This is one of my most favorite pictures EVER of Jamie! I think he looks so cute here! Matt's Dad's wife Tina had us all over for dinner and pumpkin carving. It was a blast. She is such a great cook and hostess! Jamie hates to get dirty, so I actually carved this one for him. What a silly boy!
Tina helped Lauren with her skeleton. Note her medal around her neck for "scariest". She was so proud. Great idea Tina! She always has sweet thoughts like that!
I can't believe that I have NEVER done this before, but I bought my kids matching Jammies. They may be so mad at me one day, but I loved it. I thought it was soooo cute. I must have washed those Jammies like 5 times so that they could wear them over and over before Halloween was over! I love Jammies and I love Halloween!
Jamie was NOT cooperating with my trying to get a picture of them together, what a stinker! So, here are them INDIVIDUALLY. Jamie is NO poser!
And Lauren is ALWAYS ready for a photo-op! What a cute girl!
Matt's birthday was on Friday October 30th, so we invited some family over for a costume party. I was soo busy with the planning, cleaning, and decorating before the party. DURING the party I was so busy entertaining, chatting, and disaster avoiding that I barely took any pictures! I am so mad at myself for that! Here are a few that I did manage to take, and I am hoping that others that took pictures, will kindly SHARE so that I can add to my sad little collection!
Matt was "Ricky Bobby" and he won a prize for "Most Creative"! Jamie was a vampire and he won for "Scariest", Lauren won for "Cutest" with her kitty costume. I swear it wasn't rigged! Greg won for "Funniest". I got a good shot of him, but due to his wife's request, I am not publishing his photo. He He He.
Matt opening his presents, you can see some of the guests. Matt's sister, Kristen gave Matt a car and Jamie fell in LOVE, of course!! Here he is trying to find where Matt hid it.
Here is my niece Isabella (after she took her costume off), Lauren, and Matt's cousin's son, Enrique. They are all sporting Vampire teeth.
I was surprised that my parents ACTUALLY dressed up! I had to take a pic! Here they are with me and my sister, Ashley. I was a witch, but my hat didn't fit..so, I don't really look much like a witch.
Here is my niece, Madeleine. Wish I woulda got a picture of her in her costume, she was soo cute. Well, she is still cute, even without a costume!
Okay, let me start with the NOT so good part. The day after the party was Halloween. We were so exhausted after the party, so on Saturday we all lounged around all day. The first clue that something wasn't right was that the kids were NOT excited to go Trick-Or-Treating. They were whiny and wanted to quit early. Lauren still put on a smile for the pictures though! That's my girl!
My pretty kitty! Again, Jamie would NOT co-operate with a "brother/sister pic". GRRR!
This was Jamie's best shot. He was a froggy so that he could be warm. What a sad little face!
Here was Jamie's booty:
Lauren's booty:
Next clue that things might not be quite right is that after returning from Trick-Or-Treating, Lauren headed straight to her bed and to my shock, fell asleep! Not even eating a single piece of candy!! After a little nap, I put the kids into their Halloween Jammies one more time for our traditional visit to the grandparents. Everything looks fine, right?!
Grandma "T T" had treat bags for the kids. Lauren ate a few pieces...okay, back to normal....Or so I thought....
I had to work that Sunday after Halloween, so I went to bed early. Lauren had been having a little bit of a cough at night, so to help her sleep Halloween night I gave her some cough medicine. She woke up at 430AM, which is VERY RARE for her, she was asking for more cough syrup. Jamie had slept well that night, which is UNUSUAL for him IF he was sick. BUT to this point he had shown NO signs of being sick except a runny nose. SO, I headed off to work leaving Matt in charge of the kids for the day. When I got off, I was surprised to see Lauren STILL in her Jammies...she is usually the first one up and dressed. I was also shocked to hear that they had moped around all day and not eaten at all, and Jamie had begun to cough. They were also running a fever of 100. We gave them Tylennol to see if anything would change. I had also begun to feel "not so good" when I arrived at work. Matt went outside to do some yardwork and the kids and I decided to chill inside. Jamie was acting SOOO weird, not moving, his eyes kind of spacey, I still couldn't get him to eat, and then he threw up ALL over me. Lauren wasn't much better. I know that I can over-react sometimes and I didn't want to be over-dramatic, but where does the line stop between that and it being a true emergency? My good friend Beth kept urging me to take them to Urgent Care. I must have called my mom five times to ask her what to do. Finally, I got on the WebMD to investigate Swine Flu. **I do want to insert that I have voiced my opinion MANY times that I believe that the Swine Flu thing is a little blown out of porportion** BUT I learned about it and how its largest fatalities are with kids 0-2 years of age and those with previous lung problems. Jamie was BOTH of those. Everytime he gets a cold, it ALWAYS goes to his lungs and he becomes wheezy. It scares me, but happens so often, I am used to it. Well..Beth's words kept rolling in my head and with 10 minutes to spare, at 9:50pm, I just grabbed the kids and not much else and headed to Urgent Care. I paid for ALL of our co-pays, thinking we all had the same thing. The minute the Doctor and Nurse see us, they begin to panic, which scared me. They hooked them up to machines testing their blood oxygen levels, they were both in the low 80s. Jamie was "retracting" meaning that all of his body's energy was being used to help him breathe. I was very unaware of how dire his situation really was. They told us that the kids needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital IMMEDIATELY. They said that the kids were not stable enough to be transported by car, that we would need to go by ambulence! I called Matt and gave him the news to follow us up there. He was just as shocked as I was. It was my first, and hopefully ONLY ride in an ambulence. The kids were champs and handled it all pretty well. So, we arrive at the hospital and they check the kids out, give them breathing treatments and run a few tests. They immediately start treating them for Swine Flu. I am feeling like CRAP too, but trying to be tough for them!! FINALLY we get admitted and we are told we will be there for five days. FIVE DAYS!??!! Scenarios start running threw my head, What about work? What about Lauren's school and her dance class? What about the dog and cat? Oh NO, what about the load of laundry I left in the washing machine? AND I didn't set the TIVO for this week's shows! Well...I think that when you are in that position, you just DO what you have to DO! Especially when your kids look like this....oh poor Jamie:
Lauren STILL in her Halloween PJs with her "Kitty" pigtails.
This is when they FINALLY admitted us! Just tell me WHY you must tell your ENTIRE story to like 15 different people before they admit you. Can't they record it so that the poor mom who is losing her voice and can't swallow doesn't have to talk non-stop for 3 hours?! Seriously!
I have to tell you that the first night there was the worst night of my ENTIRE LIFE!!! We were all tired and not feeling well. Matt went home to move my car from the Urgent Care, make sure the cat and dog were taken care of, AND to move my laundry! He had been up since 430AM when Lauren first woke up that morning, so he was going to sleep at home. In the hospital that first night, they were woken up pretty much CONSTANTLY for vitals, albuterol puffs, swine flu medicine, prednisone, or to re-attach their monitors or oxygen canulas (which they both HATED!). PLUS, their monitors are going off non-stop which throws me out of bed everytime. I was in tears more than once. Those poor nurses must have thought I was a nutso! It was so hard to be strong when I felt so sick. I was coughing non-stop, running a fever, I was tired, worried, and just plain exhausted. Well, we survived that first night and things slowly get better and better. We had a speed bump on the second day as they tell us that they are worried about Lauren because when she isn't on the oxygen, her saturation levels drop so severely that they tell us they are going to do a test on her and if she fails it, she will be moved out of their combined room in the Infant Respiratory Unit into ICU. Oh, my goodness! I just about lost it. I was brave in front of her, but turned to Matt with tears in my eyes and told him that I just didn't know what I would do if I lost her. I think that health and life is something that we take for granted. LUCKILY she passes her test and continually improves! So, we also find out that the Swine Flu test comes back negative, the regular flu test omes back negative too. They tell us that Jamie has Asthma and that we all have the Rhinovirus. YIKES, Rhinovirus? Well, it is just a fancy name for the common cold! A cold? A cold caused all of this? Yup! For the kids the Rhinovirus led to a respiratory infection. After Matt attends the mandatory Asthma class we learn that Jamie in Urgent Care was only ONE step away from TOTAL RESPIRATORY FAILURE! That was the cause of the ambulence ride and the hospitalization. Here is Jamie with his much despised "Oxygen Monitor":
In the dark, it glowed like Rudolph's nose:
Well, slowly they got better and each night got a little easier. As they got better, they got more restless. I begged my parents to come visit to relieve the boredom. They brought toys, yipee! Here is Lauren in her new Princess Crown and Earrings:
A shot with her and Pa Pa Bud. My dad is so cute!
Jamie was being a stinker! Here he is in "time-out". Even in the hospital!
Heading into our third night, things were much better. The kids, as shown here, are both off the oxygen for more extended periods of time. They both took a bath and were FINALLY starting to eat more than a bite or two. This last night, the kids only got woken up ONCE! They both dipped in their oxygen levels during the night, so we were worried about getting to go home. The rule was they had to be totally off oxygen for 8 hours and maintain above 90% saturation on their own.
They were excited to be able to play with each other, and be by each other's sides! Lauren was such a good example for Jamie. While it was hard to watch them both during it all, at least we didn't have to do it at 2 different times and at least they had each other!!! Awww! Again, they are in matching Jammies...NOT as cute this time!
Jamie is my little engineer! I had to take a picture of an example of his creativity. Here he has taken the hand-cuffs my parents gave him, hooked the cuffs to the top of the crib then hooked the tow rope from a car onto that. Where does he get those crazy ideas. He does things like this ALL the time!
Here is a picture of our room, not too shabby!
Lauren in her "mask".
Right as we are about to be discharged, Jamie runs out of gas!
Here is a picture of ALL the toys the kids were able to play with. I have such a great opinion of the hospital. We were treated sooo wonderfully! The staff, all of them, were great. They were patient, understanding, helpful, and kind. The kids food was great and so convenient. I am so lucky to have had the care that we had. Although I am a bit worried to see the bill, I wouldn't have changed a thing!
Here are Matt and the kids after we were "free!" If you can see the sign in the distance...it says "Respiratory Awareness Week". AND was it ever! Especially for us! We are VERY aware now!
And here are my happy kiddos back at home! They are showing off their newest stuffed animals given to them by Matt's boss, John. This sight is the BEST thing in the entire world! I love these kiddos SOOO much! I am so grateful for them! I am thankful for their health!
I also want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, e-mails, calls, texts, etc. We are also very grateful for the friends, family members and co-workers for their help and support. We love you all, thanks again!
My pretty kitty! Again, Jamie would NOT co-operate with a "brother/sister pic". GRRR!
This was Jamie's best shot. He was a froggy so that he could be warm. What a sad little face!
Here was Jamie's booty:
Lauren's booty:
Next clue that things might not be quite right is that after returning from Trick-Or-Treating, Lauren headed straight to her bed and to my shock, fell asleep! Not even eating a single piece of candy!! After a little nap, I put the kids into their Halloween Jammies one more time for our traditional visit to the grandparents. Everything looks fine, right?!
Grandma "T T" had treat bags for the kids. Lauren ate a few pieces...okay, back to normal....Or so I thought....
I had to work that Sunday after Halloween, so I went to bed early. Lauren had been having a little bit of a cough at night, so to help her sleep Halloween night I gave her some cough medicine. She woke up at 430AM, which is VERY RARE for her, she was asking for more cough syrup. Jamie had slept well that night, which is UNUSUAL for him IF he was sick. BUT to this point he had shown NO signs of being sick except a runny nose. SO, I headed off to work leaving Matt in charge of the kids for the day. When I got off, I was surprised to see Lauren STILL in her Jammies...she is usually the first one up and dressed. I was also shocked to hear that they had moped around all day and not eaten at all, and Jamie had begun to cough. They were also running a fever of 100. We gave them Tylennol to see if anything would change. I had also begun to feel "not so good" when I arrived at work. Matt went outside to do some yardwork and the kids and I decided to chill inside. Jamie was acting SOOO weird, not moving, his eyes kind of spacey, I still couldn't get him to eat, and then he threw up ALL over me. Lauren wasn't much better. I know that I can over-react sometimes and I didn't want to be over-dramatic, but where does the line stop between that and it being a true emergency? My good friend Beth kept urging me to take them to Urgent Care. I must have called my mom five times to ask her what to do. Finally, I got on the WebMD to investigate Swine Flu. **I do want to insert that I have voiced my opinion MANY times that I believe that the Swine Flu thing is a little blown out of porportion** BUT I learned about it and how its largest fatalities are with kids 0-2 years of age and those with previous lung problems. Jamie was BOTH of those. Everytime he gets a cold, it ALWAYS goes to his lungs and he becomes wheezy. It scares me, but happens so often, I am used to it. Well..Beth's words kept rolling in my head and with 10 minutes to spare, at 9:50pm, I just grabbed the kids and not much else and headed to Urgent Care. I paid for ALL of our co-pays, thinking we all had the same thing. The minute the Doctor and Nurse see us, they begin to panic, which scared me. They hooked them up to machines testing their blood oxygen levels, they were both in the low 80s. Jamie was "retracting" meaning that all of his body's energy was being used to help him breathe. I was very unaware of how dire his situation really was. They told us that the kids needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital IMMEDIATELY. They said that the kids were not stable enough to be transported by car, that we would need to go by ambulence! I called Matt and gave him the news to follow us up there. He was just as shocked as I was. It was my first, and hopefully ONLY ride in an ambulence. The kids were champs and handled it all pretty well. So, we arrive at the hospital and they check the kids out, give them breathing treatments and run a few tests. They immediately start treating them for Swine Flu. I am feeling like CRAP too, but trying to be tough for them!! FINALLY we get admitted and we are told we will be there for five days. FIVE DAYS!??!! Scenarios start running threw my head, What about work? What about Lauren's school and her dance class? What about the dog and cat? Oh NO, what about the load of laundry I left in the washing machine? AND I didn't set the TIVO for this week's shows! Well...I think that when you are in that position, you just DO what you have to DO! Especially when your kids look like this....oh poor Jamie:
Lauren STILL in her Halloween PJs with her "Kitty" pigtails.
This is when they FINALLY admitted us! Just tell me WHY you must tell your ENTIRE story to like 15 different people before they admit you. Can't they record it so that the poor mom who is losing her voice and can't swallow doesn't have to talk non-stop for 3 hours?! Seriously!
I have to tell you that the first night there was the worst night of my ENTIRE LIFE!!! We were all tired and not feeling well. Matt went home to move my car from the Urgent Care, make sure the cat and dog were taken care of, AND to move my laundry! He had been up since 430AM when Lauren first woke up that morning, so he was going to sleep at home. In the hospital that first night, they were woken up pretty much CONSTANTLY for vitals, albuterol puffs, swine flu medicine, prednisone, or to re-attach their monitors or oxygen canulas (which they both HATED!). PLUS, their monitors are going off non-stop which throws me out of bed everytime. I was in tears more than once. Those poor nurses must have thought I was a nutso! It was so hard to be strong when I felt so sick. I was coughing non-stop, running a fever, I was tired, worried, and just plain exhausted. Well, we survived that first night and things slowly get better and better. We had a speed bump on the second day as they tell us that they are worried about Lauren because when she isn't on the oxygen, her saturation levels drop so severely that they tell us they are going to do a test on her and if she fails it, she will be moved out of their combined room in the Infant Respiratory Unit into ICU. Oh, my goodness! I just about lost it. I was brave in front of her, but turned to Matt with tears in my eyes and told him that I just didn't know what I would do if I lost her. I think that health and life is something that we take for granted. LUCKILY she passes her test and continually improves! So, we also find out that the Swine Flu test comes back negative, the regular flu test omes back negative too. They tell us that Jamie has Asthma and that we all have the Rhinovirus. YIKES, Rhinovirus? Well, it is just a fancy name for the common cold! A cold? A cold caused all of this? Yup! For the kids the Rhinovirus led to a respiratory infection. After Matt attends the mandatory Asthma class we learn that Jamie in Urgent Care was only ONE step away from TOTAL RESPIRATORY FAILURE! That was the cause of the ambulence ride and the hospitalization. Here is Jamie with his much despised "Oxygen Monitor":
In the dark, it glowed like Rudolph's nose:
Well, slowly they got better and each night got a little easier. As they got better, they got more restless. I begged my parents to come visit to relieve the boredom. They brought toys, yipee! Here is Lauren in her new Princess Crown and Earrings:
A shot with her and Pa Pa Bud. My dad is so cute!
Jamie was being a stinker! Here he is in "time-out". Even in the hospital!
Heading into our third night, things were much better. The kids, as shown here, are both off the oxygen for more extended periods of time. They both took a bath and were FINALLY starting to eat more than a bite or two. This last night, the kids only got woken up ONCE! They both dipped in their oxygen levels during the night, so we were worried about getting to go home. The rule was they had to be totally off oxygen for 8 hours and maintain above 90% saturation on their own.
They were excited to be able to play with each other, and be by each other's sides! Lauren was such a good example for Jamie. While it was hard to watch them both during it all, at least we didn't have to do it at 2 different times and at least they had each other!!! Awww! Again, they are in matching Jammies...NOT as cute this time!
Jamie is my little engineer! I had to take a picture of an example of his creativity. Here he has taken the hand-cuffs my parents gave him, hooked the cuffs to the top of the crib then hooked the tow rope from a car onto that. Where does he get those crazy ideas. He does things like this ALL the time!
Here is a picture of our room, not too shabby!
Lauren in her "mask".
Right as we are about to be discharged, Jamie runs out of gas!
Here is a picture of ALL the toys the kids were able to play with. I have such a great opinion of the hospital. We were treated sooo wonderfully! The staff, all of them, were great. They were patient, understanding, helpful, and kind. The kids food was great and so convenient. I am so lucky to have had the care that we had. Although I am a bit worried to see the bill, I wouldn't have changed a thing!
Here are Matt and the kids after we were "free!" If you can see the sign in the distance...it says "Respiratory Awareness Week". AND was it ever! Especially for us! We are VERY aware now!
And here are my happy kiddos back at home! They are showing off their newest stuffed animals given to them by Matt's boss, John. This sight is the BEST thing in the entire world! I love these kiddos SOOO much! I am so grateful for them! I am thankful for their health!
I also want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, e-mails, calls, texts, etc. We are also very grateful for the friends, family members and co-workers for their help and support. We love you all, thanks again!
9 comments:
I am so sorry you had to go through all of that! I am so glad that you are all home and healthy now! They are such cutie pies! Stay healthy!
Love and miss ya girl!
First of all, your kids look adorable in their Halloween costumes! You're such a great mom and wife - Matt's party looked like so much fun!
Rachel, I cannot believe everything you and your poor kids have had to go through in the last five days! I'm so grateful that God prompted you to take them to the Urgent Care, and that you listened to Beth! I've been praying for you and your family since you posted on Facebook, and will definitely keep at it.
I will also be hugging my kids a little tighter today. Thank you for sharing this experience!
Love you!
Rachel, I am so glad that it all ended well. What a truly scary Halloween season for you and your family. I will keep you in our prayers and hope that your little kiddos can be germ free this winter.
Love ya- Christy
HOLY CRAP, RACH- I'm so sorry! That sounds horrible! Gosh- it sure makes you appreciate healthy kids for sure. I'm so glad everything and everyone is okay.
...and your kids looked darling in their costumes!
WOW-- What a horrible few days you had! So sorry! Sooo glad everyone is ok!
So glad that the kids are back home and doing better,way scary stuff!
Oh my goodness! I am so sorry to hear about that... scary! I am very glad to hear that it all worked out okay. I also want to wish you a belated Happy Birthday.
I love the matching jammies! Love them!
Love Lauren's costume, it is a really kitty cat. It's adorable. Might have to borrow that one year :)
I love that your so darn creative with parties and cakes and decorations. You say your not, but your not giving yourself enough credit.
I am SOOO glad the kiddos are ok, I was worried sick about you.
Rachel that is so scarry!! I had to take an ambulance ride with my first because of croup! I'm so glad everything turned out okay and that your kiddos are on the mend. Hopefully you're done with sickies for the season right! :) (This is Tayna Coon by the way,, yes I blog stalked you from Christys blog te he he)
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