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,