Baby Update

Today, baby and Mommy had a checkup. Blood pressure is good--a little low, but still good. Amazing considering all of the stress we have experienced recently. In two weeks, we will find out whether we are having a girl or a boy. I am hoping for a boy, but so many signs are pointing towards girl, so we will just have to wait and see. So far, the heart rate has remained in the high 150's. "Meanie" has prayed for a baby brother, but he has agreed that we will keep the baby even if it is a girl. On May 7th, I will be having a Level II ultrasound with the perinatologist, so I am hoping to find out more then.

Happy 6th Birthday Declan!

I trust you are having the best birthday ever dancing and celebrating with your Lord and Savior in Heaven. I can picture your happy smiles and laughter as you romp and play in your heavenly mansion. My heart aches as I picture the birthday you might have had if you were still with us. We have not forgotten you.

Field Trip(s)

This morning, we headed out to the zoo only to run into a heavy mist on the way :-( Realizing that if we walked around in the mist for too long, we would be cold and wet, we opted to head to the Oklahoma Science Museum instead. The kids had a ball. I hadn't been there in years, and we treated ourselves to everything (except the body exhibit--YUCK!!). The IMAX film was StormChasers, and the kids were excited and scared all at the same time. After we left they said that the liked it, but there were moments where they buried their faces and were apprehensive. We spent most of the day at the Science Museum. The first part of the day was very crowded with all of the public school field trips :-( After about 2pm, it improved when most of the kids left and the museum cleared out. We had such a fun time that we are hoping to buy a pass so that we can go there more often. The kids were a little disappointed that we didn't get to the zoo, but since we have a pass, we can go another time. This evening, we headed out the Arts Festival. We didn't make it to the kids tents, but are hoping to get back later this week, weather permitting. Right now, I'm letting the kids run around the backyard and enjoy the wonderful weather before the storms head in tomorrow. Fun! Fun! Fun!

ETA: Jason went back to the surgeon today. He is going back to work on Thursday.

Friday! Friday! Friday!

Today was an awesome day. The weather was absolutely beautiful and things went really well. Jason & I took the kids to Jump Zone AND McDonalds. The kids got a Jump Zone pass and McDonalds gift cards for Christmas, and with everything that has happened around here, we hadn't been able to use them :-( They have begged and begged, and I have felt really sorry for them. This morning, we got them up and had them hustle through their morning work. We told them we were running errands, and instead we drove to Jump Zone. They were very excited :-) After that, we took them to McDonalds where they each got to pay with their very own "credit card" (gift card, actually). They also got to play on the playground, which we almost never let them do.

This afternoon, we came home, did school and took care of some general straightening. Mostly they got to play outside and have "tool school" with Daddy in the garage. Also, the Lord used a wonderful family from our church to bless us this afternoon. They have a lawn mowing business and came and took care of our yard for us--free of charge. We had quite a few limbs lying around from the ice storm in December that still hadn't been dealt with. These were all removed. They even moved the trampoline and mowed underneath it (which Jason had never been able to do since he can't move it by himself). The yard looks super awesome and it has taken a great load off of us worrying about how it was going to get done.

Jason's pain is still pretty bad. He is taking his pain medicine quite regularly, and it doesn't seem to help much. He is still able to enjoy some normal activities, but anything that requires bending or lifting isn't very doable right now. Please continue praying. If he isn't doing better by next Wednesday, we will go back to the surgeon.

Update and Tool School

After getting a callback from the surgeon, we were told that the hiccups and vomiting are probably due to the leakage/cyst and the related infection. If things get much worse, or if Jason runs a fever, we are to contact them right away or go to the ER. We also learned that he will not be released to go back to work any sooner than next Wednesday :-0 We were hoping he could be back within a day or two, but he does not have the option of returning without a release :-(

On a lighter note, Jason has spent the afternoon in the garage doing "tool school" with the children. Usually only "Meanie" does "tool school" with Daddy, but the girls have been begging to join in and they are asking for tools of their own like "Meanie" has :-) They are thrilled that Daddy is spending time with them, and it has been nice for me to have some school planning time.

Strange New Symptoms ??

We are puzzled by some new symptoms Jason is having. He started having the hiccups some time yesterday morning. They have been continuous, other than when he lays down. When he is upright, he is hiccuping. Also, he began vomiting this morning. He is not sleeping because of the pain and the narcotic itching. The last two nights, he has awakened and done a ton of housework. I woke up at 9am this morning and he had been doing laundry since 4am :-0 We are waiting a call back from the doctor right now to see if he is concerned about these new symptoms.

CT Results

Jason had his CT scan at noon today, and by 2pm the surgeon called us with the results. Some time after Jason's surgery in February, he developed a leak in his intestine. This can be a life threatening complication, and we didn't even know it had happened :-0 The surgeon is taking it very seriously. It appears that the leak has healed itself (or more correctly, God healed it), but a large cyst has developed in the area where the leak was. The surgeon is going to give Jason 10 days of mega antibiotics. If he is not feeling better in a few days, we are going to call the surgeon back and Jason might have to go in for another surgery. We are praying that the antibiotics will take care of the problem and surgery will not be necessary.

As far as his work, things are up in the air. We do not know what is going to happen there, especially if he ends up having surgery.