Playing Doctor

Sometime one weekend in February 2010.

Unfortunately daddy was sick one weekend morning, but lucky for him the kids and mommy were around to make him better and "patch" him up with some band aids. They first covered him in blankets and Grace even let his feet have her coveted "fly". They the got out the doctor kid and were giving him shots and checking him out. Then mommy, as the great nurse she is, gave the kids some band aids and opened them to apply to daddy's tummy to make it better after the shots. Daddy was a great sport and let them do this as I took pictures and filmed it. It was a great time and oh so funny when daddy said he was all better
and I reminded the kids to take the sticky band aids
off his hairy stomach. Kevin appropriately yelled,
screamed and hollered when
the and his hair were ripped off, Westin and
myself were laughing hysterically during this.

We just had a great morning this day playing together as a family. It seems we are all, kids including, in the best mood and happiest when we can all do things together as a family. We talk about being a family a lot so Westin has started asking if we are a family or being a family. I am very glad the enjoy "family" time. I sure hope as they grow up they will continue to enjoy family time and being together.

Big Potty Kids... Here we come....

End of Feb marked my three day weekend to do the "Three Day Potty training". This method worked for Westin's therapist sensory son so she gave us the notes for it and I marked off a weekend. We decided to go ahead and do it before surgery because Westin was finally showing some signs and interest and we didn't want to miss his "window". We bought our last pack of diapers the week before, got sticker charts, lots of thick underwear, prizes and M&M's. They were both really excited, we decided to try Grace and see how she did and if she was ready or not.
In the morning we threw diapers away and got out panties and underwear, they had picked out their underwear the nights before. Grace has been hilarious lately with what she says and is into being girly and saying thank you so sweetly. So, when I got her panties out she looked at them and said in a high pitched sweet voice, "oh mommy my pani panties are so beautiful, thank you, oh thank you." She made up pani panties and we have called them that ever since. They were both excited to get started but by lunch time we had 9 wet underwear to be washed over naptime. Westin was doing great but Grace couldn't release her urine when she wanted to, took up to a few minutes of sitting there and me singing songs for her to go. The afternoon and next day brought more of the same. Westin was doing great, only a few accidents and was pooping in the potty too and had earned lots of M&M's and his belt.
Within three days Westin was only having about one accident a day and Grace was still struggling so much I thought she wasn't ready and was about to put her back in diapers, but then on the 4th day when I was at work and Erica was here she has NO accidents. A few more tough days with her and she was staying dry. Westin had 5 accident free days right away and did great. Grace caught up and by the time he had his surgery Grace had 5 accident free days and able to go when she wanted to and on the big potty. Then the surgery and aftermath hit. Westin used a diaper for 8 days straight due to being so sick. Grace backslid some since we had to pay so much attention to Westin. So now a month into potty training we are having to redo some things, but they are still doing very well. So at 2.5 and 3.5yrs they are mostly potty trained. Westin had a bunch of dry naps and nights before surgery but not anymore yet, Grace also. We are very excited and loving the minimal diapers, just pullups for nap and diapers for bed, so awesome. And their character underwear and pani panties are so cute. I love their little butts in underwear. This has caused Grace's pants to get looser since she hasn't gained any weight in 6 months and without a diaper her butt is tiny. Yeah for big potty kids!!! :)

Scary Results

Okay, so I have to catch up a lot. This entry should have been written middle of Feb 2010.(picture is Westin practicing opening his mouth and saying ahhhh for the Dr) Well I hadn't heard from the Dr about Westin's sleep study results, have called twice. Found the results while at work and started reading, turned the page and my heart went up into my throat. He apparently has a significant apnea unlike the tech told me. He had 49 central apnea , brain doesn't tell his lungs to breath, and 79 obstructive apnea lasting from 10-15 seconds with a few oxygen saturation dips into the lower 80's, but did stay between 90-93% most of the time. That is about 30min of not breathing every 7 hours.
I could hardly think, I walked around in circles for a few minutes trying to finish up and think about my patients and what they needed. I went into a patients room that I had gotten close to over the past few days and she was finally having a good day after three tough days. I told her what I had just learned and was about to break down. She asked if she could pray for him, I said that would be great. We bowed our heads and she prayed for Westin while tears streamed down my face. I think I cried for him and all we/he has been through in his life and for the new scary road ahead. It is the probably only the second time I have cried over his difficulties, I didn't even get emotional when he was resuscitated at birth. So, the patients husband walked in and joined us. She finished her prayer and they both gave me encouragement. I apolagized for bringing my problems into their world. They both said it was okay and that it was healing for them to help someone else during their struggles. They offered to let me borrow the pulse ox they had but I told them I would get a hold of the Dr and get him on oxygen that night. It was weird for me but very refreshing to be able to get prayer and support right then. I felt much better and was able to finish my shift and then focus on Westin.
I then started calling his Dr's. The asthma Dr that ordered the test had no one on call in the evening (it was 8pm by now). The sleep clinic didn't have anyone on call. So then I called the on-call Dr at his pediatrician office. They were helpful and took control even though they didn't order it. So by 10pm Praxxair oxygen supply was at our house setting up an oxygen tank for him. (the second time we have used them and our 5th time for home health). I had told Westin he would wake up with oxygen in his nose and a little tape on his face. He understood he needed it to sleep better and was okay with it. He slept great and came upstairs the next morning bright eyed, rested, talkative and in a great mood. He said he felt good and liked the oxygen.
The next three days were spent on the phone figuring out what the next step was and who was going to do it. The end plan was; Dr Dawson (his awesome pediatrician) ordered continued oxygen at night, ENT visit the next friday, pediatric neurologist and sleep specialist to be seen at Children's Hospital Denver end of april. Asthma Dr didn't want to deal with it, condenser, tanks and more cannulas delivered to the house. Westin learning about his oxygen and doing very well with it.
The ENT looked at the results, looked at his throat and suggested a tonsillectomy and uvulectomy due to it being long. His tonsils were not large but since we had documented obstructive apnea the standard treatment is tonsillectomy. The best news from this appointment is that we learned that longstanding obstructive apnea can cause central apnea and that correcting the obstructive apnea the central can correct itself. So best case scenerio is do the surgery and cure all the apnea. So, surgery was scheduled for March 12 7:30am. We were a little leery of the uvulectomy so had a second opinion by a suggested pediatric ENT. I liked her and she didn't think the uvulectomy was necessary. We still felt that this wasn't the right decision. We decided to stick with his ENT he has seen since 10mo old and discuss the uvula with him some more. So on the day of surgery everyone compromised and felt good about doing a partial uvulectomy to get rid of the extra length but not cause speech of swallowing problems.
So then the waiting began. We prepared for surgery by getting help lined up and people to take Grace for two days and time off of work for us both. Westin continued to do well with the oxygen, occasionally complaining of a dry nose and mild nose bleeds. A little neosporin fixed that. The talkative, awake, pleasant Westin has continued in the morning with the oxygen use.

Sibling Love

Happy Valentine's Day 2010!! I took the kids to get pictures taken together and show how much they truly do love each other despite the fighting. I have not taken them to do pictures together by myself ever. The last time we did pics together was when Grace was 2 weeks old and of course I had help. We went to the newer JC Penny's in town that has a much more kid friendly layout with a waiting area with seats and TV. The kids did great,cooperated with the photographer, listened and stood still. Grace was a little nervous so we had a very hard time getting her to smile, but at least she didn't cry or refuse to stand there. They also knew they could have some candy and their skittles from their lunchable lunch after the shoot. So they ate those while I picked out which ones to buy. They got rowdy just at the end and were running from me. But it was past nap time and they had just had candy, so I thought it went really really well. So we headed home and attempted a nap. That ended in disaster. Westin got into his desitin and squeezed out the whole tube all over his room, walls, toys and carpet and himself. So, when I found him he got to scrub his floor and toys for about 45min, he did not like that. So maybe he won't make such a huge mess again. He had attempted to clean it up with a whole box of wipes before I found him.
Grace played and read books in her bed for the 2hr attempted nap. So I guess that is the price I payed for keeping them out for pictures and for good pics was no nap. So they were fussy and lazy all evening and just wanted to watch TV. They did play with daddy in the basement after dinner. We also finally got them to bed earlier and had some time for ourselves and got to bed at an earlier time for us too. So, all in all it was a good day.

(This is the one I bought of them, I love how they were looking at eachother, it shows how much they really do love eachother. In fact Grace is all about Westin lately and calls him, "my Westin" and gets mad at us if he is in trouble and says, "don't talk to my westin.")


(certainly not my favorite but think how Westin was on my shoulder is really cute.)




















(ah, I love you My Westin)-- Just recently have they been willing to hug eachother. they have really been having some good play time most days, so I think they like eachother more and more.)

Westin's sleep study

Westin had his sleep study last night to evaluate the apnea he had during his adenoid surgery. We purposely wore him out by going out to the land and hiking for two hours so he would cooperate and be easier for him to go to sleep with all the stuff on. We had a great time hiking around with the two dogs, it was Molly's first time going out to the land. It was a really nice family day.
So when we got home I headed up to the medical building with Westin which just happened to be the same building he goes to OT. I had explained to him what we were going to be doing so when we got there Mr Mike, his tech, let us in and Westin said. "man, where is my bed." so he was ready to get going. Kevin and Grace came right after us and brought chinese for dinner. we had to be there at 6:30pm and Westin doesn't eat well any earlier, so we just brought dinner and ate while they got the paperwork and everything set up.
It took about an hour to put all the wires on him, he was so tired he sat still in a chair and watched G-Force. Towards the end he was asking to go to bed. To he had 13 EEG wires glued to his head, three chin wires, two chest EKG wires, chest and abdomen strap to record breathing, 4 wires on his legs to record leg movement and nasal cannula to record air flow, CO2 and administer oxygen if needed. I knew sleep studies record a lot, but I was very impressed with all that they can figure out from all these wires. As you can see Westin was wrapped up like a mummie and looked like he had a brain injury. So once everything was set up I layed down with him and he was alseep within 10min, which is fast for him. I then went out and Mr Mike let me see Westin's trackings on the computer and explained things to me, so that was pretty neat. Then I attempted to sleep on a pull out chair bed, it was okay. They actually had amazingly nice sheets and pillows and Westin's bed was very comfy. He was so tired he only moved a few inches from this position all night, which is rare for him also. We were woke up at 5am and Westin woke easy and calm, helped pull the tape off. In fact he ribbed the nasal cannula and tegaderm off his cheeks, so now his face is red from take burn. We got home by 5:30am and went back to bed and he actually slept until 7:45. So all in all it was a calm and fairly easy experience and Westin did amazing, only one crying episode and no fussing or whining. Mr Mike did say that he "didn't see anything during the study, but the Dr will read it." So this is good news and sounds like he didn't have any apnea, but we will wait for the official report.
So, today we have just been hanging out at home resting. Westin is really tired and took a 3hr nap. Gramcee, papatee and nucle Ryan are headed over for dinner.
Yeah for a great weekend, clean house, hike with the fam, good sleep study, and restful sunday. Couldn't get much better.

What a Wonderful Site

I came home to two kids in an amazing mood who were playing in the same room with two different toys and NOT fighting. It was so awesome to watch we let them stay up a little later. They even played with one toy together for a few minutes. It was so nice to hear they were in a great mood today and have fun playing outside and painting with Ms Erica (their monday babysitter). And even more wonderful to see them playing along side each other without a problem, this is something that is a huge struggle for us. They want to do whatever the other one is doing and then end up fighting so no one ends of playing. We spend more time breaking up fights then they ever do playing. We are trying to teach them to play with separate toys in the same room without bugging each other. I am planning on a good week with them feeling better and doing so well today. I am renewed and feel better about last week, although I am very stressed about finding a preschool for Westin. Here's to a good day at gymnastics and music drum class tomorrow.

Stares, Snears............ and Frustration.

I am going to start with AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!! Had to get that off my chest. This past week has been rough. Kevin got home on wednesday okay and everyone has been fussy ever since and have colds. Westin has been doing a lot of seeking behaviors and Grace copies him. At home this is usually okay but he has been wild in public lately. Since he is older and getting tall people are not as forgiving as they used to be when he does these things. The breaking point for me this past week was at a Dr apt for Westin. I decided to take both kids, which I rarely do, but it was just a quick follow up not needing much discussion. Well, even quick turns into 45min and way to long for them. They did well for about 20min, then Westin decided he needed to be wild. While the ladies at the front desk were taking their sweet time checking me out Westin took a chair and was pushing it around the waiting room and guess who was right behind him, Grace. She would never do these things without his example. He does things so fast I have a hard time stopping him before it starts and to get him to stop I have to go to him, get down on his level, try to get his attention and looking me in the eyes and tell him to stop. So he did and promptly starting doing his seeking dance with his loud zzzzzz noise. So now the receptionist are thoroughly annoyed with them (b/c Grace is doing it too) and tell him he has to be quite so they can hear on the phone. I am embarrassed and frustrated by this behavior and hate the feeling I get from people when this happens. Because Grace copies him it looks like I have two wild horribly behaved kids instead of one, or one with a problem. Because his problem is mild and it isn't obvious he has a disorder people just assume he is not disciplined. Anyway, this just brought back so many memories of when this happened every day before we started OT. So it is better and this was the worst it has been for awhile. I am very glad this doesn't happen everyday anymore, but very frustrated at the wildness in the past 5 days. Hopefully soon he will get out of this funk, maybe we need to brush him again or do his compression vest. So, just one event in our day and I was exhausted after this appointment and still had 7hrs until Kevin got home. So we headed to McDonalds for lunch and to burn off some steam in the playplace where I could sit and relax a bit. (ordering food and keeping him near me is a whole other post, certainly not an easy task.)