Laughter is the best medicine

I know I have been posting a lot lately. But I couldn't pass up on sharing this one! They say laughter is life's best medicine. Luckily children bring laughter in the home (as well as dirt, germs, poopy diapers, etc.). I got an e-mail this week that gave some staggering statistic that claimed children laugh on average 200 times per day. Adults only laugh between 15 to 18 times a day (and Brian didn't even think he laughed that much at all)! So, having children helps us make up that deficit! I know I laugh everyday at something they do. Here's a cute one of Jackson trying to say "Philadelphia"...the video says it all!

Babies don't keep

My visiting teacher dropped by a little poem, which I thought was really cute. Yea for visiting teachers! She had heard of Zoey getting sick and thought I might like this:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

For Babies grow up,

as we have learned from our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs,

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby,

and babies don't keep."

Ironically, I was rocking Zoey at the moment she stopped by. Her fever had spiked again (I thought we were over that phase!) and she was just so tired and uncomfortable and couldn't fall asleep on her own. Of course in the back of my mind I was thinking, "I need to mop up that juice Jackson spilled on our floor that hasn't been swept in 4 days...."

It is just a cute poem I thought I would share. A great reminder for me to enjoy all of the times with my babies, because they truly don't keep....and not to worry about things that can wait for another time.

Cursed Virus!

There are times when children cause us to worry to the point of tears and compel us to pray our hearts out unceasingly to God in their behalf. Sickness is one of those times. Jackson started out last week (besides getting stitches) with a little chest cold, and try as I might, I could not keep all the germs from his sneezes and coughs contained. Zoey got sick. We were able to keep on top of it at first, but Sunday night, she had a turn for the worse. After 3 consecutive nights of no sleep (no exaggeration), I decided I better take her in to see the Doctor. She had a nearly constant temperature of 101, would hardly nurse (just enough to stay hydrated) and her coughing had become more restricted.

Luckily I did. Her blood-oxygen level was so low it was near critical. They sent us over to the hospital where we endured tests, suctioning of her lungs, chest x-rays, and lots and lots of waiting. Why? To find out if she had this cursed and very scary virus called RSV. She does.

I view my blog as my journal. Someday I will look back at this post and think: "Wow, how did we make it through so many sleepless nights like this one?" It might just have something to do with loving my child more than loving myself (or my sleep). It might have something to do with those fervent prayers for them to make it through the night, which in turn, blesses me to get out of bed time and again to give attention and care. It might have something to do with my several family members who live close enough to step up and give help where needed (tending, grocery shopping and meals- Thank you VERY much). Although she is far from being better, here is a sample of what the last few nights have been like.

Night 4:
10 pm: Nebulizer treatment with Albuterol (a vaporizing treatment to open up the bronchial tubes and relax her muscles in the lungs so she can breath). Breathing better.

1 am: coughing makes her wake up crying; try to nurse but non-responsive, falls asleep in my arms. Temperature at 102. Give her .8mg of Tylenol for fever, try to nurse again but won't (hasn't eaten since 6pm). Feed her 1/2 ounce of pumped breast milk from a dropper. Falls back to sleep at 2:20 am.

3:30am: wakes up coughing, soothe her back to sleep. Fever still high. Won't eat.

5am: Wakes again, try to nurse but still non-responsive. Falls asleep in my arms.

6am: Fever at 101. Another round of Tylenol. Another round of feeding from a dropper (she has had less than 2 ounces in a 12 hour period).

6:30: Jackson wakes up.

7am: "The morning breaks the Shadows flee!" (this was literally the hymn that popped in my head this morning). She is alert and wants to nurse! Fever gone. Nebulizer treatment for breathing. Doing much better. What is it about the daytime? Things are so much better when the sun is up.

8am: falls asleep and sleeps for 4 hours without interruption (so did I-Ma and Pa Beutler took Jackson for the morning)! Yea! Luckily we have been able to keep Zoey out of the hospital for any extended stays, and we hope she continues to improve. Say a prayer for us- Brian is gone.

Update

ok. Here are the pictures of his eye wound. It doesn't look as bad as it does in person! The eye is swollen enough that a lot of the bruising, cut and one of the three stitches is hidden. Notice he also has a nice goose egg on his forehead.

The band-aid didn't make it past his nap. Go figure. When I took him to the bathroom to put a new one on, it was the first time he had actually seen his eye since the accident and the first thing he said was, "Awe Man! Owee" It was cute. All I could say to that was "Yup, you got that right."

Anyway...poor guy. He's got a cold on top of all this to boot. He's a tough guy though. This doesn't stop him from being crazy and wanting to wrestle!

Owee...

Brian and I were just commenting on how lusciously long and dark Jackson's eyelashes were at breakfast (the kind that will make his sister(s) jealous someday), little did I know a nurse would be looking at those same lashes later that morning saying, "those lashes are so long, we could use those to stitch you up!"

Jackson was riding his little push-and-ride truck we gave him for Christmas...drinking his juice..no big deal (ok, maybe that's where I went wrong, should I be teaching him not to drink and drive at this age?). All of a sudden I turn around and he had slipped off of the seat and his eye met the corner of the base molding just perfectly that it split his eye right open. OUCH! I had to tell myself not to freak out because that would just scare Jackson, but that must have been AFTER he saw my initial facial reaction....he freaked out.

Luckily my mother-in-law was available to zip over and watch Zoey so I could take Jack in for stitches. This was not an easy task, don't be fooled. He got three stitches: one stitch in the eyelid (between the brow and the lashes) and two on his upper cheek bone just below the eye. Poor KID! I felt soooo bad for him. The worst part was holding him down to numb it up. Not good. I had to hold his legs between MY legs to keep him from kicking, cross his hands over his chest and lay on top of him to keep him from moving AND a nurse was holding his head to keep him from squirming away from the Doc who had a needle pointed at his eye! whew! And he was screaming "mommy, owee" the whole time....doesn't that just pull at your heart?

After the torture was over at the Doctor's office, we got him some french fries and nuggets for being such a big boy! I'm so glad he's at the age where french fries can make it all better!

I will post pictures of the accident after the band-aid comes off...it's pretty ugly right now as you can imagine. I'm sure his eye will be black and blue in no time. I just hope he heals well and doesn't have a huge scar to detract from those lovely lashes!

The 30 Day Shred

Familiar with Jillian Michaels? She's the female trainer from "The Biggest Loser." I have a few good things to say about her 30 day shred!

Now, I don't have a TON of weight to lose, but I do have some post-pardum softness that is lingering in places I'd rather it not, AND I would like to get heart-healthy with a good cardio workout. So- I decided I'd giver her a try. I bought her DVD because I heard a lot of rave reviews about her 20 minute workout. I thought- 20 minutes? At home? I can swing that.

I consider myself to be in fairly good shape, but I started off with level 1 (there are 3 levels) to stick with the program, and MAN! She kicks butt! I did it two days in a row...resting on the sabbath, of course, and I could hardly sit to go to the bathroom comfortably. My legs and arms felt like jello after the workout and now I'm just sore all over. I guess that means it's doing something- right? I never knew 20 minutes could be so effective!

Hopefully I can stick with it and see some results!