Not Just Another Tuesday...

Today has been a really special day. Hannah Parker got to stay home with Mommy today...this has never happened before!! I know, hard to believe, but it's true. I have kept Houston home for a "special" day and poor Hollise had a "special" week bc she was sick...so over the last two years either Hannah has been well and in daycare or home with Hollise or Houston sick.

I wish I could just bottle the smile that was on her face this morning when she realized she was staying home with me. And I let her just enjoy her time with me...as I did her. We baked brownies for the Montforts, made sugar cookies with blue icing (picked out by Hannah), she ate whatever she wanted all day, and nearly past out at 4 this afternoon from being wore out. I hope she enjoyed herself today bc I sure did!!! Each of our children are SO different in their own way and I wish you all could feel the love from my children. Many times today Hannah would tackle me with a great big hug and look at me and say, "I love you Mommy"....oh, I just wish you could feel what happens in my heart. I want to laugh and cry all at the same time. I hope they don't ever loose this way they have with showing their feelings.

Also, we had a bit more excitement today. We got a new o2 monitor for Drew. And this one is portable...Whoo Hoo! After the girl tried numerous times to find a good place to get a reading on Drew she expressed her appreciation and understanding of my frustrations and understood why I wanted a new monitor!!!

Thursday we'll go to an Ear, Nose, and Throat dr with Drew. This is a regular follow up since he was on the Oscillator and a Ventilator. I'm sure we won't have any trouble...but who knows the way things are going. Please keep this appointment in mind when praying for Drew.

We have a follow up appt Friday with Dr. Ruff and again the Pulmonary appt is April 10.

Please continue to pray and again...we really feel your prayers! I was so tickled to get a comment from Mrs. Linda and Mr. Ed, I LOVE THEM!!! Who doesn't!? Anyone can leave us a comment by choosing to leave an "anonymous" comment and of course you can type in your name during your message. I didn't realize how many people reading this now. It really means so much for people to care so much for our family.

Budget girls, love and miss you!!!

Oh...I've slept great this weekend!

Being home has been so nice. Even though we were only gone a couple of days...with 6 people in our house having to be situated it seriously turned our world upside down! We came home finding the kids cups still having a little chocolate milk in them from breakfast..ugh...they quickly went to the garbage.

Drew is really sleeping good back in his bed. He is waking up about midnight and btwn 4 and 5 in the morning. I'm sure he's needing that extra fluid right now and it amazes me how God equips them with the knowledge of things they need. His tummy is still a bit upset from the antibiotics and his cough is extremely wet. He's getting enough up this morning that I can start suctioning his mouth some to help get rid of all that. On that note...

***Shout out to anyone, you know who you are!, that have any of those wonderful bulb syringes that you get from the hospital :) Our house could use a couple of those...no pressure

Hannah, Hollise, and Houston have been having the best time going back and forth with Grandparents. They'll be back home tonight hopefully, we'll see how Drew does today.

Thanks everyone for Praying for us! On our end we can actually see God working in our lives.

Coming Home...

We're coming home this afternoon. With blood work and everything showing no infections there's no reason for us to hang out here anymore :) They're sending us home with breathing treatments, 10 days of antibiotics, follow up with Dr Ruff next week and well come back for Pulmonology appt April 10th. He's still on 1/2 a liter right now but doing wonderful! Still a little fussy and restless this morning but he's been on strong antibiotics so that's to be expected.

Probably will be a few days before I'm able to update again but I can update facebook from my phone. So that's what I'll do as I get a chance. Thank you all and keep your Prayers coming!!

Good Morning

I'm not sure if I really feel rested today or maybe I just don't know the difference anymore. I know if I don't watch Alan he'll be taking a nap before I know it :) I wish I could do that. He is really good about trying to nap/sleep when Drew does. I'm terrible at that!! It takes so long for my mind to stop thinking of so many different things so that I can actually sleep. But I did sleep about 5 hours last night!!

Ok..since the first paragraph I've been trying to complete this update for the last hour. Drew took priority being really fussy and uncomfortable this morning. He's eating good, but not so much 4 ounces at one feeding right now (which is normal for him). He's eating a couple of ounces here and there. His tummy is hurting some, or he appears as though it is. He's having a bit of an upset stomach this morning, but I've got him comfortable and watching his mobile right now.

A lot has gone on in the last little bit. The doctor and RT listened to him this morning and thought his wheezing was getting better and really they weren't hearing any this morning. They both said they could hear a little more air moving in the upper right lung than heard yesterday. Recent blood work and urine are coming back negative for infection...WhooHoo! This means the Rocephine (spell?) and fluids are working. Drew is trying to cough up a good bit of stuff. It's not actually coming up but it sounds as though it's loosening in his chest...which is great. The doctor this morning told me not to be surprised in the next day if all of a sudden he has lots of stuff coming out his nose. To me things are starting to look and sound a little better.

He's still the happiest, sick baby I've ever seen! I always thought me and my brother Randle were the only kids who loved having our blood pressure taken. We thought the thing tightening on our arm was really cool...go figure. But Drew is fan as well, lol.

So...let me just throw this out there for all of the nurses out there. Well, not all.... the majority are Happy, Nice, Pleasant Nurses. Keep in mind I'm NOT a nurse..this is me speaking as a Mother!
*If you've never been introduced to me or my child and your taking care of us for the next 12 hours it would be nice when you walk in to SMILE and introduce yourself.
*Given the fact your taking care of us in a hospital or doctors office is a sure sign that WE are the ones having the BAD day!! So you may want to check that attitude at the door.
*When I ask you questions...I'm not questioning your abilities as a nurses!! I'm questioning you because I haven't had any medical training so some words you use are foreign to me or I may simply want you to explain something a little more. Also I may be questioning you bc the last shift nurse may have given me a different impression....so I have been told two different things and you are the one here now so you are the one stuck explaining the entire thing again and why he/she may have told me something different. Please don't sigh, shrug, or roll your eyes!
*Just like in my job where I key several different data entries concerning numerous people, I understand you see TONS of patients in a day! But, you happen to be in a profession (which you chose) that requires you to stop, take a moment and remember that I have been waiting several hours (in a hospital setting) for you to walk in the door and give me some sort of update. So please try to appear to be happy, attempt to care, and treat us as actual people and not just another part of your job.

I don't mean at all that we're having a bad experience here!! It's AWESOME!! I think just lack of sleep, being away from Hannah, Hollise, and Houston, and Alan not being with me when they were going back and forth about the appt just sent me for a loop.....which is why is would be good for people to SMILE

Hope I'm not offending anyone!! Then again maybe I've been offended today. We are not seeing the Pulmonologist today. I know just like Alan and I so many of you have been waiting on this appointment with us. Apparently lack of communication somewhere gave me the impression until about 9 this morning that we would be having someone come and get us to take us to the appointment. The doctor has come by and explained the Pulmonologist has been updated on Drew and is comfortable waiting until April 10 to see him. It will also be a follow up of sorts I guess. I'm okay with this now...I had just been told a few different things and didn't understand how 3 different people in a matter of hours were telling me different things.

Well...that's enough for now. Drew is sleeping now and not moving around as though he is uncomfortable anymore. So hopefully he will rest for a little while. Alan has gone home to change out or clothes and get Drew his bouncer/swing. One of the girls from the Activity Room are coming to sit with him in a little bit so I can go down to the cafeteria. By the way the bacon here in the morning is SO good! And directions here are tricky to catch on to but I'm getting the hang of it. For instance...if someone tells you take a left, your first right, look for the ATM's, right again, thru some doors and then you'll see it....this means you must assume they're telling you to go to the first floor, take a right off the elevators, go down a ramp, find the correct hall to be on then follow directions. Oh and a right turn could really be a curve in the hall or a zig zag to the right, lol. But this place is wonderful!

Update this morning....

We made it through the night just fine. Drew is resting really well without all the crazy things going on at home. You know it's never quiet at our house and really someone is always demanding some sort of attention from Alan or me. We're able to stop and be right here for Drew with any need he has.

He came down to 1/2 a liter yesterday, back up about midnight to a 1 liter and now he's doing good at 1/2 a liter. At home he's been fine at 1/8 a liter with only being turned up to about a 1/4 sometimes at night. So he has needed more oxygen with the pneumonia...but I feel that's to be expected so it has not made us uncomfortable that he's needed more. Actually I feel it's giving him a break right now from working so hard. Also, given his past troubles and pneumonia now I think he's holding his own pretty well!!! He's a very tough little boy.

This morning they were taking some blood and Drew does not have the best veins!! He just smiles and the nurses and doesn't shed a tear..unless he's getting a shot. For some reason you can take all the blood you want but don't put anything in...he doesn't like that :) He gets this from his Daddy and Houston for sure. You never know they're sick unless a test tells you they are, lol. They're tough guys.

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers. Along with Drew, Alan and I are really worn down. I'm so tired and have a terrible cough!! Hannah, Hollise, and Houston are doing great. They didn't like getting dropped of at school today by Mimi...they wanted to sucker her into keeping them all day! They're having a good time at their house. They all love their GrandMama, Mimi, and Gammy but really it's their Papaw's that tend to get all the credit :)

We'll update again after seeing the doctor today. I'm going to get a shower (thank goodness!!) because Mom and Grandmother are coming to visit and bring me some medicine!!!

Sick Again

Just as everyone got over the stomach virus this terrible cough took over! Hannah, Hollise, and Houston have the typical cold/allergy stuff from all the pollen in the air (ugh!!). Little Drew on the other hand had just a cough and now he has pneumonia.
He had been coughing, along with the other three, for the last few days. He hasn't been running a fever and everyone by last Friday night really appeared/sounded better. Drew began loosing his voice...he would cry or attempt to make noises but you couldn't hear anything coming out. We got a humidifier and that really helped loosen things up. I really thought he was getting better too. Until this morning...
About 3 or 4 a.m. Drew started this terrible cough. Much worse than he has had. It was a constant cough that just would not stop. He threw up his bottle from his deep coughing and he was producing tons of bubbles and drool from his mouth...much more than should ever have been coming out. A little blood work, a few x rays, and one ambulance ride later and here we are in the Batson Children's Hospital in Jackson.
Drew has pneumonia in his right lung. We have had to go up a good bit on his oxygen today and since about 4:30 this afternoon he's been steady at about 1/2 a liter. His heart rate is good and his respiration have come down to a normal range. This morning he was breathing pretty fast!
They're running a few more test in the morning. We'll update tomorrow after we've talked to his doctor. Not sure there will be much to report, but we'll wait and see.
Thank you all for praying on such short notice today!!! Please continue to pray for out little guy. Drew has been very patient with all that is going on. I'm so proud of him. He's a very strong little boy. Hopefully Alan and I can get some sleep tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's seriously needed.
Daddy and Gina have Hannah, Hollise, and Houston...word is they could care less about Mommy and Daddy right now. I'm sure they're having a good time. We've borrowed my brother's lap top so we'll be able to continue updating everyone as we can on the blog.

BBC girls...I miss you all too. Maybe I'll be able to chat a bit with you all tomorrow.

Michellle

No Fun at Our House!!!

This last week has been filled with sick little children. It all started with getting back to school and finding out there was a "possible" tummy virus going around. Let me point out that if someone has a tummy virus at school "possible" isn't the word to use...it's there and it spread like wild fire!
Hannah had it first followed by Hollise only hours later. A few hours in the ER, good meds, and we got a little sleep (i stress little). Things were going right along and we thought we had it made with only the girls getting sick until Wednesday. Houston got sick and the poor baby even got sick during the night. I felt so bad for him. But once I was home with Houston and Drew all by myself I just know Drew was going to get sick. I stressed and stressed until I found myself in tears!! My Mom came out and rescued me...but Drew still got sick. He's getting a little better. We're still on diluted formula right now bc he just can't handle regular strength. But all in all things are starting to look better. Thank you Jesus!

Today the triplets have gone to watch Uncle Parker and Uncle Presly ride horses...maybe they'll come home really tired :)

I don't mean to brag or anything :) but our kids are so cute!!!

So I don't update for several days and now I'm loading pics like crazy :)

I know I've got several pics in pj's and Hollise does have pretty bad bed hair, but what can I say....We're loving just being lazy

We are enjoying family time!!

We do have our appointment now with the Pediatric Pulmonologist. We'll go to Jackson March 27th for the appointment. I'm not sure which doctor we will see (or if there's more than one?), but that's when we're going. I'm feeling really good about Drew's progress this last week. On oxygen he's been holding his saturation above 95 (anything over 92 is good). I have been able to take him off oxygen each morning for a couple of hours this week!! That's awesome!! I'm really proud of him. When he takes a longer nap and at night I have to turn him up a little higher on the oxygen, but that's to be expected. I feel confident we'll have a good appointment.

On to other things...Friday, Alan was home because of the rain and we got a wild hair. We called some friends that have a condo in Gulf Shores and it was empty this weekend. So we loaded up the van and down we came. We all needed a break from the same old scenory. Of course with Drew we can't go out to eat and do the normal beach stuff. But that's just fine! Being able to be in a different place and just hang out in pj's and ordering out good food has been great for us. It's also taken the kids away from all their toys and they've started noticing Drew more. They's been talking to him and making him laugh. Alan and I have stopped several times to just watch and enjoy our wonderful gifts from God. We're so fortunate to have these 4 children. About 3 this morning I woke up to tell Alan Drew was awake and he should get up to feed him (ha!)....and I looked over and Houston and Hannah were curled up together like they used to do in the isolate in the hospital. They were the sweetest I've seen then in a while. At home they have separate beds and haven't slept together since they were about 3 months old. It was so nice to see them in that moment.

I hope you enjoy some new pics