Early Christmas Gift

So I got one of my Christmas Gifts early this year.... A happy healthy boy, minus tonsils and adenoids : )
Oh Tuesday lasted forever (imagine me saying it like this for - ev -er) and I don't think my heart has ever gone up and down so many times in such a short period of time... We arrived at 10:30am got checked in and all the fun stuff you get to do at the begining and waited for the nurse to come in...

Here is Jack waiting so patiently.... does he look like he's biting his nails - he so gets that from me ; )

Finally she came in and gave us some last minute instructions and off we were to the pre-op waiting room....

This is Jack blowing everyone a goodbye kiss

Once there we were informed that they were running 1hr behind, which turned into 1hr 30min behind... now mind you that our little man could not eat any food past 6am that morning so by 12:30pm he was getting a little frustrated... finally group after group of nurses, doctors and everyone else came and gave us instructions and it was time.... I had to hand my little man over, it was really hard and the look he gave us as he was walking down into surgery was Mom, Dad what are you doing??? (1st heart drop)... At that point I was starving, usually I tell Elle its the baby that needs to eat but today it was 100% me and the baby was just lucky to be along for the ride... well they told us that the surgery would take 40-45min so we busted it down to the cafateria where I loaded my plate with things from everywhere, when we finally sat down to eat i felt like I was eating so fast that half way through the whole thing I was like oh no.... Im going to have to throw up... looking back it was not really a great decision to try to make up for 2 meals in like 15min... so I ran back up to the waiting room and in about less than 5min our doctor walks in... Steve hadn't come up yet but after the doc sat down and assured me that everything went great and the Jack did so well, Steve came in and we were off to the PICU waiting area... Jack was going to have to stay in ICU for the night due to his hyper pulmonary tension, they wanted to make sure he would be ok with everything that happened and any medication that was given... so we were told that once they got Jack settled that we would be called back... after 45min I was freaking out.. what in the world was going on, I went and called the desk and they were like oh yea come on back... I ran and got Steve and we were both just relieved to see our little man that we didn't have enough in us to get as mad as I wanted to... so we go down the hall turn the corner and I see the sweetest little boy sitting up not too happy with 2 nurses that are trying to make him smile... we run in and I just had to grab him... > Heart went crazy< Oh the magic in a mothers hug, I was loving being part of that experience.... Steve and I just passed him back and forth.... He loved it, I really think he got some sort of anxiety over us giving him away earlier that he really needed some security... So it was the best Christmas present and my heart just swelled even more knowing that we had so many friends and family out there with us on their minds.... your prayers and thoughts were felt so many times that day, and they were sooo appreciated...

It's Almost Time

So on Tuesday Jack will be heading up to Primarys to have surgery to get his tonsils and adenoids out... He has really bad obstructive sleep apnea, so we are trying the only thing we feel is an option to try to help free up some space in his airways. The doctors told us of other things we could do, but they were a joke... His heart and lungs have a lot of pressure on them so if there is anything that will help relieve this pressure then that is a really good thing. I have read stories of kids bouncing right back from this, but then i have also read stories of kids having really hard times... I know my little guy is a fighter but I'm really nervous about this one. He will be in the ICU the night after just because the doctor said that they need to monitor how he will respond to the pain medication so that is not really settling to my mind... So..... any good thoughts and/or prayers that can be sent in Jacks direction would really be appreciated, because this little guy deserves nothing but happiness..

Mind Put At Ease

So yesterday was a good day for a few reasons... The first was that I found out that I am not the only one who has a daughter that can go from an Angle to a Devil in a snap... That her angry looks at me and the things she says is something that other mothers experience.... It really was a huge relief to find this out... There have been days here and there when I think who is this child and where did my little girl go? She just turns straight up nasty as I tell her. I throw out my threats and at some point it all calms down. Then comes the thought of what kind of mother am I to have a child go crazy on me like that, and like I said above I found out that I'm like every other mother out there with a 3 or 4 yr old child... : )
The other experience was with little Jack Attack. I took the kids to the Festival of Trees which is where people donate decorated trees usually in memory of someone who has passed, and then the trees are auctioned off and the proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital. Well, we were over in the craft section and Elle wanted to paint an ornament. So we go over to the table and there is a young man who had Downs sitting there, helping his mom run the booth. Well his mother saw Jack and introduced me to her son. I think she said he was 35, but as we were talking a little, the sweetest thing was happening between Jack and this young man. They were just sitting there staring at each other, both with the biggest smile on their face, it was as if they were saying "I know you, how are you doing?" It was such a sweet moment...
Then as the kids and I were walking around looking at the trees, I saw this younger girl who looked just like my sister Maureen. I stopped her mom and asked if the little girl had Ruben-Stein Tabies - which is what Maureen has - and she looked at me stunned for a moment later she said it was just because she had never had anyone ask because it is so rare, you just don't hear the term, but then said that yes she did have it. We talked for a bit, and I think the thing that got me the most was how alike they were... Their movements, their looks, it was just really crazy. One thing her mom asked was if Maureen was very loving? And I was like oh yeah, she loves giving hugs to everyone, and the mom said that her daughter did too. It was just such a testimony of the spirits in these wonderful children. There is nothing, and I mean nothing but love in them, and that is all that radiates from them. I just wish that everyone would see that first, before anything else... Thats really all that matters after all....