Well it finally hit our family. The creepy, yucky, horrible crud that so many people have had to fight this winter.
I got it first. Last Thursday I fell asleep really early and slept a lot. I still felt really groggy the next day but I felt better throughout the weekend. I woke up Monday morning feeling ok. An hour into work, my chest began to feel like an elephant was sitting on it and I started the cough. By Monday night, I knew I was done for. Tuesday to the doctor to confirm bronchitis. Fevers, chills, body aches, horrible wheezy breath tones. Start the meds. Wed, pretty much felt like I was going to die. Or at least I was wishing I would. Thursday, less chest pressure but still fevers and chills. Awful.
Not as awful as the fact that Wed night brought Genna in to our room with sore ears. By Thursday morning, she was feverish and coughing. Off to the doctor for her. Started her meds. Thursday night she was much like death warmed over. Poor kid has been miserable.That is really the worse feeling in the world. To know that your child is sick and miserable and there just isn't much you can do about it.
Friday morning I finally am up with no fever and only slight dizziness. I am getting ready to go to work and hear a horrible cough sound from the next room. Rythm is now coughing something fierce. This girl doesn't actually enjoy missing school and since she was not feverish, off she went. She did see the doctor on Friday afternoon but only as a routine check-up. Today, she is incrediby tired, slightly feverish and not looking her best.
Also on Friday, I came home to a runny nosed Ariez. No cough as of yet and he seems to be holding in there. Praying God will spare him the horrible cough. He doesn't always have the strongest lungs, being so premature that's forever been a struggle for him.
As of this moment, Steve, Tai, Trey, and Rey seem to be holding their own. No symptoms from any of them and we're just going to keep praying that it stays that way.
Steve has done an amazing job taking care of all of us. He has taken all of us to the doctor's and picked up meds and special foods for each of us. Please God don't let him get this!
So this was our week. Praying that next week does not find us with more kids down with this crud. Will be buying stock in Lysol handy wipes soon.
Oh, and in case anyone was thinking about visiting, don't. It's a pretty dangerous play to be at this time.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Family Update
It's been awhile, minus the Halo post, since I've blogged so I thought I'd just take a minute to update everyone on our family.
Rythm has moved home with us. As most of you know, Rythm was living with my mom annd step-father since the death of Anitra. I won't go into the details as to way she is now here beccause they aren't mine to share. I will say that being with my parents is where she needed to be then and being here is where she needs to be now. Bringing another person into the house is always an adjust. We are working with some great people in the community to try to make these transitions as painless for everyone as possible. Everyone is excited to have her home and I think she's even a little excitied to be here.
That is the biggest physical change that our family has gone through. We continue to grow emotionally and we continue to all adjust to the changes that have gone on around us. We all continue to become whoever and whatever it is we are trying to be. I will not pretend that all of these changes in our life have been easy. They're not. They are hard. They kick our emotional butts on a regular basis. Each time I think we have it figured out, there is a new wrench thrown in.
Personally, I struggle the most with finding my new identity without Anitra. I struggle to figure out where I, as an individual woman, fit into the new roles I have embraced. Being the mother of 6 is tough. Being the wife of the father of 6 is tough. I have my really good days, and I have my really bad days. I'm learning who I am. I am learning about my own strength. I'm learning about my own limits.
As much as this is not the life I had ever imagined, I wouldn't give it to anyone else to live. Don't get me wrong. If I could have my sister back and rewind the last few months, I would. I would give almost anything to have her back. I would give anything to not see any of these babies hurt this way. I wish they didn't have to experience such pain and loss. I know I can't have those things. I know that we will embrace the new life that we have been given and do the best we can with it. We will make mistakes and we will do things right. I will do my best to what is right by Anitra and by all of these kids. I will keep defending that and hold my children's hands through each phase of whatever life has left to give us.
So that's it...we're all here...we're all living each day the only way we know how. We stumble, we fall, and we pick each other back up. We give second and third and fourth chances, and we keep on living. There are few things I remember from the funeral but one of them that I do is that the pastor said that the life we have is to be lived in the light. Death lives in the shadows and life lives in the light. Somedays we spend more time in the shadows then we want to or then we should but in the end, we will continue to live in the light and we will continue to bring the light to our family.
Rythm has moved home with us. As most of you know, Rythm was living with my mom annd step-father since the death of Anitra. I won't go into the details as to way she is now here beccause they aren't mine to share. I will say that being with my parents is where she needed to be then and being here is where she needs to be now. Bringing another person into the house is always an adjust. We are working with some great people in the community to try to make these transitions as painless for everyone as possible. Everyone is excited to have her home and I think she's even a little excitied to be here.
That is the biggest physical change that our family has gone through. We continue to grow emotionally and we continue to all adjust to the changes that have gone on around us. We all continue to become whoever and whatever it is we are trying to be. I will not pretend that all of these changes in our life have been easy. They're not. They are hard. They kick our emotional butts on a regular basis. Each time I think we have it figured out, there is a new wrench thrown in.
Personally, I struggle the most with finding my new identity without Anitra. I struggle to figure out where I, as an individual woman, fit into the new roles I have embraced. Being the mother of 6 is tough. Being the wife of the father of 6 is tough. I have my really good days, and I have my really bad days. I'm learning who I am. I am learning about my own strength. I'm learning about my own limits.
As much as this is not the life I had ever imagined, I wouldn't give it to anyone else to live. Don't get me wrong. If I could have my sister back and rewind the last few months, I would. I would give almost anything to have her back. I would give anything to not see any of these babies hurt this way. I wish they didn't have to experience such pain and loss. I know I can't have those things. I know that we will embrace the new life that we have been given and do the best we can with it. We will make mistakes and we will do things right. I will do my best to what is right by Anitra and by all of these kids. I will keep defending that and hold my children's hands through each phase of whatever life has left to give us.
So that's it...we're all here...we're all living each day the only way we know how. We stumble, we fall, and we pick each other back up. We give second and third and fourth chances, and we keep on living. There are few things I remember from the funeral but one of them that I do is that the pastor said that the life we have is to be lived in the light. Death lives in the shadows and life lives in the light. Somedays we spend more time in the shadows then we want to or then we should but in the end, we will continue to live in the light and we will continue to bring the light to our family.
Halo
Halo is our cat. We rescued him when he was just a baby. We found him and his siblings and his mother on our block one night when we were coming home. His mom and siblings found new homes and we kept the one black cat. My husand loves black cats. Halo has been with us since Oct. of 2011.
Anyway...last Thursday Steve and I were in Council Bluffs and the kids and Cindy were at home. Halo came in from his lively day outside and had a red spot on him. The kids were worried because obviously the cat had been in a fight. When Steve and I got home the next day, Halo was a little worse for the wear but we thought that he would be fine. Cats are pretty adapt at fighting and healing from those fights...or so we thought.
Fast forward to Saturday night. We had all gone to eat and then Steve and his mom had gone to see William Shatner. Ariez freaked out when he saw the cat when we got home. The cat was not looking so well. He was walking slowly and nursing his shoulder blade. I, without paying much attention to the cat, said "oh he's fine. Leave him alone and let him heal."
An hour later and Tai is in my room in a panic about poor Halo and the hole in his back. I told her to bring him to me and sure enough, he had a gaping wound in his back that was clearly not healing properly on it's own. On a Saturday night in Lincoln there is probably only one place to take your pets.
We took him to the emergency vet clinic and were told that he was not doing very well. He had a raging infection in his back and a fever. The nurse brought me an estimate of what it would cost to fix up poor Halo. OMG! I had no idea that an animal could cost this much. I found out later that what we paid to fix up this poor kitty was actually pretty cheap. To me, it seemed like a fortune.
Here's the deal. I have always thought that having animals was a way to teach our children things. Pet ownership teaches them responsiblity. It teaches them compassion for all living things. Having pets is an incredible way to teach our children about death. Honestly, a year ago, or even 6 months ago, if this had happened to the cat, I would have cried but put the cat to sleep and explained about accidents and death to our children. Since it isn't 6 months or a year ago, my children have learned all they need to about death right now. They know the real pain that goes with losing someone, or something, that they love very much.
All of that is to say that there is no way in the world that I was going to not be bringing this cat home again. There was no chance that I was going to let this cat be put down. So, I paid the bill. I swallowed the bitter pill that was the bill and brought this kitty home.
He had to have a minor surgical procedure. We have had to nurse him back to health. We have had to change oozing bandages and force feed Halo medicine from a dropper. He did not enjoy that. We have listened to him cry and forced him into his kennel. We have bought onesies and cut them up just so that the kitty would have a dry shirt over his shaved back.
The kids learned new lessons. They learned that I will protect their hearts and the things that they love. They have learned how to care for an animal and be patient and have learned that prayer does work. They have learned that this animal is not only a part of our hearts but a part of our family. Those lessons are worth the money that it has cost. These lessons are worth the financial sacrifices that will be made to make Halo whole again.
I learned a lot of these same lessons.
Anyway...last Thursday Steve and I were in Council Bluffs and the kids and Cindy were at home. Halo came in from his lively day outside and had a red spot on him. The kids were worried because obviously the cat had been in a fight. When Steve and I got home the next day, Halo was a little worse for the wear but we thought that he would be fine. Cats are pretty adapt at fighting and healing from those fights...or so we thought.
Fast forward to Saturday night. We had all gone to eat and then Steve and his mom had gone to see William Shatner. Ariez freaked out when he saw the cat when we got home. The cat was not looking so well. He was walking slowly and nursing his shoulder blade. I, without paying much attention to the cat, said "oh he's fine. Leave him alone and let him heal."
An hour later and Tai is in my room in a panic about poor Halo and the hole in his back. I told her to bring him to me and sure enough, he had a gaping wound in his back that was clearly not healing properly on it's own. On a Saturday night in Lincoln there is probably only one place to take your pets.
We took him to the emergency vet clinic and were told that he was not doing very well. He had a raging infection in his back and a fever. The nurse brought me an estimate of what it would cost to fix up poor Halo. OMG! I had no idea that an animal could cost this much. I found out later that what we paid to fix up this poor kitty was actually pretty cheap. To me, it seemed like a fortune.
Here's the deal. I have always thought that having animals was a way to teach our children things. Pet ownership teaches them responsiblity. It teaches them compassion for all living things. Having pets is an incredible way to teach our children about death. Honestly, a year ago, or even 6 months ago, if this had happened to the cat, I would have cried but put the cat to sleep and explained about accidents and death to our children. Since it isn't 6 months or a year ago, my children have learned all they need to about death right now. They know the real pain that goes with losing someone, or something, that they love very much.
All of that is to say that there is no way in the world that I was going to not be bringing this cat home again. There was no chance that I was going to let this cat be put down. So, I paid the bill. I swallowed the bitter pill that was the bill and brought this kitty home.
He had to have a minor surgical procedure. We have had to nurse him back to health. We have had to change oozing bandages and force feed Halo medicine from a dropper. He did not enjoy that. We have listened to him cry and forced him into his kennel. We have bought onesies and cut them up just so that the kitty would have a dry shirt over his shaved back.
The kids learned new lessons. They learned that I will protect their hearts and the things that they love. They have learned how to care for an animal and be patient and have learned that prayer does work. They have learned that this animal is not only a part of our hearts but a part of our family. Those lessons are worth the money that it has cost. These lessons are worth the financial sacrifices that will be made to make Halo whole again.
I learned a lot of these same lessons.
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