Christmas Eve, Eve

As is becoming a tradition, we got together with mark's family the night before Christmas Eve to do our family exchange. The girls love getting dressed up for parties so I forced them to take a few pictures before we left.

 

They are all getting way too big, way too fast. It breaks my heart how fast it's happening.

We got out the bouncer out for Parker who just LOVED it and Hadley couldn't stop pushing her.

Parker hanging out with Emmie, taking all the fun in!

Me?

Hadley is sassy and full of spunk but I absolutely adore her confidence. The girl does not shy away from a crowd, a new group, or a camera.

Gwen taking time with her Uncle Jiptz

My oldest girls checking out the squirrels.

Hadley loving on her new things from Grandma BeBe

 

Parker's at the fun age where she likes the wrapping more than what's inside!

Oh my Gweny, still in her shy stage where she doesn't want to pose or enter to a new group. Once she warms up though, she has the ability to melt any heart.

Camera Cord

So living between two houses has caused me to LOSE and LEAVE things at the wrong place. It is chaos?!?! So finally. I have my camera, my camera cord, and my laptop in one place?!?!

Finally time to recap December :)

 

I picked up a kit to make a rice krispie train for the holidays and of course decided Grandma and Grandpa could start a tradition...

 

Gwen is focusing very hard...

 

Mason working hard... 

 

Grandma giving a helping hand

 

Mason caught in the act...snacking on the decorations. He's give us this face then you would hear CRUNCH, CRUNCH, snickering, and smiles...

 

Mom, I'm done. Stop!!

 

Mae posing.



Mark's handy work of adding Santa to their design...

 



We don't want to pose any more, but okay. Check out that train :)

On Mark's birthday Parker got her tubes put in...finally after 6 ear infections and just too many doctors visits and nonresolving infections. Plus, we've seen how much they help with Hads and Gwen so knew that we wanted her to get the same relief!!

She didn't go in until 11 so had to be without a bottle since five. Poor thing. She did well actually.

There's the silly Parker crinkle face...

Man do I love this girl. I love all my girls, but of late I've gotten to bond with Parker quite a bit, between tubes, hospitalization, and flu I've gotten a lot of one on one time that I worried about not getting with number three. There are always little moments that you can sneak away and get sucked into Parker land. She has this new found sassy girl mode which I fully blame on her hospitalization, but adore it. She is cruising around furniture and started standing without holding on this weekend. I had her walking around just holding onto one hand tonight and Hadley and Parker kept screaming "she's walking?!?! MOMMY SHE'S WALKING!!!"

This is Hadley's annoyed face. I'm going to say that it's because she was so mad about having the flu...even though that happened a month later, but this face is becoming normal with her lately. Something about almost five is equal to attitude...attitude...and attitude.

Parker enjoying dinner as a family a Frickers. We only get Friday and Saturday night as a whole so we don't want to waste time cooking...okay I don't want to waste time cooking!!

 

Parker has a fan. My co-worker, Julie's daughter, Anna is quite possible in love with Parker. Talking about her constantly, taking her pictures to school, buying her snacks, paci's, hair things. She is too precious about it. When we visit with them Parker is not put down one time. She had to put this hat on her...Parker loved it but this was the only picture I snapped.

Back to "Normal"

Sunday morning we woke up to the best news. Plans to go home :) The doctors took out the drain at about 7 in the morning. We had to get all our paperwork around, IVs out, and prescriptions filled prior to finally taking of at one.

 

 

She was getting restless, but as always adorable and NO MORE turtle neck :)

 

 

What Mommy??

 

 

This face looks like trouble!!

 

 

She became obsessed with pointing out the lights. It's too cute. She just hisses instead of saying the lll part. Points up and says "sssssss"

The car ride home was SO NICE, but she seemed terrified. My parents brought Hadley and Gweny back to the house and Parker was SOOOOO excited to see them. She just kept screaming.

She still couldn't go to the sitter so I stayed home with her on Monday. She got a sink bath which was super refreshing I'm sure, after all the wipes baths.

On Monday her appetite definitely returned. She is now back :) Being at Childrens for that long really made me reflect on how much we are blessed. Of course, it wasn't our best week, but she was able to get the care she needed and is now better. Some parents have to take up residence at the hospital for much sicker children that may or may not recover.  God is good.

 

 

Parkie Park

 

So another day survived on A North at Children's Hospital. We woke up finding out she didn't have a working IV, which was not exactly what we wanted to hear. She had one more IV dose, then they were going to switch to oral to make sure she could take/handle the medication. So, just our luck she developed a red area about the time her IV stopped working and because of that we had to go for a new IV. The IV team came in and ROCKED it out. Super quick and super good!!! She got her last IV dose and tolerated the oral just fine this evening. She's borderline dehydrated and still not overly interested in food, but we've been forcing bottles down :) NO MORE FLUIDS darn it!!! She likes her freedom to play on the mat.

 We got the final verdict on the cultures, but that was during the time mom left to nap and clean up so we can't exactly "recall" what the doctors said. We will find out more tomorrow at rounds :) She's done well. Tired, a little cranky and sometimes mad at the staff for poking and proding, but overall she has been a trooper.

Mark made it in late last night and I went to bed. It was awesome. She was soooooo excited to see her dada she stayed up with him until about 1130. It's so nice to be able to go grab a pop, shower, get water, take a walk, or do anything and not worry about leaving her alone with her blasted IV. Plus, the adult conversation is quite stellar. We hung out together this AM waiting on what was going on with the IV and redness, visited with Mandy who works in the NICU, then I ran home :) Slept three hours, showered, grabbed dinner and came back. Daddy was so good, learning what the staff needed from him and making her calm down when she's fussy. We got to watch the Bengals game together, skype her sisters, and just have play time as a family. It has been a great day. Best of all was that we are still planning for discharge tomorrow. WOOOOHOOO!!!!!!!!

 

Getting lovings from Dada, man did she miss him!

 

Double fisting her IVs hahahaha, the one on her left was not working so they placed the other. Later the nurse came and pulled the bad one but she was NOT happy to have them both without function!!

Love this profile. We used a waterless shampoo cap since her combover was super greasy. Mark and I were cracking up and she just loved having it on her head.

She was in quite a mood for her last IV, so daddy held her through it :)

Dad's got the magic touch for nap time.

She's a wild women in this "cage"!!!!!!!!!!

 

She started getting a little slap happy this evening. Screaming for no reason!?

 

This face says it all. I'm going to be alright!

 

Double fisting IVs, working my shower cap, AND still hanging with my turtle neck (covering her drain on the back of her neck)

 

 

Sweet dreams everyone, already asleep tonight!

What a Day

So January third will forever be "what a day." Most people know the girls were staying up North at the new house this week. Grandma Bebe was in town helping dad with his new role, waking at two am and dealing with the kiddos in the evening. Then they would go to Pat's for daycare. That was the plan, mom to have a week all to herself relaxing/ cleaning the basement up. However on Wednesday night at 2:30 AM (so techinically Thursday), everything changed. I get a call, Mark is nervous. She has a sore on the back of her head that has just blown up, she is running a fever, and has no interest in sleeping...for the second night in a row. I cannot think because it's the middle of the night and I had to call my parents for a brainstorm. Pawpaw says, "we're on our way." Pawpaw and Grandma Bebe show up in Cincinnati at 6:30 in the morning. We get her a doctors appointment, thinking I will go to the office, have it drained and be back home. Primary care says, well I'd really like a surgeon to look at this, but their are no outpatient appointments today so head down to the emergency room I'll call ahead for you. We head to Children's ER. Sit through triage, get a room. Doctor down there says, "well because her size and the location I want her to talk with the ENT surgery team and operating room to see if they can add her on."

 So ENT surgery team comes in, takes a culture and says well we have two options. We can start antibiotics IV and see what happens, or the better option is to go in clean it out and see what we are working with. Well obviously since it has gotten bigger since we arrived I voted for getting it cleaned out. Then he runs off on an emergency page. And we wait. And she's hungry and not too happy about it. And she's fussy. And she finally lays down for a nap and the doctor finally comes back. Says he's talked to the team. They want to take her into surgery today.

 IV gets started which was of course traumatic for me, lol NOBODY hurts my BABY!! However, they got it on first stick. Then we waited. Operating room still had a spot at the end of the day, so we got in. Mind you not we are about 6 hours in at this point, have been in six different rooms and haven't ate since breakfast so we didn't upset her. I am delirious by now!!

 Go to pre-op, meet the attending who by the way IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He says two things can happen- 1 we go in and it's not too bad, we clean it out and pack it, you go home; 2 we go in, there's a lot of tunneling we clean it out, put in a drain and you're here until Sunday with IV antibiotics and the "rubberband" drain. My response, "Do whatever is best." One of my favorite parts during that conversation was when he said, "this is pretty routine," to which I immediately responded, "I love to hear you say that, but nothing is routine because this is my baby Parker ,take care of her." My dad and the doctor chuckled. I find out the OR nurses both have 10 month old kiddos so they "have a special place in their hearts." Then I find out the one has a five year old and three year old ALL GIRLS as well. Man, do I feel God's work and realize she is totally safe. These are the people He will have take great care of her and we will make her feel better.

 

Surgery goes perfect, however the drain was necessary. Get to PACU, she is of course sleepy and adorable. Next it's off to our final destination, the surgery floor. Keeping her in a crib has  been challenging, but the doctor came in today and took her off the monitors and continuous IV fluids, now she just has to hook up to get her antibiotic four times daily. They have found it to be staph a and we wait until tomorrow to see if it's MRSA. Completely no rhyme or reason why a simple zit or pimple became agitated and then got staph, it just happens. Both the other two girls had something much less severe that just got drained with oral and topical antibiotics and did fine.

 So far things look good, the staff is AMAZING and she is hanging in there. I am excited for Mark to get in so maybe I can leave this room. Isolation is for the birds?!?!

 

 This is in the ER when she was still going along with everything, not to starved, not stabbed or squeezed, just usual Parker.

This is when she realizes she's not getting food and it's getting pretty annoyed with EVERYONE!

She doesn't take a pacifier so I improvised, this would be the bottle top but look closely, she's asleep...THANK GOODNESS!

Sweet baby. Waiting to go to OR.

PACU, she looked a little off, but was as always sweet as pie.

This morning her neck had gotten stiff and she definitely wasn't interested in sitting up. Some Tylenol and multiple attempts made it work.

My sweet, sweet girl.

Her crib looks so much like a cage and of course she slams into it all the time getting fussy because she never does it gently.

Playing peek-a-boo. She's learned to move with the hand in the IV just fine. Now playing with it, well that's a different story.

Since we're in isolation she cannot go to the play room but the staff got us a mat to lay and crawl/play on. That's helped a ton, but still she of course wants to go off and explore on the FILTHY floor, but we will survive :)

More to come tomorrow.