C'est la vie

With Justin's crazy schedule leaving me little time for downtime with the kids, it's difficult to find time to write blog posts. So, I suppose I will do the best that I can for now!

We are doing PT for Devin, Luke is fully into his terrible two's (woops - I mean "terrific"), and Justin is out from the break of dawn until just before the boys get to bed.

To make things easier for myself I have started to use the baby backpack ALOT more; This means that when we are on a walk and Luke throws a tantrum I have two free arms to carry him back. Usually he does this while we are walking the dogs - so I have two dog leashes in one hand, a baby on my back, and a toddler that I am carrying in a football hold. But we do have to get those dogs walked and also get out of the house.

I also usually refuse to go grocery shopping unless it is on the weekend. While it is busier, Luke will not be still/quiet/have ANYWHERE. Any thoughts of having a third child anytime soon while this far from the support structures of grandparents and aunts and uncles has been wiped from my mind. I tip my hat to those with small children and deployed spouses. My GOODNESS toddlers are.. a challenge?

Lukas has those wonderful spontaneous displays of affection and alot of cute things that he comes out with. To get him to eat broccoli I rip the heads into tiny "baby" broccoli's and Luke says they're going "WAH!WAH! They're crying." He turned to me today and said that "Trees are happy." He loves Thomas the Train, all things chocolate, and is smart as a whip. Though I am his biased mother.

I LOVE Trader Joe's

For those of you who don't know, Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store similar to Whole Foods except alot better. I was going to Whole Foods for months to pick up special things that I am unable to find at the grocery store on base, but Trader Joe's is so awesome I will never be going back to Whole Foods. Here is why I love it there:

1. The food - including produce - is actually CHEAPER! than on base. I like to buy organic, but I had stopped for awhile because of the heavy hit it puts on my wallet.

2. They are committed to having tons of gluten-free stuff, and label everything prominently. I love their labels. No small font, but HUGE handwriting-looking stuff. At Whole Foods it's difficult to find "organic" on the labels and annoying when I'm in a hurry (which I am, always).

3. Their employees are SUPER friendly. They invite me over to the checkout, and actually help when they see me struggling with a two-year-old. SO so nice to a mom that is trying to get in and out quickly. The last time I went the checkout girl asked Luke if he wanted stickers, gave him a whole long string of them, then proceeded to ask me if I found everything on my list. I said that I didn't find the beef jerky and right away someone steps up beside her and says he'll go back. And he brought the beef jerky right up! After reading the labels to make sure that they were gluten-free.

4. Not only are the employees nice, but the people that shop there are too!!! Everyone smiles, chats, jokes with Luke. The first time we went, a gentleman came over and handed Luke a cookie from a sample table and said he loves to do that since he is diabetic and can't eat them himself. The second time, we were checking out and as I am bagging my groceries an elderly couple starts chatting with Luke about the choo-choo train he was carrying. It's AWESOME!

5. They have a huge selection of store brand stuff - delicious chicken sausage, nuts, different kinds of flour, pasta sauce - and it's good for you and cheap!


If there was one thing I could say I didn't like about Trader Joe's is that they aren't everywhere. It makes me sad that when we move from DC I probably won't be able to go to one.

Sorry about the excessive CAPS use, but I was just so excited to write this blog. I always leave Trader Joe's with a good feeling and don't think I'll be visiting my commissary for much anymore!

Crossfit Kicked My A$$

Justin has recently started going to Crossfit classes at the Gym and proposed an arrangement that we exchange the kiddos in the morning so that he'd go to the early class and I'd go to the one right after on days that his schedule allowed. Well, my first opportunity came during Julie and Dave's visit to our house this last Friday.

The workout on the board looked deceptively easy - 3 x 15 reps some strength move, 15 reps burpees (a cardio move). We warmed up with butt kicks, jumping jacks - all standard stuff. Then we moved onto the other part of the warmup.......... 10 Pullups/10 pushups/ 10 squats. Right there I probably would have left if Julie wasn't standing right next to me. However, Julie jumped right in and suggested that we use the boxes and do jumping pullups as a modification. Thankfully I was able to get through the warmup doing those, and I did eventually switch to girly pushups during the warmup (thought I was going to get yelled at for that).

After the warmup and before the workout the instructor joked about how he'd gotten 6 people to throw up so far, which made me a little wary of what was to come. Sure enough about halfway through I started to feel vomit in the back of my throat. The end eventually came and I was left with a feeling of giddy accomplishment. Though I had gone the girly route with pullups, pushups, and weight, I had actually finished a Crossfit workout.
I'm hoping to go back soon and maybe someday do a proper pullup/burpee/any olympic weightlifting technique.

On another note, I did go to a Zumba class the next day and got my grove on even though I was the only white girl there and it was my first time ;)

p.s. Big thanks to Julie for being there and jumping in with modifications because I probably would've walked out before the instructor offered one!

Devin's Do's

Took these a few weeks ago when I was having some one-on-one time with Devin. Figured I might as well try to style his hair since it goes crazy and usually looks like a mess. I even named them all but couldn't get the subtitles below the pics. Enjoy~

I call this one the Jerry Curl

SO BUSY

Summer is full of so many things to do. We visited North Carolina and saw Crandall two weeks ago. Justin then had the debut of "Air Strike" at the Tattoo last weekend. The first show was good, but the second was AWESOME!! They tweaked a few things and it looked fantastic.

Devin now has two bottom teeth. AND it is already time for bed..

Luke's Pet Fly

A poor fly got stuck in our house the other day and Luke decided to make it his pet. For about 20 minutes, Lukas laughed at the top of his lungs and followed this fly around trying to get it to land on him. He would hold his hand so close to the fly and ask him "please." SO CUTE. Eventually the fly escaped and I found him dead on my bedroom floor that evening. I haven't told Luke yet! SHhhh.

Life takes us weird places sometimes

Devin now! 4 months old

In the last two months we've been on a crazy rollercoaster ride that seems to be coming to an end right now. At the end of March, after a trip to playgroup, Devin started coughing and sneezing (just like Luke was doing). This rapidly turned into about 2 days and nights of unending screaming fits accompanied by fevers of 103 (keep in mind he was only 7 weeks old). Devin would only fall asleep held upright on my chest for only about 20 minutes at a time - AROUND THE CLOCK. Friday at about 5am I packed Luke and Devin up and took them to Andrews Air Force Base ER, where after 7 hours we were discharged with a diagnosis of RSV and directions to give Devin tylenol for his fever.

Not giving the diagnosis much thought - I had never heard of RSV and the doctors made it out to be like the common cold, I went home and dosed Devin every four hours. Things seemed to get better until Sunday evening just before dinner I noticed Devin was trying to cry, but couldn't make any noise. We left right away for the ER, where after I told them Devin was having trouble breathing, they had us wait in the lobby for an hour before taking us back to have his temp taken. Even after they saw that his fever was over 103, they sat us back out in the lobby where we waited a long time to be taken to a room where we waited again to have someone to listen to his lungs. All the while I sat there telling myself that if it was something serious, they would have a sense of urgency. Anyway, after 6 hours there and an x-ray, an ambulance was finally arranged to transport us to Walter Reed Army Medical center. We waited about another 3 hours before that got to there to take us. Devin received NO antibiotics, no treatments whatsoever, except for a 10 minute neb-treatment. In fact, I was told by one of the techs that he couldn't hear a problem with Devin's lungs, which further solidified my belief that I was being a crazy over-worrying mother.

Why am I telling you this? To caution you. Because no matter how crazy you think you are being, you have to speak up and advocate for your children. I think back on both trips to Andrews ER and wonder if Devin would've gotten so seriously sick if I had been adamant that they give him quick and better attention. What I know is that I learned a really important lesson and have an experience to share with other mothers.

En route to Walter Reed, the nurse and EMT decided that Devin was sick enough to go straight to the ICU. About 12 hours later, Devin's left lung had completely collapsed and he was fighting for his life. During a planned intubation (which took doctors 3 attempts) Devin had a bad reaction to vent support and his lungs clenched shut. If you know medical lingo he had a 'hypoxic episode' and 'bronchospasms.' His heart rate fell and in order to bring that up and help save him, the doctors drove an IO needle that delivered dopamine and epinephrine into the bone of his right leg. The doctors breathed for Devin manually with a bag for approximately an hour before they were able to stabilize his blood pressure and heart rate and successfully place him on the vent.

The best way I can describe the feeling of being told that your child is dying is sort of being filled with this impotent energy. Like being in one of those dreams where you are running toward or away from something as fast as you possibly can and not moving. You can't breathe and the pit of your stomach is hollow. That came after the initial shock that my healthy, full-term baby was 'not doing so well.' All along I was being told that this was standard, just give him some tylenol, then just give him some antibiotics and neb treatments, he'll be FINE. The sight of his white and completely motionless body laying on the table with a doctor breathing for him with a bag is forever seared into my memory.

Devin was transported to Children's National Medical Center in the event that his condition would further deteriorate and he'd need ECMO - the heart and lung machine that bypasses both and does all of the work. He was intubated there for two weeks, on a nasal cannula for one, then finally released home where we administered antibiotics and anti-withdrawal medication (he was on morphine while intubated) around the clock.

Devin day 1 at Children's National Medical Center

Withdrawal was a hellish experience and I'm sure he didn't have it as bad as he could have since the medication was very slowly being weaned. Lots and lots of sweating, crying, throwing up. Urine and sweat both have this really strong distinct smell when you are on antibiotics and I think that'll be a memory trigger for me.

Fast forward 8 weeks and Devin is a whole new baby. Happy and healthy, he is doing just what he should, right on time. He is on no medication and is done with his follow-up rsv/pneumonia visits. We are now seeing an orthopedic doctor for injuries that he sustained from medication leaking out of his IO needle during the emergency. Devin has lost feeling in the bottom of his foot (it is dulled in his toes and top of his foot) and is no longer able to voluntarily move his foot or toes. He has muscle and arterial damage, the extent of which we will probably never fully know. The foot, which has curled into a pointed position, will be placed into a cast and then brace to correct the position. As Devin grows and tries to walk, his doctor will make changes to care and assess what needs to be done to give him the most function of his foot and leg. We are told that he will walk and run and jump and play just like a normal child, but with his own special modifications.

We are so happy to have our healthy baby who now seems to be growing way too fast! We're back to the grind, back to normal (kinda), and hopefully back to blogging!

* Please take this story as a caution. RSV is serious, especially in small babies - EVEN IF THEY ARE COMPLETELY HEALTHY BEFOREHAND. You need to be your child's voice. Don't worry about what other people think! You are mom (or dad) and trust your instincts!