Thursday, April 27, 2006

Divine protection

Yesterday was pretty scary. Caleb had his first field trip involving a sack lunch. When he was getting off the bus, it looked like he had been in a fight- his eyes were really swollen and there were a few red blotches on his face. When he got to me, I recognized it as an allergic reaction. Took him in, popped a few Benadryl in him, and asked him about his field trip. They had gone to a museum with a chocolate exhibit and I told him that if they handed out samples he couldn't have any because of his peanut allergy. He then told me that he had a peanut butter sandwich in his sack lunch. He had opened the sandwich to see what it was. His teacher said that she didn't notice the swelling or blotches, but when DH came home 4 hours after me giving the Benadryl, he could still see it. We've never come up with a field trip plan so I know his Epipens weren't with him. I am soooo thankful that Heavenly Father granted me this "freebie" to learn from. I wrote the principal and teacher, and needless to say, we will have a plan in place for the rest of his school career.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Supper at a comedy club

We were eating dinner at home tonight. Michaela noted that Anneliese, our one-year-old was picking her nose (more like just sticking her finger in there). After a few seconds of her going, "Ewww", Caleb piped up, "I eat my boogers when I'm hungry". Good thing my chair had sides, or I would've been rolling on the floor. I told him that I never wanted to hear that he was hungry and wanted a snack ever again. Kids.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Adrenaline rushes

So much for lazy Sunday afternoons! The family and I were waiting for our Home Teachers to show up and gathering what we would need for choir practice. The Home Teachers show up, Perry and I sit around with them chitchatting. Caleb then comes in, crying. In between sobs, we get the story that he had stabbed himself with his Epipen Jr. in the hand. OH CRAP!!!! I ran into the living room. Anneliese had apparently learned how to unzip the diaper bag (which I had left on the floor for the first time instead of putting it straight into the closet when we got home from Church) and Caleb decided to see how the pen worked. The HT helped give Caleb a blessing (good timing) while I called the Nurses Helpline. They gave me the number to Poison Control, which I called while Perry got his and Caleb's shoes on. They told me to put his finger in warm water and go straight to the ER. Perry took off and I found the literature inside the Epipen, since I remembered a warning about not sticking yourself in your hand. Yep, go straight to the ER because it will restrict blood flow. Perry got to the ER, and Poison Control had already advised them that we were coming (gotta love 'em!). Before he could say why he was there, a nurse came up and told the guy at the front desk that they were shut down to new cases. The guy looked at Perry and said, "I guess you heard what she said." Perry then said that his son had shot himself in the hand with his Epipen and the nurse said, "I guess we're open for one more" and brought him straight back. They determined that even though there was pain and the finger wasn't as pink as normal, the fact that there was still blood flow to the tip of the finger kept us out of "panic mode". After talking to the hand specialist, they applied nitroglycerin paste to his finger and put it in a heat pack. Perry then slept pretty much the next hour and Caleb watched a Harry Potter movie. They were sent home with instructions to keep a heat pack on it until bedtime and keep an eye out on the colour. Caleb showed them how he activated the pen, and he's very lucky. They said that because it was half-strength and he didn't get it fully into his hand (the needle barely went in), "panic mode" was adverted. If he had gotten it fully into his hand, it would've shut down blood flow to the entire hand.
I spent this time recovering from my own adrenaline rush. By the time I called my dad, I was in the shakes aftermath. And on the hunt for chocolate. Hey, if it works against Dementors, it should help here, right? I found 6 Hershey Kisses left over from Easter, which my dad said was enough to give me the energy to hunt for more chocolate. He asked if I had any ice cream to go with them, and I told him I didn't, but that I had some chocolate pudding. Which would go well with the vanilla pudding. I never got into the puddings, but I had about 3 Dr. Peppers. Normally I charge myself for every soda past my morning one, but I think I'm going to let these be freebies, lol.
Whew, what a day. I don't think I'll ever be an adrenaline junkie. Too stressful!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Happy Birthday Michaela!


Six years old today. Boy, how time flies!! Mischa was by far my toughest C-section recovery. I couldn't lie down and remember hating my hospital roommate for being able to toss and turn in bed. I slept semi-sitting for over a month. I also had my first bout of postpartum depression with her. I remember sitting on the couch, looking into her sweet face when she was about a month old, and seeing that sweet smile for the first time. She has since grown up into quite the young lady. I think she truly does believe that she is a princess. She loves to draw, and has quite the eye for shading and detail (she tackled a Chinese pagoda last year). She always has a smile on her face and tries her hardest to always do what's right. She is a great sister and a great daughter. Some boy is going to be very lucky 20 years from now. I love you, Michaela!!