Blessed Assurance

The month of April has been filled with so many things.
Sorrow, joy, fear, anticipation, and many memories.
With all the turmoil this month I have not had the time to blog about my Grandfather.
After many years of failing health and depression his body finally gave out and he is home with God. At his memorial I learned some really fascinating facts that I didn't know about him.
I knew his name was J.W. and that it really only stood for J.W. I knew he was a rancher and a fireman for Dallas. What I didn't know was that he grew up on a pear orchard. People came from Dallas to his farm in Kleberg to buy pears by the bushel. For some odd reason I find that life interesting and I would love to know more. My mom actually remembers it because when she was small they still lived there.
Here are just a few more interesting facts:
*He worked at the first movie theater in Mesquite as a projectionist.
*He ran a Curtis Candy route.
*He was a Dallas Fireman for 28 years.
*He was the mayor of Oak Grove.
*He was married to my Memaw for 62 years!
*He had two children.
*He had 6 grandchildren.
*He had 7 great-grandchildren.
The funeral service was full of fond memories from friends and family. We decided to take Jack and Bailey mainly because they both asked to go and say goodbye to Papa. After the funeral began I was so proud of my two kids. Both sat and listened to the Chaplain talk about Papa. Everything was smooth until they opened the coffin for everyone to pay respects. Bailey started crying and couldn't stop. As she sobbed on me she said, "Mommy, Papa's boo-boos are all better now aren't they?" Out of the mouths of babes. "Yes, Bailey, Papa is with God now so his boo-boos are all better." Jack leans over and says,"That is not Papa anymore Bailey, his old body is still here but he is up in heaven."
On the way to the burial the kids got to ride in the limo with Granny, Mimi and Papa and they loved it. The burial was a true Fireman's funeral. We had bagpipes lead us in and after the tradition was explained a bell was rung to call Papa home to God. It was truly moving.
I could go on and on with my childhood memories of Papa. The farm, bringing me donuts after his shift at the Firehouse, riding horses and motorbikes, fishing in the ponds, riding in his truck early in the morning to check on the cattle, snakes!, Mr. Tom and Miss Kitty, sheep, picking vegetables in the garden, Corky, Duke, King, eating only shrimp no chicken, and on and on.
Grandpa truly blessed my life in so many ways. I will miss you and all your knowledge on just about any subject. As the song Blessed Assurance was sung at the service I felt a sadness and a joy at the same time because I knew I would miss him but I also knew he was now in a much better place.

McDreamy to McNightmare

What began as a "normal" hectic day in our house ended as nothing near normal!
Early Thursday morning Greg and I rushed to get all of us ready for a busy Thursday. Kids fed breakfast, lunches made, dressed, etc... Greg had to leave really early for a meeting so I was taking Jack to school then on to Pre-school for Bailey, Connor and myself. During breakfast was the first sign something was wrong. Connor would not eat, he was really fussy and wouldn't even drink his milk. The fact that he was fussy in the morning was a sure sign of trouble. He is the happiest kid in the morning and can't wait to play and eat. When I took a closer look at him his lips were blue. Not just slightly but very blue. So I became concerned and when I was dressing him I felt like his hands and feet were also rather cold. By then I felt like a call to Papa was in order. He told me I should call the Doctor. So, I rushed Jack to school and called Greg a little panicked and he called the after hours number for our Doctor. The nurse called me back by the time I got home and after I described symptoms and answered many questions she told me to go to the ER immediately. In mommy auto-pilot I grabbed Connor and Bailey and left. Called Greg and Mom and Kristen at school on my way and walked into the really nice Children's ER at Medical City. They got me back to the the triage area quickly and asked more questions and took his vitals and now he wasn't cold he was running 103.9 fever! They immediately decided to admit him to the ER for test and observation. I was still at this point thinking it was nothing and I was being silly, but little did I know...
Greg came while we were in the first ER room and so did Mom to take Bailey home. I am so grateful that Mom came and got Bailey, she did not need to see what happened next. While the first Dr. was evaluating him another nurse ran in and said they needed us out of the room immediately. As we left she told us that room was the Psych room and they had a loud patient waiting with the police to get in the room. Great!
So they finally moved us to the Children's ER room and a new nurse and new Doctor.
Then began the tests and IV and fluids and more tests. The IV and urine sample via catheter were the worst to watch. He really didn't put up much of a fight because he was so sick. He had Motrin and then Tylenol both at the hospital and the fever wasn't coming down. After several hours of waiting the Doctor came back with the first results. He said the chest x-rays and electrolytes were good but the blood work was really low and he thought it had to be lab error so he wanted to rerun them. A nurse came back in and took more blood from my baby. I don't know how he had any blood left they took so much. Then we sat for 2 more hours holding a very hot and sleepy baby.
What happened next is still fuzzy in my mind. The Doctor walked back in and looked really somber and started with, "Well, it wasn't an error the lab work was correct." What he followed that with was truly my biggest nightmare. "With the white blood cells being so low they are almost non-existent, we are looking at a form of Leukemia." After he said the "L" word I shut down. I vaguely remember him saying a specialist would be looking at the blood and we would be checked into the hospital immediately and blah, blah, blah...
The next 25 minutes or so we spent in shock and trying to figure out what to do next and praying constantly. I sat and rocked Connor and just kept saying NO, NO, NO over and over. Greg called both of our parents and told them what we had been told. He called Kristen at Pre-school and told her that the labs were not good but we would know more later. He didn't want to panic anyone until we knew what we were dealing with. I remember the nurse came in and asked me if I was ok and if I needed anything. She was so kind and concerned for Connor. I think and hope after the initial shock I would have been calmer and thinking more clearly but I don't know that for sure. I only knew my sweet baby, whom I prayed every night for a year for, was really sick. God heard all the prayers sent up on Connor's behalf and quickly ended our terror. Dr. McDreamy, as I was calling him before the "L" word, came back in and said,"Good News!" That was all I needed to hear. He told us that the Hematologist/Oncologist had looked at the blood and saw no abnormalities. He thought all the low blood counts was a sign that a 12 month old was just having a lot of trouble fighting off a bad virus. I had since renamed McDreamy as Dr. McNightmare, he apologized for the scare but at that point I was just so happy I didn't care. He said the specialist would be looking at all the lab work still to be done and would help us rule out Leukemia for sure. While we waited for a room they began to run more tests. More blood work, an RSV test, IV anti-biotics and who knows what else. Terry came in about now and kept us company and then Rebecca came with lunch for me and held Connor for me. Greg ran home to pick up Jack and get baseball stuff together for both older kids. He dropped Jack off at the Tamplins and took Bailey her clothes at Mom's and picked up clothes for me because he knew I wouldn't leave the hospital until Connor did. Most importantly he grabbed Connor's Elmo for him to hold onto.
By the time they got us to our room Matt came by to check on Connor and then Aunt Stephanie came to keep my mind off the bad stuff. Connor adores Rebecca and Stephanie so I was so grateful they were there to visit and talk to. They got him settled in and the room was really nice. Both Connor and mommy had beds to sleep in although Connor slept with mommy most of the time. Papa and Aunt Tamara came by to check on Connor too. He really just slept on someone all evening. He didn't eat but I could get him to drink something. The nurses worked hard most of the night to get his fever down. I think around midnight it finally broke and I actually put him down in his own baby bed and he slept until they took his vitals around 5:30. He had this awful monitor hooked up to his big toe and from 2:30 on the alarm on it went off every 15 to 20 minutes so I didn't sleep but he managed to sleep through it.
The next morning they came into redo his CBC around 6 and I could even tell they didn't get enough blood to run a test, but...
needless to say, they came back finally around 10:30 to get more blood.
Also, they lost his RSV test from the day before so they redid it too.
He felt so much better Friday with the fever gone that we got to take him into the really nice playroom to pass the time. We met other families there who were not as lucky as us and it really broke my heart to see what some of these families were going through.
Finally, around 2 the specialist came by to visit and explained all the labs to us. He told us that the counts had gone up from a 1 to a 4 and normal was 8. So, he had a ways to go but was on the right track. I asked him if Leukemia was definitely off the table and he said as for as he was concerned we didn't need to worry about that one. YEA!!! He also told us that we might never know for sure what set this in motion and that he thought it might last 5-7 more days with the fever coming back but he thought the white blood count going up meant he was beginning to fight it better.
So, now we are home and Connor is confined to home away from kids with germs. I am not sure how that works since his brother and sister have plenty of germs. If his fever stays away and his blood count continues to go up we can join the world again later in the week.
How can I ever thank everyone who prayed, consoled, called, emailed or visited us during this nightmare. I can't, but you all mean the world to Greg and I and especially to Connor.
If I didn't realize what wonderful family and friends we have during the ordeal with Greg I do so even more now.
Our family is praying that the rest of 2007 be an uneventful year!

The Birthday Boy!

A tradition in our house is to sneak in early in the morning and take a picture of the birthday kid before they wake up. Today was Connor Reid's first such picture. After I snapped the pic it was all down hill quickly. He looked up and started to cry this pitiful hoarse cry. A cry that continued most of the morning. As soon as I picked him up I knew we would be spending his birthday with our favorite Doctor! He didn't want to open his gifts. Even when he pulled out Elmo he still didn't want to even look at it. His favorite breakfast didn't do the trick either. Well, the rest of us really enjoyed Daddy's homemade French Toast. So, after taking his temp and finding it was a whopping 103 I called the Doctor. Our appointment wasn't until 11:30 so until then he just laid on me and slept or tossed and turned on me until we left. The Doctor quickly told me I had a really sad looking Birthday Boy and that he had an extremely bad ear infection. He put us on a fast working new antibiotic and after two doses he seems already back to himself.

Now for the good stuff!

Here is what makes Connor so special.

1. His wonderful hearty laugh.

2. His beautiful smile.

3. The way he loves to hug his mommy.

4. The way he runs to the front door when daddy comes home.

5. The way he looks all around the house for Jack and Bailey.

6. His cute teeth! Yes, he now has 4 teeth. That is one more than his brother and sister had at one.

7. Watching him dance and shake his head when he hears a song he likes.

8. How he tells Lulu No No and shakes his finger at her.
9.Watching him "play" Jack's gamecube with him.

10. Watching him enjoy his bath time. The whole room is soaked when he is done.

11. Our game-he turns the TV off and mommy turns it back on!

12. His new words- I I (bye, bye), wu wu (Lulu) , Hi, ank ou (thank you), love ou.

And finally I really love his big, wet, sloppy kisses!

Connor Reid,

We are so truly blessed to have you in our family. All four of us thank God for you. I can not believe that one year ago exactly I was finally looking down into your sweet face.

You have made it to one and now we look forward to watching you grow and have many more birthdays for us to celebrate.