I'm still here...

First of all , thank you for the sweet comments left by some of you on my last post. Joshua's birthday is this Sunday and it makes my heart smile to know that everyone gets to know so much about our first baby boy.

I have yet to post lots of adorable pictures from our really fun Easter weekend. It just hasn't happened this week, but it will soon.

Quent had his tubes put in his ears yesterday morning and he did spectacularly! I always thought his hearing was pretty good, but there is a definite improvement since the surgery. Last night, he told Tom, "There's something coming Daddy, there is something coming!!" Turns out he was hearing the clock in their room ticking. He had not heard it before (or at least in a while) obviously! So, he is for sure feeling the benefits, thank goodness for him!

At my Mothers of multiple meeting last night I was voted in as vice president for the 2009-2010 year! Pretty exciting, I am sure I will love taking a more active part in the group! Congrats to all the other members of the board too!

Now that the boys are finally healthy and its warm and beautiful out this week - I am sick.
What started out as allergies has now become a nasty cold-like illness. Yippee. So, I feel like complete crap and am SO tired. Moms don't often get to call in sick, but Tom is going to come home early to save me and get the boys outside to have fun since the sun is killing my head and they really should get to go out and play on a beautiful day.

Just wanted to let you all know that I am still here!

And for those of you who might be looking for some fun shopping on Sunday and you are in the area, check out my friend Amy's March of Dimes fundraiser!
Here's her advertisement form her blog:

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March of Dimes Shopping Extravaganza

It's time for our 2nd Annual March of Dimes vendor show!!
Sunday, April 19th from 11 - 3 at Huron Valley Lutheran High School - 33740 Cowan Road in Westland. The following vendors will be in attendance:

Aloette
Avon
Cash for Gold, Silver & Coins!
Celebrating Home
Close To My Heart
Cookie Lee
Creative Memories
Gold Canyon Candles
Greener Generations
Handmade knitted items
Pampered Chef
Simply fun
Sterling Silver Jewelry
Tastefully Simple
Two Sisters & Party Lite
Uppercase Living

In addition you can pamper yourself with a new hair cut by professional stylist Nicole List and get a soothing Parafin Hand Treatment by Holly Pounders

Stop by Ian's Famous Lemonade stand and the Bake Sale too

We do this in memory of Madison Hope Henzi and Nathaniel Martin Hannewald who became angels in 2007. The money raised will go directly to the March of Dimes - March for Babies.
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Later all!

Is this the "rock bottom"?

Gosh, I hope so.

The instructions from discharge said:
"Pain starts off at a lower level for the first day or so. It then gets worse and hits 'rock bottom' over the next few days (days 4-6). It then levels off and gets better over the next few days (7-10)."


Sunday I thought we were on our way out of the most terrible of the tonsillectomy/ adenoidectomy recovery, but alas, no. The last 2 nights have been progressively worse and worse. Jack is up multiple times each night, not only because it is time for medication, and he is like clockwork for that, waking up at exactly the 6 hour mark for another ibuprofen dose, but also he is waking up just whining this siren-like noise and crying. (We switched to ibuprofen yesterday from the Tylenol because he had always responded better to that for relief before and we thought we were past the point of increased bleeding worry. Seriously considering doing the Rx Tylenol/codeine tonight, if we can get him to gag that down, he was refusing that when we stopped giving it on Friday).

Once he gets himself really upset, he begins to cough, which I am sure really hurts, so he cries even harder. It becomes a vicious cycle. It takes a long time for us to console him, get him to take the meds, and calm back down to go to sleep. And we try to keep poor Quent sleeping through all this, so sometimes Jack in our room which then for sure we are both up. This morning at 5:00 we finally bribed him into quiet with a DVD. Not one of my prouder moments, but tom and I were getting so frustrated we just needed to stop the crying. And sadly, it worked. He calmed right down, watched a few stories from the DVD and then I took him back to his bed and laid with him until he went to sleep.

During the day, he is somewhat better. He was on more of a normal schedule with eating and napping yesterday. He has times where he plays and dances and seems to be in an okay mood, but we still hit those walls where the siren-like noise comes out and he will do that for a long while. And God forbid if Quent touches him or tries to play with him, then it gets really bad.

I know he hurts, I know he is miserable at times and has no idea why this is going on, but I am so ready for this stage to end. For him and for the rest of us. Momma and Daddy are just really tired. Gotta go ...

I hear that siren calling.

Updates on Jack

Well, we are on Day 4 after the surgery and Jack is doing pretty good. He is really whiny sometimes and is still taking tylenol for his pain around the clock (we stopped the tylenol with codeine on Friday), but he is sleeping well at night and everyday seems to have more and more energy and will to play and act more like himself. He is slowly eating and drinking more too, thank goodness. Although we have been offering him anything he wants just to get the fluids and food in, it has been a constant struggle to get him to want to put anything in. We were really just trying to keep him hydrated so we did not have to return to the hospital. So far, so good.

Here are some picture of him before his surgery and after:

He thought the tiger gown was pretty cool. Notice the tiger that Aunt Jean gave him that day (she also got a white one for Quent too). These tigers, along with the dog pictured below, have become favorite sleeping/cuddle buddies for both boys.

Here is Jack after we got him back to his room and he's feeling a little more alert and ready to lay on his own for a while instead of being held. He is waving "HI" because he didn't want to talk, I assume. He waved to everyone, it was sweet. He wanted the tiger gown off and was cuddling with his dog from home and the new fluffy dog that he got while waiting in pre-op. That dog is a BIG hit!

Here's to more speedy recovery!!

BYE, BYE GIANT TONSILS!!

Well, and the adenoids too.

Jack did spectacular today for his surgery! He had a little rough go when he first came out of anesthesia with being in pain and just the effects of having anesthetic, but once we got the pain under control he was much better - snoozing on Momma's shoulder. That made Momma feel better too.

His procedure was at 7:10 this morning (we were actually there at 5:45, ugh) and we were home by 11:00 am. He was bouncing around and playing with Quent, who was SO happy to see "Jackie", and with Len and Kyle. He has done really well keeping fluids going in and even eating some soft foods here and there. I made Jack lay on my bed with me to watch Cars and rest, but I was the one falling asleep, not him. He and Quent did take a great nap (WITHOUT THE CRAZY SNORING!) and both are now lounging with Daddy after a snack. Jack is definitely feeling the effects, but is doing well considering. Hopefully the rest of the recovery will go this smooth.

** Jack got WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL care today, especially because Aunt Jean was there to make everything easy and comfortable. You really did make this experience the best it could be for ALL of us, THANK YOU SO MUCH AUNT JEAN!! WE LOVE YOU!! **

I do have some pictures of him at the hospital that I will get up sometime tomorrow, thanks for your well wishes!

The countdown is on

Tomorrow is surgery day for Jack.

Of course, both boys have been healthy for months and just yesterday Quent started sneezing and being stuffy. Let's hope it just stays with him. I am not sure what would make them not do the surgery for Jack, but I do not want to even be in the position to wonder. The waiting and anticipation is hell enough this time, i do not want to anticipate it again!

So, today is just staying home and getting everything packed for Jack and in order here for Quent. My brother Len and his wife Kyle and staying with Quent tomorrow while we are gone, so he will be in good hands. He may wonder where Jack is when he wakes up and throughout the day, but he will have fun with Len and Kyle.

I need to call today to get the time that he is scheduled for surgery (weird that they only plan the day before, but I guess that way if anyone does cancel because they are ill then they don't have to redo it all the time). He will be one of the first surgeries of the day because he cannot eat/drink and he is too little to wait too long. It will be an early morning!
We are planning that he will have to stay the night, they said that it is not a sure thing that they will keep him, but because of his age they will want to watch him more closely, so he is more likely than others to have to stay. Hopefully, he will not have to, but we will be prepared just in case.

My Mom and Dad will be there with us too, and Aunt Jean (who works in the same day surgery unit) will make sure we are well taken care of for sure. But it is still super scary.
For me I mean.
At this point Jack has no idea, he is too little to try to explain this to, so we will do some talking tomorrow and hopefully we can make it as easy for him as possible. Momma will do her crying/ falling apart after I have to leave my baby Jack for the procedure.

On the upside, he will be so much better for having had this done. He will sleep better, breathe better and hopefully feel better all around. Because he is little he will most likely bounce back quicker and have virtually no memory of it later on.

So, wish us luck and keep us in your prayers for smooth sailing through the surgery and a speedy recovery!

One long post

Yes, it will be a long post. I have been so bad about posting all the cool stuff we have been doing, so this will be the BIG update for this week - Mostly because we have been busy doing fun stuff and partly because I am exhausted!
This week has also been 'get used to the big boy beds' week. So, we have all been a little sleep deprived from that and trying our best to work it out. They are improving, but they still are too excited to jump out of bed whenever they get the chance, like at 6:00 am - ugh! They do like the beds though and there have been no need to coax them to their beds at all.

MONDAY

We had the Ear,nose,throat Dr. appointment. Jack did great! No doubt, Jack will definitely be getting the tonsils and adenoids out. (not that I was unsure about it before, but somewhere I was hoping that just maybe we could avoid that surgery)
So, he is scheduled for July 31st for the surgery.
Wish us luck, Momma will be a basket case!

TUESDAY

There was a super fun playgroup with our Mothers of Multiples group at Flushing Park. We took our picnic lunch and played on the big wooden play scape. Jack and Quent had so much fun, it was hot and sunny, but they did not seem to care. My fellow twin Mommy and blogger friend, Barb, got some great pictures since I did not have our camera with us (good job Momma). Thanks Barb!
You can also check out her Twinkies' blog for more cute pics of the day!

Playing in the sand and fighting over the 1 truck

riding the tire swing, did not last long, but it was cute while it lasted!

Quent chatting with Sarah and Jacob

4 boys all lined up barking back at the barking dogs in the yard behind the park
Funny!

After we got a slushee for the ride home which the boys loved, what a big treat! Quent kept saying "Thank you Momma, thank you Momma. Good treat Momma" It was so cute.


WEDNESDAY

It was Potter Park Zoo Day! It was also L&L Zoo Days, which meant that the zoo was packed with everyone with free passes, including us!
My niece and nephew, Sierra and Brendan came along with us. And thank goodness that they were there! They were such a big help with the boys, there is no way I would have done this alone. So, thank you cousins!
We also went with Barb and Kerry from our Mothers of Multiples group and their families. It was really busy there and impossible to stay all together. We ended up losing the others pretty much as soon as we were in the place and never could find them. But I hear they had fun and we had fun too. You can check out their adventures on Barb's blog.

The penguins were a big hit with everyone!

We all wished we were swimming in the pool too.

Jack as a lion! ROAR
Brendan and Sierra are behind him

Quent's cute little lion face

Jack and Brendan balancing along a short wall
while we were all taking a drink break.
It was SO HOT and HUMID that we had to make sure everyone was drinking enough and getting breaks out of the sun.

Jack and Sierra checking out the coral reef exhibit that had a "Nemo" fish!

Quent and Brendan looking for Nemo

Quent sees him, right there on the left!!
Oh he was so excited about Nemo and Dory!

Tried to get a picture of the cousins together -
didn't quite work out the way I had hoped, but here we are!

Jack catching a ride with Sierra

Quent and Brendan making our way out of the zoo

After the zoo, we went to visit Tom at work and say hello. We then headed home and had a wardrobe change, then it was off to get Brendan to soccer practice. Both Jack and Quent cried when Brendan had to leave - sweet. Quent was sound asleep when we dropped off Sierra at home, but Jack got to meet her puppy, Max, and got lots of slobbery kisses. He said Max's ears were "fwoppy" and they were! He got that from our Dog book that they love, smarty.
We stopped at Gramma and Papa's for a snack and a visit before heading home for dinner with Daddy.
This night they were asleep before they hit their pillows, WHEW!

THURSDAY

We spent a day at home!
It was blistering hot and humid again and my sunburns needed a break so we spent the day catching up on stuff around the house. (no one else got any sunburns, thankfully. I am just ridiculously sensitive to the sun and sunscreen just never cuts it)

I made cookies for our Uncle Dan, my Dad's brother, and took them to him when Tom got home to be with the boys.
Feel Better Soon Uncle Dan!
Jack and Quent were great while I mixed up the cookies (to bake while they slept). Here they are playing with their letters on the fridge - YES - pictures of the giant refrigerator that I LOVE!

Good job my little guys!
Momma thanks you!

More to come later as the summer adventures continue!

Obstructive Apnea it is

Yep, the official results are in.

Much to my disappointment and dismay, Jack has obstructive apnea and has to have the tonsils/adenoids out for sure. The sleep test said that he had 26 episodes of apnea in an hour. Now I don't know how many is a lot, but 26 sounds like A LOT to me. (although there were some of those that were called central apnea that are age appropriate for a 2 year old and he will outgrow those, but had to be counted in the official count)

I made an appt. with the ear, nose,& throat Dr. for July 18th and from then they will schedule his surgery to be sometime at the end of July/ beginning of August.

Of course I want to resolve this for him. He must be getting terrible rest and that could explain the impulsiveness, hyperactivity, and irritability he experiences sometimes. It is definitely some of the symptoms of apnea and some kids have been misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD when later they would find out it was really sleep apnea causing the behavior problems. Or at least I am hoping that explains some of Jack's less fun behaviors. Not that I am saying he is at all near being classified as ADD, but some of the things that I have just considered "oh, that's just Jack, he is just all over the place and into everything" it would be nice if those things were lessened :) And it would give me even more justification in my mind for my 2 year old baby having surgery.

So, wish us luck on this crazy journey and here's hoping that a good night's sleep is in little Jack's future!