Catching Up - February 2012

As I look back and remember February 2012, I am reminded of what a challenging month it was for our family. I am also reminded of how our family, friends, and church family came alongside us to support, encourage, and lift us up before our Heavenly Father. I know this post will not be easy to write, but I want this blog to be about our lives, and not just the fun, happy times. As I had mentioned in the December 2011 post, our family started getting sick with different things in December. The trend continued through January, into February, and even into March and April. Actually, I think I got sick more times in 2012 than I can remember in any earlier years of my life. But, back to February 2012. 

In early February Caleb started complaining about not feeling well, particularly about his stomach. It was a Monday morning. He had been fine all weekend, he wasn't running a fever, and he didn't seem too uncomfortable, so I sent him to pre-school. I had been at work for a couple of hours when Caleb's school called to inform me that he had not eaten his morning snack and had gotten sick. So I picked him up from school and scheduled a doctor's appointment for him. Chloe had had some stomach issues in January, so I wanted to get him checked out. Our regular doctor was not available so we saw one of the other doctors in the practice. Since Caleb had thrown up and had a fever, the doctor told me it was just a virus. By the next day, he seemed to be feeling a little better, he hadn't thrown up any more and his fever was gone. I kept him home from school on Tuesday, and sent him back on Wednesday. I got another call from the school Wednesday morning that his fever was back and I needed to pick him up. He was clearly miserable and I assumed he just wasn't over the virus yet. I took him back to the doctor on Thursday since he still had a fever and had been complaining about his stomach more and more. We saw the same doctor as we had seen on Monday, and he ran a strep test, checked his ears, and checked his oxygen levels. Caleb had a small ear infection so he was put on an antibiotic for that. By Friday, he was getting worse, to the point that he was lying on the couch moaning and clutching his stomach. This is typically what you would see with a stomach virus, but it was concerning because he was not throwing up (he had only thrown up once at pre-school on Monday). I took him back to the doctor's office, finally seeing a different doctor. She took one look at the pitiful little boy clutching his abdomen and limping into the exam room and told me we needed to take him to the Emergency Room right away. She called the hospital to let them know we were coming, and I put the boys in the van. I called my Dad and asked him to pick up Chloe from kindergarten that afternoon since I wouldn't be able to get her. I also called my sister, who happened to be working in the ER at that time. She talked to the charge nurse (whom we have known for many years), and they were ready for us when we got there. Due to Caleb's condition, we had to go to a room on a hall for more serious illnesses. It wasn't scheduled to open for another 10 minutes after we got there, but they put us in a room right away and we just had to wait a little bit to see a doctor. My Mom arrived shortly after we got there and she took James to their house since ERs are typically full of germs from all of the sick people who come in. My sister also stopped in to see us, although she couldn't be the one to take care of us that day. And Joe raced to the hospital as quickly as he could. The doctors suspected three things could be wrong with Caleb, the least serious of which was Pneumonia. He was sent for x-rays, and sure enough, he had pneumonia. It was on the lower lobe of his lung, which is why he complained about his stomach hurting so much. He also tested positive for Strep throat, which had not shown up in the test done earlier in the week. Caleb was given some antibiotics and fluids through an IV while in the Emergency Room (ER). He started feeling much better and was even able to eat a popsicle (dye-free because they had them on hand!) that evening.  We were able to get some dye-free antibiotics for at home at the hospital and he was able to come home late Friday night. We kept Caleb in all weekend, as well as Monday and Tuesday the following week. The doctor said Caleb could go back to school on Wednesday. And he did.

When I stopped to pick up Chloe from school on Tuesday, I stopped by the office and I was told that Chloe was sick. She had been complaining of feeling sick and was running a fever. When I got to her class, her teacher told me she would need to stay home the following day since she was running a fever. I nearly cried right there in the classroom. This had to be a joke. I couldn't believe Chloe was sick now. And on top of that, it was Valentine's Day. While we were not planning a big celebration that evening, I usually make something special for all of us on Valentine's Day and I was disappointed because I knew Chloe would not be able to enjoy it. I took her in my arms and gave her a big hug and we went home. Joe picked up Chinese food for dinner and Chloe ate a little, even though she's never been a big fan of it. We put Chloe to bed early that evening and she moaned and groaned, and even ended up getting sick. She was clearly not feeling well. Joe stayed home with Chloe and took her to the doctor on Wednesday. Our pediatrician (the one we usually see) ordered x-rays for Chloe, but nothing showed up on the x-rays. Chloe continued to feel worse and worse. She had no appetite, had very little energy and complained of her stomach hurting, but she had not thrown up anymore or had any other symptoms typically seen with a typical stomach virus. I stayed home from work with her on Thursday. On Thursday morning, a nurse from our doctor's office called to check on Chloe. Our pediatrician was not scheduled that day, but felt she needed to check on Chloe so she had called the office and asked them to call and ask. When I told the nurse that Chloe was not doing any better, she said I needed to take Chloe to the Emergency Room. Our doctor was worried about Chloe's appendix. So, we headed to the ER for a second time in less than a week. Again, I called my Dad, and he was able to take James for us and would get Caleb from pre-school that afternoon. I took a little bit of time to prep for this trip to the ER, making a couple of bottles for James and grabbing my breast pump before we left. I drove carefully to the hospital, but Chloe whimpered in pain with each little bump. She asked if I could drive more slowly and not go over the bumps. We got to the ER around 12:30. Unfortunately, there were no rooms open and we had to wait for several hours before we were shown to a room. Chloe perked up a little once we got there, enjoying some of the video games and other activities in the waiting area. She even enjoyed a little Nick Jr. since we don't have cable. She started feeling pretty rotten before too long, though, and by the time we finally got into a room, around 4:00 p.m., Chloe felt so terrible that I actually had to carry her back. I knew this was something serious. Things seemed to move fairly quickly once Chloe finally got into a room. She was hooked up to an IV, which was no easy task since she had had blood taken the previous day when she had x-rays taken, and she was not going to take it easily. This time, they skipped the x-rays and went straight to an ultrasound for her. As we waited for a nurse to come back and get Chloe from the ultrasound area, I overheard the ultrasound technician talking on the phone to the surgical team say that she couldn't even see Chloe's appendix and it looked like it had ruptured. When we went back to the ER room, the PA and doctor attending to us told us that it looked like there was a problem with Chloe's appendix and let us know that the surgical team would be coming in to talk with us. We were very blessed that one of the best surgeons at the hospital was the surgeon who was on duty. Not only was he a skilled surgeon, he also had a good bedside manner and patiently answered our questions both prior to and after the surgery. The team quickly whisked Chloe away to surgery and we let our friends and faraway family know what was happening via Facebook. Thanks to the wonderful world of social networking, we had hundreds of people praying for Chloe. Chloe's surgery went very well, and although her appendix had ruptured, it had fallen down into her abdominal cavity, which kept her insides from getting even messier. The surgery was on Thursday night and Chloe spent the next week in the hospital. It was a tough time, both physically and emotionally, for our family. However, it was also a time in which God's presence was felt very clearly. Our family, church family, neighbors, and friends rallied around our family during this different time. Joe and I wanted to ensure that he or I were with Chloe at the hospital at all times. My parents and sister took turns keeping us company at the hospital, which was especially helpful the first couple of days so we could sneak off to eat when Chloe was not allowed to eat anything. They, along with other family and friends kept an eye on the boys while Joe and I were with Chloe or at work. Thankfully, due to the President's Day holiday, we were able to work our schedules to take as little time off work as possible (I had very little leave to even take), but still spend as much time as possible with Chloe. Since I was breastfeeding James, Joe took the night shift at the hospital and I took the day shift, although he stayed during the day quite a bit as well. As soon as Chloe felt up to visitors, friends and family came to visit. She had more visitors than I ever had following the births of our children!! In addition to the prayers and well wishes of our friends, she was also spoiled with a ton of loot from everyone, everything from balloons to stuffed animals to books to Legos to bagels from Panera! Our neighbors even put together a "survival" bag for Joe and I. And once we returned home, our church family, as well as my co-workers, blessed us with meals for nearly two weeks! The hospital staff was also great to us while we were at the hospital.Chloe had plenty of activities to do while there, and I was able to order food for myself since I was nursing James!! It was a very joyful day for all of us when Chloe was discharged from the hospital the Wednesday after her surgery!! To those of you who were there for us during this crazy month, I again offer our most sincere thank you. Thank you for your prayers, time, meals, visits, and gifts - thank you for being there for us. We had some very specific prayer requests during this time and I know God heard your prayers and answered them.

Despite how rough things were in February 2012, it wasn't all bad. I was reminded of this as I looked through pictures from the month. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the month.

Although this picture was taken when Caleb was struggling with Pneumonia and Strep Throat, I love how peaceful he looks snuggled up on the couch with Red the Firetruck.

This little guy always brings us lots of smiles!

Our little cheerleader!!

Love this look! This was taken the Sunday before her surgery. Her surgeon suspected her appendix had ruptured either this day or the day after.

Another big smile.

Caleb watched Cars and Cars 2 a lot in February. He enjoyed acting out the tractor tipping scene from Cars.

Despite the fact that I take pictures nearly everywhere we go and that Chloe was in the hospital for nearly a week, I don't have any pictures of our time in the hospital. Our time there was not something I wanted to record in pictures and I just couldn't take any pictures there. I did take some pictures of Chloe and all of her balloons on the day we came home. I'm surprised she didn't float to the ceiling with all of those balloons!!

We needed a little comic relief!

Chloe was cleared to go to the trophy ceremony at the end of the month. She couldn't wear her uniform due to the incisions, but we were all thrilled she was well enough to attend the ceremony. As you can see, she was thrilled to get her trophy!!