how many half used tubes of diaper rash ointment and other things I have in there! I really miss the hospital crib! You really get spoiled with those. Goes all the way down to the mattress, has a door on the end so you don't have to slide it down sometimes. And the biggest thing, Tyler is used to sleeping on an incline! I realized this as I layed him down and he screamed and tried sitting back up. So he's sleeping in his boppy in the crib for now. He was there too, so it helps to have something familiar to sleep with.
Bedtime was tough. Tyler fell asleep around 11pm and I put him in his crib with no issues. Then I put Dawson to bed around 12:30. He cried and screamed until he woke up Tyler. So I went and got Tyler out, put Dawson back to bed and left the room. Dawson was NOT happy that Tyler got out and he didn't! So he took a lot longer to go to sleep. Finally at 2am Dawson was sleeping and Tyler had fallen asleep on my lap, so I put him in there. The nurse says he sleeps though the night, so I'm hoping that's the case at home too!
The boys did great once we got home. Tyler played by himself for 2 hours! He was loving the new place and new toys. Especially with his new abilities! He can go from sitting to laying, roll over, get on hands and knees, and hands and feet. He can also get back into a sitting position from his hands and knees. A bit later he was standing up against something and let go for a couple seconds. He fell down but that didn't faze him, he was laughing, happy at the fact that he actually stood by himself!
Dawson is enjoying being at home. Not liking that Tyler is getting so much attention though. Any attention at all and Dawson is right there, trying to get some of it back. He played with toys he hasn't seen in a while, so that kept him pretty occupied. I put in Blue's Clues and he smiled and said "Blue". Haven't heard that one before. He didn't get the L sound, but a lot of kids this age don't either. He was running back and forth through the apartment. He was just so happy to have so much space to run in! The hospital room doesn't really have enough room for a 2 year old to play.
I have a lot to do this week. We need groceries, I have to clean, unpack, organize several areas. Some of it I have to do tomorrow, other stuff will take a while. Now that I'm home I'd like to get working on some areas that are bugging me around the apartment. I want to especially organize Tyler's stuff a bit better. Everytime we come home from the hospital, we get more supplies and stuff that's half used up. Then we get back and get more of it. I cringe to think about how many half used tubes of diaper rash ointment and other things I have in there! I really miss the hospital crib! You really get spoiled with those. Goes all the way down to the mattress, has a door on the end so you don't have to slide it down sometimes. And the biggest thing, Tyler is used to sleeping on an incline! I realized this as I layed him down and he screamed and tried sitting back up. So he's sleeping in his boppy in the crib for now. He was there too, so it helps to have something familiar to sleep with.
Bedtime was tough. Tyler fell asleep around 11pm and I put him in his crib with no issues. Then I put Dawson to bed around 12:30. He cried and screamed until he woke up Tyler. So I went and got Tyler out, put Dawson back to bed and left the room. Dawson was NOT happy that Tyler got out and he didn't! So he took a lot longer to go to sleep. Finally at 2am Dawson was sleeping and Tyler had fallen asleep on my lap, so I put him in there. The nurse says he sleeps though the night, so I'm hoping that's the case at home too!
Playing together
Playing just after we got home, they made this mess in about 5 minutes.
Dawson was running and jumping all over once he got home, he was pretty happy. :)
Coincidence? Didn't seem like it. He picked through and collected some yellow blocks, then looked in the toybox and found his yellow ducks and threw them into the kitchen too.
Tyler is getting more active! He's getting very comfortable changing positions.
Playtime in Tyler's crib
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving and more Hospital time
We had a good Thanksgiving. We only got invited to my side of the family this year, so we went to my aunt's house. Hadn't seen her new house before, it's really nice! Dawson was very uneasy at first because he thought I was going to leave him there, but he warmed up eventually and by the end of the day he didn't want to leave!
Dawson said a new word the other day! He pulled me to the fridge, pointed for me to open the door and pointed at the crisper. Grabbed an apple and left the kitchen. I always talk through it, trying to get him to ask for it but he hasn't yet. So Dan and I headed back into the living room where he went with his apple and Dawson walked back up to us. Stood there a bit, then looked up, lifted his apple a bit and said "apple". We both clapped and made a big deal out of it, he clapped and then he said it again. :) He had an apple again today but couldn't get him to say it.
Dawson has a developmental appointment tomorrow morning. Mostly for speech but I believe she'll do the full evaluation. If they think he needs it, someone will come to our place and work with him for a bit. I did the initial developmental evaluation tonight and it looks like he's just a bit behind on social/communication and speech. Otherwise he's right on track with everything else. The fact that he is picking up on new words is a good sign, he just isn't doing it very quickly and might need a nudge in the right direction. Sometimes having someone else working with them is just what they need. With parents, we know what they want even if they don't say it, and they know this, so what's the point in telling me he needs an apple when he can drag me to the fridge, open the drawer and grab one? Hopefully this will help. I'm sure someday I'll be wishing he didn't talk so much!
Tyler is doing great. His counts are up a bit. He missed Thanksgiving because he's not ready to go home yet. He's in a great mood though. He just learned how to go from hands and knees to hands and feet. He just isn't sure what to do from there! He hasn't figured out forward motion on his knees yet. He can walk backwards several steps and he'd done forward about 10 steps in his room. I never thought he'd go across a bigger room, but he's proven that with enough determination he can do it. His favorite nurse assistant was playing with another patient in the playroom and Tyler wanted to go over there. I put him on the floor and said if you want to see him, you can walk there...and he did! Holding onto my hands, he quickly walked towards him, grinning the whole way! It was cute. I wish we could take a few of those nurses home, we're gonna miss them!
I'm doing ok, my jaw still hurts and I still can't open my mouth very far. I was having is sues with food getting stuck in the holes where my teeth were (ew!). It was hard to get it all out. They are finally closing up though, some are closed and some are close. They are still very sensitive there though. Part of my jaw, bottom lip and chin is still numb. Not sure how long that's supposed to take, but it seems to be very slowly gaining the feeling back. It used to be almost half my face, not it's just about 2 inches along my jaw. It's a bit tingly now too, which is really bugging me, it's itchy! On top of that, I have an ear infection. It's not as bad as some I've had, but it's pretty painful. All the way down my neck pain and my ear throbs when I lay or bend down.
Dan is doing good. He has a lot to do before the snow flies and work is bugging people to work overtime on the weekend. Next Friday is the Brian Adams concert we're going to. I'm excited! He's been to several concerts before but I've never been to one. I just hope my ear infection goes away before then!
Dawson said a new word the other day! He pulled me to the fridge, pointed for me to open the door and pointed at the crisper. Grabbed an apple and left the kitchen. I always talk through it, trying to get him to ask for it but he hasn't yet. So Dan and I headed back into the living room where he went with his apple and Dawson walked back up to us. Stood there a bit, then looked up, lifted his apple a bit and said "apple". We both clapped and made a big deal out of it, he clapped and then he said it again. :) He had an apple again today but couldn't get him to say it.
Dawson has a developmental appointment tomorrow morning. Mostly for speech but I believe she'll do the full evaluation. If they think he needs it, someone will come to our place and work with him for a bit. I did the initial developmental evaluation tonight and it looks like he's just a bit behind on social/communication and speech. Otherwise he's right on track with everything else. The fact that he is picking up on new words is a good sign, he just isn't doing it very quickly and might need a nudge in the right direction. Sometimes having someone else working with them is just what they need. With parents, we know what they want even if they don't say it, and they know this, so what's the point in telling me he needs an apple when he can drag me to the fridge, open the drawer and grab one? Hopefully this will help. I'm sure someday I'll be wishing he didn't talk so much!
Tyler is doing great. His counts are up a bit. He missed Thanksgiving because he's not ready to go home yet. He's in a great mood though. He just learned how to go from hands and knees to hands and feet. He just isn't sure what to do from there! He hasn't figured out forward motion on his knees yet. He can walk backwards several steps and he'd done forward about 10 steps in his room. I never thought he'd go across a bigger room, but he's proven that with enough determination he can do it. His favorite nurse assistant was playing with another patient in the playroom and Tyler wanted to go over there. I put him on the floor and said if you want to see him, you can walk there...and he did! Holding onto my hands, he quickly walked towards him, grinning the whole way! It was cute. I wish we could take a few of those nurses home, we're gonna miss them!
I'm doing ok, my jaw still hurts and I still can't open my mouth very far. I was having is sues with food getting stuck in the holes where my teeth were (ew!). It was hard to get it all out. They are finally closing up though, some are closed and some are close. They are still very sensitive there though. Part of my jaw, bottom lip and chin is still numb. Not sure how long that's supposed to take, but it seems to be very slowly gaining the feeling back. It used to be almost half my face, not it's just about 2 inches along my jaw. It's a bit tingly now too, which is really bugging me, it's itchy! On top of that, I have an ear infection. It's not as bad as some I've had, but it's pretty painful. All the way down my neck pain and my ear throbs when I lay or bend down.
Dan is doing good. He has a lot to do before the snow flies and work is bugging people to work overtime on the weekend. Next Friday is the Brian Adams concert we're going to. I'm excited! He's been to several concerts before but I've never been to one. I just hope my ear infection goes away before then!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Crappy Week, New Breastpump
Yet another week inpatient. I'm very frustrated at Tyler's numbers not coming up. Also because Dawson is so bored and frustrated with being stuck in a tiny hospital room all day. It's been a bad day overall today. The boy next door to Tyler passed away. All the nurses were crying, so I stayed a bit longer than usual to let them deal with the situation. Overall I've been in a crappy mood. Just sick of being there. I thought we were going home 2 weeks ago, so every day past when I expected to be home is hard. You'd think I'd stop planning for things by now, but I'm a planner and this is driving me nuts! It's been 5 months since diagnosis, 19 months to go. Feels like a long time yet but I'm glad we've made it this far.
I got a new breastpump, mine wasn't working right and I need to pump so the Dr wrote up a prescription for it and got me a new one since it's mandatory because of "parent/child seperation". I can't believe those things are $427! That's crazy! Thank goodness they got it to go through the insurance!
Thank goodness for volunteers. They take Dawson to the playroom. Dawson got to go once today, he really thrives on being able to go. Everytime the door opens he runs over and looks hopefully at the person walking in. It's usually the nurse and unfortunately they visit often, so it's a lot of dissapointment. I can request volunteers but they aren't always available.
I wish I could take pictures. I can't post them anymore because my laptop stopped working. I can't even take any because I need to get my pictures developed so I can get them off the card. I should probably go through them again too and delete some that I don't really need printed. It's harder deleting pics since Tyler was diagnosed. You just never know how many more you'll get to take. Though I'm feeling a lot better about it now, you just never know. It's hard to know which ones to delete, every smile is cute, and the funny faces are cute because it's part of his personality too! I think it's safe to say I'm addicted. To the kids, the camera, or most likey all 3. :)
We got invited to Thanksgiving at my aunt Shelley's house this year, so Dan, Dawson and I are going there for the holiday. It'll be nice to get out and go somewhere.
I got a new breastpump, mine wasn't working right and I need to pump so the Dr wrote up a prescription for it and got me a new one since it's mandatory because of "parent/child seperation". I can't believe those things are $427! That's crazy! Thank goodness they got it to go through the insurance!
Thank goodness for volunteers. They take Dawson to the playroom. Dawson got to go once today, he really thrives on being able to go. Everytime the door opens he runs over and looks hopefully at the person walking in. It's usually the nurse and unfortunately they visit often, so it's a lot of dissapointment. I can request volunteers but they aren't always available.
I wish I could take pictures. I can't post them anymore because my laptop stopped working. I can't even take any because I need to get my pictures developed so I can get them off the card. I should probably go through them again too and delete some that I don't really need printed. It's harder deleting pics since Tyler was diagnosed. You just never know how many more you'll get to take. Though I'm feeling a lot better about it now, you just never know. It's hard to know which ones to delete, every smile is cute, and the funny faces are cute because it's part of his personality too! I think it's safe to say I'm addicted. To the kids, the camera, or most likey all 3. :)
We got invited to Thanksgiving at my aunt Shelley's house this year, so Dan, Dawson and I are going there for the holiday. It'll be nice to get out and go somewhere.
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