I Think I've Fixed The Problem!

First of all, I think I've fixed the problem some of you have been having with posting comments. Yay! Thank you so much to everyone for all the emails with comments since you weren't able to leave them on the blog. I really appreciate it! You guys are the best!

Raymond had his first doctors appointment with the new pediatrician today. We were there for almost 3 hours! She was very nice and very thorough. She made Raymond a cardiology appointment for this Friday. She told me his heart rate is still irregular and very slow. She felt strongly that Raymond should have had heart surgery by now. A little background for anyone who might not know...Raymond had been seeing the cardiology department at St. Christopher's. Two different doctors had seen him and they disagreed on what was wrong with Raymond's heart. So they really didn't do anything productive. Dr. K. (the new pediatrician) said that since the two doctors disagreed, that it was even more reason that they should have at least done some type of exploratory surgery to figure it out. Chris and I have often said we would rather Raymond have heart surgery sooner than later. His recovery will be more difficult if he's trying to move and groove all over the place. Dr. K. spoke with the cardiologist on the phone while I was there and he seemed to think that surgery needed to happen soon also. So it looks like I may be scheduling that on Friday.

Raymond also now has a ophthalmology appointment scheduled for next week. Dr. K. said his one retina is still partially detached and that his one eye looks different then the other. I have noticed that before. It's more pronounced some days then others. Why, I'm not sure. We went over a lot of information. We're feeling very disappointed with Raymond's old pediatrician for not noticing more of these problems and/or being more proactive. I had told Chris that for the last couple of months I felt like Dr. H. hadn't been on top of things with Raymond. Apparently, I was right. I had questioned her about certain issues and didn't get real concise or detailed answers. I'll give you an example. We have been concerned about Raymond's weight. Dr. Williams at Hershey's Feeding Clinic hasn't been real involved with Raymond these last couple of months because of Raymond's pulmonology issues. Until Raymond is off of oxygen he isn't going to be attempting to eat by mouth. This was a group decision between Dr. Williams, the pulmonologist, the gastroenterologist and Chris and myself. (Raymond only saw Dr. Williams once before going back on oxygen - so we didn't get very far. I really look forward to jumping back into with him when Raymond is able.) Since Dr. Williams has taken a temporary step back, we wanted to make sure Raymond's weight and size weren't being neglected. Dr. H. basically said not to worry about it - he's fine. Well, I don't know about you but I don't think it's okay that Raymond has weighed 19lbs. for approximately 8 months. That's a big deal...right? We are Raymond's voice and she wasn't hearing it. Dr. K. has changed the way we feed Raymond. She will be informing Dr. Williams of the change to get his opinion. The volume Raymond gets is the same but she bumped up the calories. Hopefully he tolerates the change well. I think he will. He's my tough guy! So along with these things we covered about 1,000 more. I left her office feeling like we really made the best decision for Raymond. Dr. K. also agreed that switching Raymond's care to Hershey was a big step in the right direction. We love our little guy so much and want the best for him. I'll keep fighting for what we feel is right for him no matter who we have to replace or who I have to talk to about it. Don't mess with this Mommy! : )

Isabella, Raymond and I are supposed to head to Philadelphia tomorrow to stay over for Raymond's appointments on Wednesday. It looks like the appointments might be postponed again. They are calling for snow and ice. I really, really, really don't want to have to reschedule again but there isn't anything I can do about it. Mother nature doesn't have an answering service.

In a totally different direction, I wanted to share a recipe with you. Tonight for dinner I made Mexican Shrimp Bisque. It was extremely easy and very yummy. If you don't like shrimp, I think it would be very good with chicken breast substituted. I doubled the recipe.

Mexican Shrimp Bisque

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup water
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. chicken bouillon cubes
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ cup sour cream

Fresh cilantro and cubed avocado, optional

1. In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in flour until blended. Stir in the water, heavy cream, chili powder, bouillon, cumin and coriander; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Cut the shrimp into bite-size pieces; add to the soup. Simmer 5 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink.
3. Gradually stir ½ cup hot soup into sour cream; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Heat through (do not boil). Garnish with cilantro and avocado if desired.

***

I hope you enjoy this recipe too! I also made a HUGE pot of beef stock tonight to freeze. Chris requested Beef Barley Soup so I'll make that sometime soon but I need a few things from the store first. Well, tomorrow is February. Can you believe it? Sorry this post doesn't include any pictures. More to come soon. I have some fun things planned for us. Stay warm everyone!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

January...please go away!

Isabella didn't have school on Thursday because of the snow. I asked her if she wanted to go out and play in it a little while. We all bundled up and headed out back. I was afraid Raymond was going to be cold but I think he wound up being the warmest of all of us. It actually wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be. I was hot in a fleece and coat. My camera started to act funny while we were outside so some of the pictures look a little dark.

I took this picture the other night and couldn't decided who was sleepier!

After I was finished folding the laundry, Isabella and Raymond decided to play with the collapsible laundry basket. They were having so much fun! Raymond was laughing really hard!

On Friday night Isabella and I made soft pretzels. She did a really good job rolling out the dough and shaping them.

Isabella shaped all of these pretzels by herself!

As I was putting the second batch of pretzels in the oven I heard Raymond coughing in the living room. It wasn't a normal cough. I went to see if he was okay and his face was bright red...he was choking! I didn't panic but I scooped him up and started to pat his back. Whatever was stuck in his throat would not come out. I'm CPR certified but nothing was helping. He had mucus coming out of his nose and mouth but he was still unable to cough up whatever was in there. Then I started to panic. I grabbed the phone and dialed 911. While I was on the phone with them Raymond threw up a lot of mucus and what looked like a small piece of sticker came out with it. He was still coughing but seemed to be moving air much better. The ambulance and a police officer got here pretty quickly. The paramedics said Raymond was passing air well but recommended I take him to the hospital to get checked out to be on the safe side. So off we went. (They offered to take him by ambulance but I said I would take him since he has a lot of equipment that needs to go along where ever we go.) When we got there they took him immediately and said Raymond's heart beat was irregular. Most likely from the hard coughing. So we were at the hospital for a long time and Chris met us there after he was done working. Raymond has a doctor's appointment on Monday with his pediatrician and she is going to contact Hershey Medical Center to get Raymond a cardiology appointment there. Since this will be his first cardiology appointment with Hershey, they require that your child's pediatrician call to verify the information and problem. It makes a lot of sense so they don't schedule unnecessary appointments for people who really don't need their services. So in reference to the title of this post - I'm ready for January to be over! Hopefully February will bring us better luck!

And our shredder broke today : (

Come on February!!!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

That Long???

Has it really been that long since I posted something? Wow! Time flies! So where do I start? Oh boy...lets see...

Isabella, Raymond and I ended up not going to Philadelphia on the 12th. Raymond's oncology office called Tuesday morning to reschedule his appointment because of the impending snow. So I called the ENT and surgical office and rescheduled those appointments as well. Both of those offices were in the process of calling to reschedule also. I just happen to beat them to the punch. I didn't want to get stuck at the Ronald McDonald House and not have any appointments to go to. Isabella was very disappointed. I told her not to worry that we will be going down soon. Philadelphia did get a fair amount of snow so I'm glad we rescheduled.

On the way home from work on Tuesday night Chris was rear-ended. It was snowy and a car had broken down in the middle of the road. The car in front of Chris stopped but the car behind did not. Luckily Chris wasn't hurt. When he got home I looked at the incident report and asked Chris if he noticed the lady's name who he was pushed into. He said he hadn't taken notice. It was Jennifer Lopez. It cracked me up. There are probably 30 Jennifer Lopez's who live in the Reading area but we still got a kick out of it. On a bright note, Chris was glad not to come home to an empty house like he originally thought he was going to.

I had cancelled Raymond's therapy on the Wednesday I'd thought we be in Philadelphia. Tuesday night into Wednesday I was having some trouble with my asthma. I normally have no trouble with my asthma but for some reason I couldn't quite catch my breath. On Wednesday morning around 8:30 I decided to call my doctor. I just didn't feel like I was in control of my own body at that point. I was told to head over to the hospital to be on the safe side. I called Chris, who had only been at work for about 40 minutes, and asked him to come home. Once he got home I headed over and the emergency room doctor was waiting for me. I was taken back and given a strong dose of steroids to help get my breathing under control. Well, it ended up turning into a bigger deal then I thought. After the doctors read the blood work it turns out that I had a mild heart attack. Yes, they were able to figure out why.

I've been having a lot of trouble with acid reflux. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! I feel so bad for people who suffer with this on a regular basis because it is not fun. My acid reflux is totally pregnancy related. The acid reflux directly effects my asthma. The asthma and breathing trouble directly effected my heart murmur - again, totally pregnancy related. I developed a heart murmur at the beginning of this pregnancy and it's really no big deal. It happens to a lot of woman because of the extra fluid our bodies are retaining. Again, very common and nothing to be concerned with. Unfortunately, all of these things combined just took my body into overload. I ended up being in the hospital from Wednesday to Saturday afternoon. The doctor's gave me more steroids to help control everything which made my blood sugar go crazy! I have gestational diabetes which I also had with Isabella and Raymond. It's something I control extremely easily with diet. Now I have to give myself insulin to counteract the steroids. The baby is doing just fine. All the nurses kept telling me, "You have an extremely happy baby in there!" I was nervous about the steroids but they kept reassuring me that the steroids are actually helping her lung development not hurting her in any way. I was sent home on bed rest with eight prescriptions. Why did I need eight prescriptions at the beginning of the year when we still needed to meet our prescription deductible? Ugh! Not a pretty bill. I have not been in bed but I have been taking it easy. I get tired pretty quickly. So I do this and that and rest a little. Luckily both Isabella and Raymond can easily entertain themselves if I lay on the couch. Thank you very much to everyone who sent me cards and flowers while I was in the hospital. It was so thoughtful of you!

Raymond's physical therapist brought a walker for him to start to use to try and help him walk. Raymond enjoys pulling himself up on anything but isn't a huge fan of the walker. It takes a lot of effort for him to pull himself up, balance, keep his head forward and move his feet. He definitely associates it with work. I try and get him to at least stand up with it everyday but as soon as he sees it coming he makes a sour face. As Raymond's legs and hips get stronger he'll enjoy it. He wants so desperately to run after his big sister!!!

Last Wednesday Raymond had his MRI. I was originally planning to go but I had a follow-up doctor's appointment that ran over by almost 2 hours. So Chris ended up taking him down to Hershey by himself. We were a little nervous because Raymond had such a hard time under anesthesia last time. Raymond's MRI was scheduled at 1:00 and they didn't take him back until 3:30. The poor little guy was starving because he hadn't been able to eat anything since 7:00 that morning. Chris said he finally just cried himself to sleep. Other then that, everything went very well. Chris headed home with Raymond around 5:30. We should hear the results of that by tomorrow. Hopefully they didn't find anything. Brain surgery is not on my to-do list!!!

Tomorrow I have a long doctor's appointment. We will be there from 1:30 until about 4:00. The weather isn't slotted to be very nice so I'm not sure if they will call to reschedule or not. Since it's such a long appointment, it's hard for me to reschedule it. Isabella has no problem at these appointments but it's hard for Raymond because he has to be in his car seat 90% of it. How boring for him! I always bring lots of things for both of them but when you're strapped in for hours, it's rough.

Today after I picked Isabella up from school we went to the library. We had a few things to return and she wanted to pick out some new books and a DVD. She choose a Nick Jr. DVD which we've seen before. The first episode is Blues Clues. Isabella will watch Blues Clues but it's by no means a favorite show of hers. But, apparently, Raymond really enjoys Blues Clues. He sat and stared at the television for quite some time, giggling and laughing. It was so cute! He never watches television but for some reason he really likes Blues Clues. I'm having deja vu from when Isabella was little. We bought her a VHS tape of Bear in the Big Blue House at the library book sale and she ended up loving it. We wound up searching high and low for anything Bear in the Big Blue House since it wasn't being made anymore. We found most items at garage sales. If Raymond continues to like Blues Clues, we might have to do the same thing. I don't want him to get caught up watching TV but maybe I can find some educational toys or figures since it held his interest for so long. We also ran into Kmart to buy Valentines for Isabella's school party. Her teachers sent a note home today instructing parents on how to label the Valentines. I didn't know we were to buy them so I was happy to see the note. I would have felt really bad if she was the only kid who didn't bring any. I was actually going to ask her teachers if they planned on exchanging Valentines but I forgot. Most things like this are optional. Buying a $3 box of Valentines is no big deal. I was happy that Isabella picked a box with puppies and kittens. They work great for boys and girls. Now she has to sign her name 16 times! Good practice!

Raymond's appointments with the oncologist, ENT and surgeon are rescheduled for Feb. 2 (next Wednesday). Hopefully the weather is okay so we can finally make it down there. I don't want to have to reschedule for the beginning of March and have to take the new baby along. Since we are spending the night at the Ronald McDonald House, it will be a lot more to drag along. If I have to I will but I'd like to get these appointments in now. It's a bad time of the year for all these appointments. The weather has not been our friend. The following Tuesday Raymond and Isabella have appointments at the Pulmonologist. I think Isabella has asthma. When she gets a cold it always seems to be accompanied by a cough that doesn't go away and I hear her wheeze. Maybe Raymond will be able to come off oxygen. I'm really not sure though. He's still struggling with it more then he should be.

While I was in the hospital, Chris got a postcard out of the mailbox that we had a certified letter waiting for us at the post office - for Raymond Burch! Why in the world is someone sending Raymond a certified letter?!? This was Saturday and the post office was closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day so we had to wait until Tuesday to see what it was. I stopped and picked it up on the way to the doctors. It was from Praxair, the company that supplies Raymond with his oxygen supplies and other medical equipment. I opened the letter and it was to inform us that one of Raymond's pieces of equipment was recalled due to it causing serious injuries and death!!!!!!!!! Are we the only ones who think this warrants a phone call? The recalled equipment is a pulse oximetry machine which measures the concentration of oxygen in Raymond's blood. This tells us whether or not we need to adjust his oxygen level. According to the letter there is fluid which leaks out of the machine causing third degree burns and it also sends electronic impulses to the patients heart which has caused several deaths in people with existing heart conditions. Hello!!! Raymond has a hole in his heart!!! Chris and I were so mad that we didn't get a phone call about it. We were also mad at our incredibly lazy mailman who didn't bother to come to the door to see if someone was home to sign for the letter. I guess the car in the driveway wasn't enough of a hint for him. Chris was home the entire day with both kids. So not only did we have to go to the post office to pick this letter up but we had to wait two extra days because it was a weekend and holiday. This isn't the first time we've had trouble with the mailman. He is such a bonehead. Really. Chris and I have decided we are going to file a formal complaint about him to the post master. This was the last straw.

The baby is due in 4 weeks! Wow! I'm going to blink and be holding a new baby. I do have a C-section scheduled, but again, we aren't telling anyone when that is. This is my third C-section and it still makes me squeamish to think of them putting that needle in my back! It only takes a second and it honestly only hurts for about 5 seconds total but it still gives me anxiety! It's very worth it and we're ready! Especially Isabella!

Some of you have told me you're having trouble looking at the blog and commenting. Other's say they haven't had any trouble. I'm not sure what to tell you. If I look at the blog while not signed in, it comes up just fine. When I'm signed in it looks and runs fine too. Try typing the blog address in instead of retrieving it from your favorites. Maybe that would help? I'm honestly not sure what to suggest. If you continue having trouble send me an email and I will contact Blogger to see if they have any suggestions.

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

PA Farm Show

On Saturday we decided to take the kids to the Pennsylvania Farm Show. I've never been there (for anything other then the dog show) and it's been a long time for Chris. It's a huge complex and there was a lot to see. Isabella and Raymond really enjoyed looking at everything.

Isabella and Daddy checked out the horse trailers. They both liked the ones with living quarters.

There were tons of people walking around with peacock feathers. So many so that we thought they were being handed out for free. When we came across the stand that had the peacocks, we found they were actually selling the feathers for a dollar. They must have made a killing! Yes, we bought one for Isabella. Raymond tried desperately to grab a hold of it the rest of the day!

This little girl was born on Christmas Eve.

He might be small but he was loud! There were so many types of chickens on display. Some of them were really beautiful.

Isabella thought this Guinea pig was so funny. I asked her if she thought he was having a bad hair day. She just laughed and laughed!

A lady was showing kids how to use these lassos that were for sale. Isabella asked the lady if she could try and she did a pretty good job. We stood there for a little while Isabella tried to perfect her lassoing. When we were getting ready to walk away the lady told Isabella that she was the boss. She continued by telling Isabella how she was such a nice and polite girl and gave her a lasso for free! When we walked away Chris and I told Isabella that's why it is always important to use good manners (which she always does) because you never know who you might be talking to. Raymond was strapped to me most of the time while we were walking around so there really aren't any pictures of him at the farm show since I was the one taking the pictures.

On a different subject, anyone who knows me knows that I despise sneakers. I never wear them. I have a pair that I put on when I'm on the treadmill and that's horrible enough. I just don't like sneakers. Period. But I must say, I really love these sneakers...

Raymond has several appointments in Philadelphia on Wednesday, including an oncology appointment. I'll let you know how those go when we get home. Hopefully we don't get snowed into the Ronald McDonald House. Isabella would be happy to stay an extra day though! She loves it there.

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

Here I Am!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year! We stayed home and had a party according to Isabella. I made yummy lobster club sandwiches for dinner. We played games and had lots of fun. Isabella made it to around 10:00 but just couldn't stay awake any longer.

We've been getting things in order for the new baby. My due date is only 7 weeks away! We ordered a crib for her and as you can see, everyone helped put it together.

Yes, Raymond ripped his oxygen off!

Afterwards, Raymond got a haircut.

I'm sure there are lots of other things I should tell you, but I can't think of anything right now. So check back for another update soon!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,