Seven

Seven is how many days I felt Monday lasted...and exactly how many hours we spent Monday night and into early Tuesday morning with Parker in the ER. It has been quite the week and I already feel like it is the end of the weekend, really only being Thursday afternoon. Not to mention that I am not sleeping well and have not this whole pregnancy...even with Ambien!

As you may have seen in my earlier post, we were pondering if we were going to take the boys out of their cribs. We were both in favor of keeping them "caged" as long as we could... for we knew the battles we would be facing. By Sunday, I had heard "thud" followed shortly by wailing enough times...otherwise known as one of the monkeys landing on their head on our hardwood floors=falling out of their crib. Enough was enough and we decided to convert their cages,err cribs, to toddler beds on Sunday evening. They did beautifully Sunday night...not a peep. I think I counted my chickens before they hatched...Monday nap time was a NIGHTMARE! They usually sleep from 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

They were like a bunch of freed jail birds....too much excitement and too much to do in their room. I think I must have been in there 10x during the course of 3 hours. They even got a spanking after me telling them to stay in bed one too many times. The final time I went in there....I think by the way I sucked the oxygen out of the room when I gasped...they knew they were in trouble. COVERED....from head to toe and everything in site...in Petroleum jelly! I was not too happy. Not to mention they had pulled EVERYTHING out of their drawers and had ransacked their closet. I had no idea we had Petroleum jelly in the house let alone in their room. My patience was thin and weary. They were cleaned up and promptly returned, yet again to their beds. I most likely spoke to them a little too harshly by the end of it. Finally they fell asleep for 40 minutes. In the mean time I called Chris and told him not to pass GO, not to collect $100 and to head home ASAP, my patience and discipline tank were dry. Luckily he walked in the door as they both awoke, crying and crabby. I didn't ever think my patience would run out like it did Monday...I felt awful for them, yet I didn't know what to do next.

Just when I thought we were going to sit down to a nice family meal...I actually cooked...Chris found an extra lump in Parker's groin area. He had been screaming since Chris got home and we couldn't figure out why. Two testicles and a 3rd lump, slightly discolored. As my luck had obviously run out much earlier...it was after 5 and the Dr's office was closed. I took supper out of the oven and asked Chris to pack me a bag...I just knew we were headed to the ER...Talk about a bad Monday!

As you can see, they were quite upset after nap time... I think they knew they were in trouble

I wish I could say I just laughed when I saw this...sadly I did not...one day I will!

Glad someone was having fun

Petroleum hand prints...still not coming clean

I was thinking, OK he has got a hernia...no big deal. I called my "on call" general Peds nurse Lindsey New... You just don't see these things in the Peds ICU and it has been 7 years since I have done general peds...she wasn't home:( So I decided to stop playing nurse and just be a mom...called the peds office and they sent us to the ER. They were thinking testicular torsion by the way the symptoms appeared...this would mean a transport up to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston and emergency surgery. Thankfully, after 7 hours in the ER, they were able to rule this out. We saw the Pediatric Urologist yesterday, wed, and he confirmed it was a hydrocele most likely caused by an inguinal hernia. While not great news...it is much better than the alternative:) He is fine, not in any pain, playing like normal, and scared to death to have his diaper opened. Who can blame him? We are looking at outpatient surgery November 1 and then he will be good as new:)

Of course I have my camera with me at all times...it came in handy as a source of entertainment in the ER... he had fun seeing pics of himself. By this point he was calmed down and nothing seemed to be bothering him. We had to get an ultrasound to get pictures of the lump and they also wanted a blood flow study to make sure his male anatomy was getting the blood flow it needed to survive. With testicular torsion, the testicle twists and cuts off blood flow...thus requiring emergency surgery. Trying to get a 2 year old to lay COMPLETELY still for the blood flow...not so much. We tried giving him pain medicine and a "calming drug" called Versed by mouth. Usually versed is a wonderful drug. In the Peds ICU we called it "happy juice". We usually gave it IV and it makes you nice and loopy, relaxed and best yet gives you amnesia. You are fully awake...but won't remember anything. Um...not so much with Parker. It had quite the opposite effect, thus no more pictures. He did get loopy and then silly drunk. He was cracking himself and me up. I was laughing really hard b/c it was funny to see him this way. I guess I was comfortable with the drug and new this was normal. Until....he got REALLY angry, combative and aggressive. I have heard of the drug having this effect, especially in kids but had never seen it before. Maybe it is just with the oral version and I am used to using the IV? It took all my strength to hold him on the stretcher or in my arms. I fought with him for an hour before calling Chris to come help me. He had been at home with Peyton...we thought this was best for him. Thankfully a friend came over, as it was near midnight, to sit at the house while Peyton was asleep.

By the time Chris got there the effects of the drug were wearing off and he was calming down. Chris took him and got him to lay on the stretcher...he cried and asked where "brough" was. That made me sad. Parker does not like being without Peyton especially during sleeping time. Finally, after much prayer, he fell asleep and we were able to get the blood flow study done. He was so sweet sleeping on Chris. They don't cuddle like this anymore and Chris was loving it. I was too scared to take a picture for fear of waking him up. We got home around 2:30 Tuesday morning...what a day! We were so blessed to have so many friends lined up at a moments notice to help. Our neighbors with 4 kids of their own, friends from small group with 3 little ones and Chris' best friend and his wife were all ready to jump in at a moment's notice. We had Chris' mom on standby to come down from an hour away in case we were heading to surgery. Thankfully we did not need her. I did get some really cute shots of Parker "playing" in the ER. One look at him and I am sure many wondered what the heck we were doing there!

see my "amlance"

"firetruck, woo woo woo"

giving monkey some loving

doesn't he look so big laying in bed playing with his blocks and watching TV!

After the Versed wore off...he passed out hard...sure wish I could get some sleep like that!