Getting caught up

So before it gets too far away from me, I wanted to update on some other things.

But first, we heard back from ACH on Monday regarding the cultures Reed had done on Friday. Apparently, they showed that his incision had a yeast infection. I asked the nurse what caused that and she said she didn’t know but that the pathologist had said it was “weird”. Well, okay then. They called in an oral prescription that he only had to take three doses of, along with a topical cream that he has to have for a week. We won’t know for a while still if the cyst is truly gone.

So to recap quickly in photos:

Zach and I had an afternoon/early evening to ourselves to attend the wedding of his co-worker’s daughter! Any time we can get out by ourselves is fun. The kids LOVED their time with their baby sitter and we had a great time!

Last week when Reed couldn’t sleep, I figured there was no use in making him sit in his bed just crying so I let him get up. Babies don’t keep.

These two can pick at each other, but I love that they love each other most of the time!

We are attending an American Girl House party this weekend, and since Ava doesn’t have one of her own yet (though that will change at Christmas!), we borrowed Aunt Stephanie’s old ones to take to the party. Ava was in heaven and hasn’t stopped playing with them!

My precious friend Amanda is so super talented, and I’ve been wanting her to teach me how to make deco mesh wreaths. Last week was crazy, and she came over on one of the hardest days b/c of Reed, armed with a bottle of wine and that girl time was just what I needed!  

I’m so proud of the first wreath I made!

I also attempted the adorable pumpkin like she made and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out also!

Last Thursday, Ava got to go home with Zach’s parents and spend a few days with them. We headed to get her on Saturday. On the way up, I looked back and couldn’t see Reed b/c his book was so big it was covering him!

He also enjoyed a Chick-fil-a breakfast on the way! 

The kids enjoyed having another birthday celebration!

Reed got a flashlight and he kept running to his room that night to be “in da dark” so he could see his light. So cute!

 

We had one of the kids’ favorites for dinner Sunday night – spaghetti!

I cannot believe this little man is going to be two on Monday. It truly feels like it was just yesterday that we were waiting on him to get here!!!!

And FINALLY! Monday was the anniversary of mine and Zach’s first date. That was 8 years ago. I went into it being somewhat skeptical just because we hadn’t been compatible when we first met, but I was so pleasantly surprised by how well we hit it off that night. I’m so thankful I went and even more thankful he wanted me to be his wife!

Whew! I need to keep up better so that I don’t have these long posts trying to squeeze in all the memories I want to remember!!!

Not out of the woods yet

I wish I could say my lack of posting has been due to us having had a super fun, exciting week. In reality, last week was kind of one I’d like to leave behind.

Last weekend, we noticed that Reed’s incision had drainage coming out of it. It wasn’t a large amount, but enough to be worrisome. He also started sleeping TERRIBLY. We had one night where he was up over two hours past his bedtime, and when he finally went to bed, he woke up every two hours. Tuesday morning I called the nurse line at ACH and left a message telling them what was going on. They called me back and asked some questions, and since he wasn’t running fever, and I didn’t know if it was red or swollen, she said just to watch it and call back if it got worse.

Well, that evening I got him home, and he was so cranky, and so just not himself. I gave him a bath and when I got him out, I saw that there was more drainage, it was red looking, and it was a little puffy, though I wouldn’t say swollen. I went ahead and called the on call ENT doctor at ACH. He listened to me describe the issues. When he had his surgery, the infection he had wasn’t compatible with the antibiotic he was on. Because at his follow up, he didn’t show any signs of the infections still remaining, we never did start him on another antibiotic. I wondered if the infection had just come back.

The on call doctor told me that a lot of time when the drainage starts like that, it means they didn’t get all of the cyst. He said that they are just incredibly tricky, and can get wrapped around the hyoid bone, and sometimes they just can’t get it all. He told me that we needed to go ahead and come down to have him checked out.

I called the office Wednesday morning and heard from a nurse around 11:00. She took all the information and said she needed to talk to a doctor. I hadn’t heard from them at 3:45 so I went ahead and called our pediatrician and asked them about starting an antibiotic. Well, after I called, ACH called back and told us to bring him down on Friday. THEN, our pediatrician called us back and the nurse took all the info, and when she called back she said he didn’t want to start meds, and normally didn’t for a sinus infection until a list of things happened. She said something about drainage and managing it and I told her I was more concerned about the drainage from his incision. She had misunderstood me. So she talked to the doctor again and then called us back and said they’d call in an antibiotic compatible with the bacteria he’d had at surgery, and told us to come in on Thursday. I was thankful to start meds b/c Wednesday evening Reed was just inconsolable. He didn’t feel well and he was just miserable. This was pretty heartbreaking because for a couple of weeks he had felt SO good and we really thought we’d turned a corner.

He looked Reed over on Thursday, mostly to make sure the issue wasn’t severe enough to send us to the ER at ACH on Thursday. He said many things could have caused the drainage and he didn’t know what it was and that they could help us better at ACH. He also said in his years of practice (30+), in all the cases he has sent to LR to have operations, none had ever come back with complications before Reed. Go figure right?! I would say that with all the complications he’s had with this thing, I truly wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up having to have another surgery.

Because of this, Zach went ahead and took him on Friday and I stayed back. They didn’t have him in the system as having an appointment, but they got it all worked out and got him called back. They came in and looked at him and said they needed to drain it again and get some cultures. When Zach texted me this, I pretty much fell apart. When he’d had it drained the first time, it was absolutely awful. It was awful for Reed and awful for us and I felt so terrible that I wasn’t there for Reed and to help Zach. We truly didn’t think they’d do anything like that or I would've been there in a heartbeat! He called me when it was over and said Reed had done well and that it wasn’t as bad as the first time, thankfully. They said it’s too early to know if the cyst is completely gone. His doctor believes it’s one of two things: recurrence of the infection or a suture infection, where the suture didn’t dissolve and his body is rejecting it. One side of the incision had closed nicely but the other side hadn’t so the doctor felt a suture infection was very possible. The antibiotic our pediatrician prescribed is the right one for what the infection at time of surgery was, so we are going to finish that out. If the cultures come back this week telling us something different, we’ll change at that point. We now have to return on November 1 for another check up.

Reed is feeling mostly better, but he’s not all the way 100% yet. I’m hopeful this week sees him feeling much better. I was SO thankful to see this big smile Friday evening after the rough day he’d had!

 

So, while it’s not terribly serious, we are definitely not out of the woods yet, which is discouraging. (Let me also say I know things could be SO SO SO much worse, and while it’s hard, I’m thankful this battle is one that I KNOW he will be 100% healed, just not when.) This poor kid has a couple weeks where he feels better, and then he quickly turns a corner. I’m praying that soon this will all be a distant memory!

Birthday party!!

We have this really cute little “park” in our downtown and as I was trying to figure out where to have Ava’s birthday party, I came across their website which said they have parties! After doing some research, I decided this was the best place for us to have it.

How cute is this? It has this old Ferris wheel and the carousel! I was worried all week about the party b/c of the rain forecast. It started raining on Thursday night and into Friday, but as promised, it cleared off around midday! It was the PERFECT evening for an outdoor party. Not too hot, not too cold – just a beautiful evening!

After being so impressed with her planner, I asked Jennifer to design the invite and she did NOT disappoint!

We invited all of Ava’s classmates and a few of our other friends outside of school! The kids had armbands to ride the rides for an hour and ride they did! Some of them just stayed on the carousel and rode it over and over and some of them ventured the Ferris wheel which is HIGH and when it was going, moved REALLY fast!!!!! We had such a fun night! After the hour of rides were over, we had cupcakes and we sent the kids on their way with boxes of popcorn as favors! It was such a fun and perfect, low-key party!

   

I would do a party here again all over! It was the best party and I’m so glad we got to have fun there! Thanks to all of Ava’s buddies who came and celebrated with us!!!

How Ava Spent her Birthday

 

I think it’s safe to say that Ava had an awesome 5th birthday!!!! She was showered with love, songs, treats and happiness all day long!!!!!

   

She got a package in the mail the day before her birthday from her Uncle Stephen and Aunt Leslie. We talked to them on face time while she opened it and they lit a candle and sang happy birthday to her! She loved it!

We sent Ava off to bed because we knew we had some work to do to get ready for her birthday morning!

Zach had a football game he had to be at last night, so we knew he wouldn’t be home to do any birthday celebrations. Instead, we decided to do our celebrating in the morning! The night before, after she went to bed, we blew up some balloons and put up some small decorations. Her gift was in a little bigger box than I expected and I didn’t have enough paper so we made do with a blanket! Whatever works, right?

We woke up and got ready before she woke up and I popped some cinnamon rolls in the oven. She woke up and saw her balloons. She was a little slow getting started but she she saw her big gift from us sitting on the kitchen table, she kicked it into high gear! While we waited for the cinnamon rolls to cool, we went ahead and let her open her gifts. (Please note that in the background you can hear Reed repeating everything Ava says!)

  

We then sang Happy Birthday and let her blow out candles! I have to share the way Reed says happy birthday because it really is too cute for words!

We took a couple five year old photos and then headed to school.

As we walked through the halls, Ava was wished happy birthday by several people. She was greeted by her teacher with a big happy birthday and a big hug! 

I returned to her class at snack time with cookies for her and her classmates! I LOVED what they sang in addition to regular old happy birthday!

 

All the kids loved the cookies! One little boy said “Ava’s mom, those are the best cookies ever. Will you bring them for my birthday?!” Hilarious.

I had promised Ava I would eat lunch for her on her birthday and on their birthday, they are allowed to have food brought in so I asked her what she wanted and she said a happy meal. So that’s what momma took. It was funny – I was there like 25 minutes and I heard “Ava’s mom” like 100 times. Preschoolers are FUNNY!

After school, I picked them up and when we got home, Ava had another surprise waiting for her – Aunt Stephanie! My sister was here today and came and spent the evening with us. I went and picked up Ava’s choice for dinner (Mexican!) and we ate at home and then we headed to watch Daddy’s kids perform!

After we got home and she and I were laying in her bad, I told her I hoped she’d had a special day. She said “I did. You’re the best mommy ever!” Cue tears! I was glad we could make today special for her. She’s a special kid and she definitely enjoyed having the spotlight on her today! ;) Later tonight is her birthday party with her friends and she is excited! I think it will be super cute and can’t wait to share it with you!!!! Then we have one more celebration next weekend with Zach’s family. We’re having a big birthday shebang since there are 5 birthdays to celebrate! I don’t think Ava minds though! Thanks to all for the birthday wishes for her. She had a great day and we loved getting to celebrate our sweet girl!