On the way home, we stopped and ate at Cracker Barrel. I took this picture to show the 2nd biscuit Carter ate... AFTER he ate two GINORMOUS pancakes and 2 pieces of bacon. Wow, that child can EAT! 
The next day was Monday, and I had agreed to handle both Carter and Samantha during swim lessons and bring her home with me so that her mom could run an errand. When we first got there, they decided to hold hands all on their own - it was so sweet!
That day during swim lessons, Ms Jordan taught them how to put their heads underwater when swimming and how to come up for air. She started them out swimming on a boogie board, then a noodle, and then at the very end, they swam a few feet all by themselves! She didn't even have to hold onto them, although she was right beside them. I'm so proud of my little fish!
After lessons, we came back to our house where the kids swam some more and had sooo much fun! 
Tuesday night, I started feeling strange... Kind of a nervous "butterfly" sensation in my tummy. Then, in the middle of the night, I woke up with a pain in my tummy several times. I tried to ignore it, but by the next day, I was feeling pretty lousy. I called my parents, and they came and watched the boys while I went to the doctor. They sent me for an ultrasound, thinking it was my gallbladder, and didn't find anything. However, they scheduled me for a CT scan the next day in case they missed something. That was Thursday, and we were planning to leave for Chattanooga with our friends, Mac and Pandi, that afternoon. They told me I would hear back very soon if anything was wrong, so since it was around 5:30 and we hadn't heard, we were packing our bags and about to hit the road. Then, my doctor called right before 6 and said my appendix was enlarged... He asked me to come in again before I went out of town.
After he examined me (I had seen another doc the day before because I guess mine wasn't there), he said he couldn't release me without consulting a surgeon. He sent me to the ER and called ahead for me, and tried paging his surgeon friend there. We got to the ER around 7:00 (I had not eaten since lunch and was already hungry) and after another CT scan at around 11:30, they told me I had an appendicitis. Great. They were super busy, and couldn't get me into a room until 2:30... I was awake through all of this, and STARVING, since I was feeling better that day anyway. Apparently, if your appendix ruptures, it feels better and you don't have any pain because it has relieved the pressure. They were all worried because I said my pain was gone, but luckily, it hadn't ruptured.
Alan had gone back home around 1ish to get some of our things, and he came back after I was already in a room - sometime around 3 or 4. I got very little sleep for those couple of hours, and was then prepped for surgery and in the OR by 4:45. Talk about an early day! They tried but were unable to do the procedure laparoscopically, so I have 2 incisions... One where they inserted the camera, and then another 5" incision where they cut to remove the appendix. I really didn't realize that such a routine procedure could be so painful, but OUCH! I felt like a big baby, but it has been very painful! Our good friend, Helen, visited us that morning and brought Alan a yummy lunch (his favorite kind of sandwich and some side items) from a local bakery. She also brought a big box of goodies... I wasn't allowed to eat anything except ice chips until the next night (Saturday night - that's over 2 whole days), but I kept getting Alan to sneak me some pinches of cookies from the box :) YUM-O! Holly and Jonathan came to see me that night also, and went by our house to get a few things Alan had forgotten. The next day, we had a surprise from Julie, Joshua, and Carol (our friends from Lanett) - they were in B'ham to drop Brian off at the airport and they paid us a surprise visit in the hospital. We have such great friends and family! 
Mom and Dad stayed with the kids until we got out of the hospital, and Cheryl came over that day (Saturday) also. Dad had to leave to go out of town for work on Sunday night, but Mom stayed here. Cheryl stayed until Tuesday night, so she could go back to work on Wednesday. Mom is still here, and I'm starting to feel really bad for her - her elbow is still broken, yet she's lifting children and doing everything around here! Here is Carter playing on Cheryl's computer ;)
Here is Charlie, turning his head sideways to look at me. So cute :) He's started clapping, waving with both hands and saying "da-da" for bye-bye, lots more cruising, etc. He can also point to a picture of a baby in a book when we ask him where the baby is. His newest trick is to crawl over to someone sitting down, pull up on their legs, grab their hands, and turn around to face outward and hold their hands. With this, he wants the person to stand up and walk around the house holding his hands, so he can practice walking too :) He can't get enough of that, and everyone is tired! 
Holly came and got Carter today and let him play with her boys. It was very quiet around here for a little while :) Thanks so much, Hol!!! Apparently, he ate 2 snacks and a big dinner at their house before Alan was able to pick him up after work. Then, he came home and ate another really huge dinner (a big plate of green beans, chicken casserole, roll, and a whole banana). Ha! Does he have a tapeworm??? Oh, speaking of food, my great SS class is delivering meals to us every night this week! We are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful class.
2 comments:
GREAT BLOG!!! I'm so glad to see some updates! I'm also glad you're feeling better and recovering. We enjoyed Carter today and you know he can come over ANYTIME! When the SS class is done bringing meals, let me know if you still want more dinners. I would love to bring y'all something...and I already told Alan he can make a yummy Grecian Orange cake to go with whatever meal I bring. ;)
He's definitely the Grecian Orange cake pro!
Wow, sounds like the last few weeks have seen injuries and sickness in your family. I am glad that they found your problem before the appendix burst. Try to take it easy and don't over-do. I know that having "regular" surgery is much harder than when they can just do it laproscopically. Hope you and your Mom are both on the road to better days.
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