Stones Surgery: Part 2

Again, please excuse any fogginess in this post. I'm running on hardly any sleep.
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If you would like to get continuous updates you can follow Stones Facebook page...

Prayers for Baby Stone - Facebook

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Well Stone came out of surgery approximately 3.5 hours after they took him in. We received a call from his surgeon, Dr. Wattsman, that he was headed to recovery and was doing well. She did mention that once they opened him up, his condition was worse than they originally thought and t
that is was definitely the right choice to have surgery. I'll explain this a bit later.

My first look at Stone following surgery

Anyways, Stone was to spend around 45 minutes in recovery before we would meet him up in the PICU. We headed on up to the PICU and waited in a small room until they settled Stone in. We then could go see our baby boy.

Daddy looking at his boy.

He has a NG tube in his nose to suction out his belly and a central line in his chest to run fluids, medicine, and nutrition. He also had an IV in his hand.  He was attached to all kind of  monitors (heart rate, respiration, oxygen) and they had a tiny blood pressure cuff to monitor his BP. His incision is covered by gauze so I have yet to see the actual cut but it is on his left lower belly near his bellybutton and looks to be about 2 inches wide.

Uncle Nathan says I look like a robot or a transformer!!

It wasn't as scary to see him as I thought it was going to be.  He was sleeping of course as the anesthesia had not worn off yet. The nurses immediately began giving him morphine for pain and we could give him an extra little boost if he seemed to be restless and hurting.

Holding Mommys hand makes it a lot better!

He slept most of the day yesterday. He was very still only waking when he felt pain. He had very little urine output so they increased his fluids. Around 6 pm he became so restless that we were giving him his extra boost each time it became available.  His doctor decided to increase his morphine a bit to provide continuous relief however we still are using the boost occasionally.

Opening his eyes for me but still in a complete daze.

I was allowed to hold my sweet baby boy around 4 pm yesterday. He seemed happy to have some snuggles.

Mommy snuggling Stone

Mommas boy!

Daddy and Grandma also met us up in the room and had some snuggle time as well.  He was very content to lay in our arms.

Daddy and Stone

Grandma and Stone

Last night was a bit rough for me. I woke up about every hour or so to the sounds of monitors beeping, nurses coming in and out, and Stone grunting. He settled down just after 3 AM and slept pretty well until around 7 this morning. Since then he has been restless off and on. His NG tube is bothering him so we had to pin his arm under his blanket to keep him from pulling it out.

He opens his eyes every one in awhile, looks around, and falls back asleep.  I'm not sure he even realizes he's in the world right now.

There's my mommy!

So his doctor explained to me that what they thought was just malrotated intestines actually ended up being a complete malrotation which means his intestines and colon were affected. She said essentially what she found was that his colon was free floating in his body and that his intestines were attached in the wrong area by thick pieces of tissue called "Ladds Bands." She suspects all of his pain and vomiting was due to the fact the the intestines and colon would twist, but managed to untwist, relieving him of pain and not causing constant vomiting.  If at any point his intestines made a complete twist, it would have blocked off blood supply and would have become an emergency as once they make a full twist, they can't come undone on their own.  With a complete malrotation like Stones, he was at the highest risk for this twisting to occur.

E.T. Toe... And the reason Mommy didn't sleep last night!

Stone will remain in the PICU until he is no longer on continuous morphine and his bowels start to function a bit on their own. His doctor says this will be at least 3 days.  Then Stone will go to a normal pediatric floor for the remainder of his stay.

Grandma came to visit before work!

I want to say thank you for all the nice emails, messages, prayers, etc. we have received  Stone got a cute little blue bear from the youth group of a local church and my moms friend and co-worker, Sheri, brought by some Munchkins for us.  Also, thank you to everyone offering to watch Evelyn for us and/or bring Matt and Evie dinners.  It is very very much appreciated.

Teddy bear from a local church youth group.

Well, this Momma needs to try and catch a little bit of sleep before Stone wakes up again.  I'll update soon and hopefully with some better photos - right now all I have time for are cell phone photos.

Stone - 11.20.2012

Stone's Surgery: Part 1

Meet Stone.

Stone at 9 weeks

This our beautiful baby boy. Born September 11, 2012 at 4:55 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. Now at one day short of 10 weeks, he weighs a whopping 14 pounds even and is 2 feet long.

Mommy and Stone 9.11.12

Today is a hard day for my family. As I type, my son is in the operating room having surgery. Matt and I are sitting in the hospital cafeteria trying to keep busy during what is expected to be a 4 hour wait or so. A perfect time to start blogging again as over the next few weeks I should have plenty of time to update while waiting for Stone to recover.

A bit of background...

Sorry if this is all a bit fuzzy or confusing... it's been a long week.

The day Stone was born I had a feeling something wasn't right. I did not think it was major. Once they moved us to the mother/baby floor a few hours after Stones arrival I was admiring my work and he sprayed me. Right in the face. Neon yellow spit up. And it went everywhere. I called the nurse who reassured me that it was just normal baby spit up and that the color was just colostrum. Being a second time mom, I knew this wasn't just normal baby spit up. My suspicion was reflux as Evie was diagnosed and treated for it when she was a baby. He continued to spit up throughout or stay at the hospital, each time, a bright yellow color. The nurses and doctors still did not seem concerned and told me that if it was reflux, they would not diagnose him until he was at least a month old.

Stone - just a few hours old

Stone - 1 day old

So we took him home. My milk came in and he was instantly a fantastic nurser. My boy loves to eat. He would eat, spit up a good amount while burping, and then about a half hour to an hour after his feeding he would spit up what seemed like the rest of his milk. Projectile. The spit up appeared to be white so I kept assuming it was just reflux and at 4 weeks his pediatrician would prescribe something to ease the acid.  And that is exactly what happened. Except it didn't work.

At 6 weeks old, after two weeks of giving Zantac religiously, Stone was still wiggling in pain from his belly and throwing up his feedings. At first his doctor did not seem concerned as Stone was gaining weight. They encouraged gas drops for pain, to continue the Zantac and call back in a few days if he still seemed to be in pain. Stone was still in pain after a week and I noticed something that I didn't notice before, or maybe I did and didn't think much of it.  EVERYTHING Stone spit up on was stained yellow. Burp rags, bedding, blankets, my clothes... it was all dingy. His spit was yellow and because it was mixed with the milk, I couldn't tell until it dried on white. He was also spitting up so forcefully that he would gasp and suck it back down into his chest and gag and choke. Middle of the night episodes were the scariest.  I can't remember how many times I have jumped out of bed to lift him up to keep him from gagging and aspirating.

Finally, I called the doctor back after my mom (a nurse) told me she just thought something was not right.  I told them about the yellow color, how it would shoot when it came up, and how he was sucking it back into his lungs. His pediatrician decided it was time for Stone to see a GI doctor.

Stone on morning of surgery - 11.19.12

Dr. Hart...

Dr. Hart, a local pediatric GI doctor, was wonderful. He checked Stone over and told us that he thought Stone needed some tests run. He told me he thought Stone was either suffering from some allergies to milk or that he had a condition called Pyloric Stenosis that would require a quick and easy surgery to correct.  Dr. Hart sent us to labs to check blood and scheduled an ultrasound to check for Pyloric Stenosis.  He did mention that if the ultrasound came back normal that he would have Stone undergo a barium x-ray to make sure his "plumbing" was correct.

His labs came back normal. The ultrasound was normal. I was happy that there was no pyloric stenosis as I didn't want my son to have to undergo any surgery, no matter how minor it was.

Stone now had to undergo a barium x-ray. Essential what they did was have him drink this thick milky substance and took x-rays of his belly in intervals of 30 minutes to track the flow of his intestines.  After the very first x-ray the doctor reading the tests told me there was a problem. He immediately told me that he suspected that Stone has something called intestinal malrotation and that further x-rays would reveal if that was the case. And it was.

I was referred to a pediatric surgeon who we were to meet with on Monday morning. I was told that if Stone's vomiting became worse and he became lethargic over the weekend, then we should take Stone to the ER immediately. I was a bit terrified. The doctor at the hospital had explained to me Stones condition a bit, but I was still fairly clueless.

Heading to the hospital on 11.19.12

Dr. Wattsman...

On Monday, September 12, 2012, we met with the pediatric surgeon. We have been so lucky to have wonderful doctors looking after our little boy, and Dr. Wattsman just continued that trend. She showed me Stones x-rays and explained that Stones intestines had not properly rotated when they were going from the umbilical chord into his belly when I was approximately 10 weeks pregnant. In a nutshell, this puts him at risk for a condition called volvulus (twisting of the intestines) which would require emergency surgery and usually results in loss of intestines and/or death. She said because of the way his intestines are in his belly he is at a high risk for volvulus and that she recommended surgery to correct his malrotation.  She told me that the surgery would take 3-4 hours and that Stone would have to spend at least a week and half in the hospital... the first few days in the PICU.  Hearing this was scary. But the thought of an emergency situation where my son could lose part of his intestines or even his life was much scarier. Matt and I had discussed the possibility of surgery before his appointment and decided that if the doctor recommended it then we'd do it. So I told her to operate. And I signed my name to a consent paper. That was hard.

Stone in his snazzy hospital gown

A week later....

Here we are a week later. Stone woke up in a great mood this morning, especially considering that he last ate at at 11 pm last night.  Matt got the opportunity to give him a bottle of Pedialyte (the first time Matts ever bottle fed him) and we loaded up to head to the hospital.  Once we got here we checked in and waited for them to walk us back to pre-op.  In pre-op they weighed him, measured him, took his temperature and blood pressure and asked us all sorts of questions. Stone was so good. He was smiling at us and the nurses.  We met with the anesthesiologist  Dr. Allen, who is one of the top pediatric anesthesiologists in the area. We also met with Stones surgeon Dr. Wattsman who reassured us the importance of Stone having this surgery. In a matter of minutes after talking with the doctor, Dr. Allen came with a thick warm blanket and took him from me. We gave him kisses and told him we loved him and they took him away to the OR.

Daddy and Stone before surgery

Mommy and Stone before surgery

Now Matt and I are just waiting on an update.  We don't expect to be able to see him until after lunch time. After his surgery they will take him to recovery for a bit and then we'll meet him up in his room in the PICU.

Please take a bit of time today to pray for Stone. Pray that his surgery is uncomplicated and that he has a quick and smooth recovery.  Also, please pray that the surgery is a success and he can find some relief from the pain he's been experiencing the last 10 weeks.

Thank you so much.  I'll update as soon as I can.

Why I changed my blogs name...

Just a short post to kick things off. I've changed the name of my blog. A few reasons. Reason number one is that my husbands position as an outside salesrep has really changed our family. Nothing is the same and it is truly a decision that has defined a lot of things in our life. It's hard, and I still hate it. I hate not having a "normal" everyday family experience, I hate sleeping alone, I hate being 100% responsible for the home, dogs, kid, etc. for 5-6 days out of the week. But I do it. And as much as I dislike it (okay..hate it), it's OUR normal. And at the end of the day my bills are paid, we have a place to live, we have food to eat, and my daughter is perfectly healthy. You can't ask for much more.

So because of it's significant impact on our family, I thought it would be appropriate to have it essentially be the theme of my blog.

Another reason why it needed to be changed is because mathematically, Evie Makes 3 just doesn't work anymore. On January 9, 2012, we found out that we are adding two feet to our family. Most of you already know, but for those that don't, I'm pregnant again. Due September 18. We just found out…

It's a BOY!

Needless to say, Matt is floating on cloud 9 at the idea of having a little boy to play legos and trains with and I'm fighting with the idea of having to teach a little boy to pee in a potty when I can't even get a little girl to do it. But we are so excited and I'm so grateful that I will have one of each. We've really been blessed.

So while I've changed my banner to reflect the blogs new name, I haven't changed it within the blogger system. I'll leave it this way for the next few posts until the new name becomes more familiar and then I'll change it over completely. And as soon as Matt get's my computer up and running from it's unfortunate run-in with a toddler and a cup of coffee, I'll start posting photos again. Not as many as before, but I'll do what I can and what I have time for.

Lots of great things are coming up, so stay tuned!

A New Look, A Whole New Blog

A little over a year ago when I started this blog, I had to best of intentions to turn it into something that my daughter could look back on and see all the fun adventures we had as a family. It was also a way for me to utilize my two favorite hobbies of writing and photography and be productive. While I loved blogging and took a lot of pride in each and every post I made and each and every photograph I inserted, it became a burden rather than something I enjoyed doing.

If I skipped a few days of posting I would get a phone call, email, or text message asking when I'd be posting again and if I happened to post something that someone didn't agree with or was offended by, I'd have to hear about that as well. So eventually, the pressure became to great to entertain other people and I gave up. And essentially, I gave up on what I started out to do in the first place.

Well, after giving it some thought, I've decided to go at it again. But I'm taking a different approach. My approach. What's best for me because this is my blog. This is a way for me to remember the details of my life with my family and if I can inspire or entertain others along the way, then that's wonderful, if not, that's okay too. I want my children to be able to look back on the photos and writings and know exactly who we were as a family, good and bad. And most of all, I want them to see how much I adored and loved them. I will post when I can and if I don't, it's probably because life got too hard for a bit. It does that often. If you are offended or unhappy with my blog, I beg that you just don't read it. I'm not in the business to offend anyone, but I'm also not in the business to lie about the way I feel or how my life really is.

So, with that said… welcome to the The Wife of the Traveling Salesman.

Recap of the last... 'eh.... year?

Lucky I remembered my password.

Well I'm going to make another go at my blog. I know it's been awhile and I've probably lost the faith of my followers, but I'm finally finding some downtime in life that needs to be filled. I never thought I would be so busy that I would not have time to enjoy my personal hobbies, but then again, until Evie, I had never been a mom.

I should probably start off with a sort of recap. Something to bridge the gap between the first day of Spring 2011 and middle January 2012.

Shortly after taking a break from the blog I applied for a promotion at my job. I have to be honest here... it was a bit against my will, not completely, but probably 90% if numbers are needed. Of course promotions offer more money. With more money I can provide a better life for my daughter, send her to college, buy her a more complete wardrobe, take vacations, finally buy a house for my child to grow up in. 10% of it was me just being stuck in a rut and needing a change and something more challenging.

Fast forward to July 10th and I'm saying goodbye to my husband, packing the little one in the car, and driving up to Baltimore for eight weeks of training for this new position. At that point, I was just bitter. My whole summer, gone. I did manage to keep Evie with me the majority of the time, however, I was forced to stop nursing her earlier than I wanted and I did have to spend a considerable amount of time away from her which was just utterly heartbreaking.

During that eight weeks, on July 15th, my little girl turned 1.  A beautiful energetic toddler who loves dogs and books and giving kisses. It's hard to elaborate on this event as so much was going on that month that I can barely remember it. Looking back, it doesn't really matter. I remember who she was, and that's all that matters. Not how smooshed her cake was, or the gifts she got, or the food we ate. I remember she started running around that time, she got a new tooth on that day, and I remember driving back home from Baltimore with her sleeping in the back seat after a quick stop at McDonald's for chicken nuggets and milk and when it turned midnight on her birthday I nudged her leg just enough to get her to open her eyes and I sang Happy Birthday to her and she smiled, then nodded back off.

Once back to the grind in Roanoke following the training, I started really learning my job and enjoying it much more. Things calmed down at home. We had moved from our apartment to the home my grandma and granddaddy built when my mom was 4. Granddaddy passed away in late March and my grandmother began living in an assistant living facility. Matt and I moved in so that Evie would have a yard and a homier place to live. We've done alot of work to the home. We've filled cracks in drywall, painted, and had tile laid in the kitchen. While the house has been good to us, we are looking forward to buying a house in the summer. At least, that's the plan.

In November, Evelyn started preschool. It's a Christian school and so far we've been very pleased. The only downside is, we need a larger fridge to hold all of the art projects!

In December, Matt was offered a new job with a large premium cigar company as a territory sales manager or something like that. He travels 5 days a week and we see him on the weekend. It's a great opportunity for him, but it is very much a challenge for Evie and I. On one hand Evie and I have become even closer... on the other hand... Evie and I have become even closer. There is not a day that goes by that I don't have a toddler screaming "mommy!" while clinging to my leg while I brush my teeth and blow dry my hair. My saving grace right now are my parents who help when they can. While she has become very wary and fearful that I will drop her and run away as fast as my legs can take me, she is very much at ease with my mom and dad and that in turn makes this whole married single mom life so much easier.

Christmas was pretty amazing this year. Evie was very much into Santa Claus. She perfected her "Ho Ho Ho" and showed off her mad un-wrapping skills on Christmas morning. She must have been a pretty good girl (or maybe Santa wasn't really watching very close) because Christmas morning took 2 hours. Too long!

New years came and went the usual way... eyes barely open, having to ask for a kiss... a high five... eye contact... pretty much whatever you can get when you own a toddler and are still awake at midnight. Evie spent it in the ideal way, snoring in her crib. I made a long list of resolutions, like I do every year, and then I lost it, like I do every year. Probably should have included "Organize and stop losing stuff!" to the list, but hey, I live for traditions!

So here we are coming up on the middle of Winter. I have a few projects going on to keep me busy and we are making plans for this year. The promotion has yet to help. Evie wears pretty much the same 7 outfits each week, we've not taken a vacation, no college savings, and we've yet to start really saving for a house. But I am more challenged at work. So we're 10% there.

New years resolution #20: Update the blog once in a blue moon. Or maybe at least every full moon.