Back and ornerier than ever

Well, we are back. Everything went well. We got to the hospital right at 8, then they took us straight into our little room. Then the parade of people started. First the nurse to explain things and take vitals. Then the substitute anaesthesiologist (the one that was assigned to us was doing a c-section) came in to explain the procedure. Then another nurse. Then our anaesthesiologist, and finally, the doctor. Somewhere in the meantime they let mom give Jacob a syringe of Tylenol and a relaxant. Pretty soon Jacob was pretty loopy and dopey. It was quite funny. He had that look that we've all had after a few too many drinks. The grin was priceless.

Then they came and took him away. He didn't want to stay in his bed so the nurse carried him. He started out crying, then a nurse came back to assure us that he had already stopped crying and was just checking things out. What seemed like just a couple of minutes later, someone came to take his little baby gurney to the recovery room so he could come back to be with us.

We heard him coming, he wasn't happy. Well, he pretty much wasn't...Jacob. His eyes were pretty glazed and he was very confused. We don't think he even recognized us. He was mean and nasty. He hit mom in the throat a few times. He smacked me on the head several times, once knocking my glasses onto the floor. It took us about 45 minutes to get him calm enough to be able to come home.

On and off throughout the trip home Jacob was good then upset. As soon as we pulled into our driveway we got the "I want to go for a ride" whine. We had just been riding for 40 minutes. Anyway it goes, we are home and Jacob is almost back to normal. He is still a little out of it, his balance is off, and he is still not quite sure of what he wants (like I said, back to normal).

Looks like we are going to try lunch, and maybe a nap for everyone.

No worries Mate

Well, we are just about ready to leave. As you can tell, Mom and Dad are more worried than Jacob. We'll let you know more when we get back.

Oh, that's early...

Updates below...the hospital called again and changed the time.

We are NOW scheduled for 9AM tomorrow morning. We have to be at the hospital by 8AM...meaning we have to leave our house before 7:30 AM and poor Daddy has to work tonight. He's gonna be sleepy.

I'll try to post again before we leave tomorrow but surely when we get home.

Wish us luck!

From green to blue...

This picture was sent to me at work from our home email with a note that said "Hi Mom! Having fun here. Give us a call. Love Us"

My first thought was that he ate an ink pen.

My second thought was...Where the F was your father?

My third thought was...Why the F is he taking pictures and not calling Poison Control?

Then I called home.

Jeremy was sitting on the pot and Jacob got into a drawer in the kitchen to find the Wilton Icing Colors I had bought for the failed Lightning McQueen birthday cake. Jacob ate some of the Royal blue. The evidence of it had faded away before I picked him up from day-care. Thankfully Daddy took some pictures.

Yes, once I found out what it was, I did find it quite funny!

Gathering Information...

If you don't know this about me, I'm an information gatherer. I need details. I need to read all I can so I can understand exactly what to expect, what is supposed to happen, and what can happen. When it's about my Jacob...I need to know even more.

I'm a little nervous about his tubes coming on Friday. I know it's nothing serious but, sometimes I get a little scared. It took us soooo long to get where we are now. To have a child. Almost 3 years of trying, 1 miscarriage, all the tests, and then the adoption. Sometimes, my faith slips a little and I think "God, you gave me this wonderful child, please don't take him from me!" It's always a battle for me, to let my child go experience things and get hurt, or shield him from everything to keep him safe under my wing. Somehow - if I'm there, if I'm holding him, he can't get hurt. I know it's not true and it's something I will continue to go through as long as he's my son. I'm not being silly, I'm being a mom. I know it's just tubes - I know it's not serious - I really do. It's just something that's always in the back of my mind. I hate the thought of him being in the hospital - even if it's only for a 15 minute procedure, when I can't be there with him and hold his soft, little hand, maybe more for me than for him...I guess, I don't know how to explain it...other than I just love my kid.

I've done a lot of searching on the procedure, post-op, and expectations with Jacob's tubes. I did find an advertisement - kind of...but it has a picture and the same explanation as the medical-type sites. Anyway, you can see what the procedure involves, what we're looking at while we're at the hospital, how long it will take, and what it'll be like at home for Jacob after.

We still don't have a time yet. I'll post again when we do.

Sleep, elusive sleep...

The hospital called today and asked all kinds of questions about Jacob. What procedure is he having, and why, allergies, etc. We still don't have a time though. They did say he could bring one item of comfort with him as long as it's clean. I guess, Pooh and the Cardinals blanket will be making a trip into the washing machine and Jacob can decide which he wants to take before we go in.

Jacob hasn't been sleeping well for a few months now and I can't sleep if I know he's awake. Last night, for instance, he went to bed at 8:00 (was up at 5AM, and no nap either), he fell asleep rather quickly, but woke up about 11:30 and was just unconsolable. After rocking in his room, lying on the floor by his bed, and many times of walking out with him crying even louder, we finally brought him into our bed after midnight. He calmed down and lay still without a peep for about 30 minutes, then Daddy took him back to his bed and he went back to sleep, again without a peep. I heard him about 1:00 AM, playing and jabbering to himself, I heard him again at 4, once more at 5, and he was awake at 7, and in a pretty good mood. I don't know if there is pressure in his ears that makes him uncomfortable through the night, if he has dreams or what but, we repeat this sequence about every 3 days. He'll do this for 2 nights, sleep through the next night, some days he's an angel, some he's a bear. I have no idea how to make him sleep through, I'm hoping the tubes will provide the answer.

go, Go, GO!

We had a pretty busy weekend here at Random thoughts.

We had a stray dog Friday night. I was expecting a freecycler to come and pick up some stuff...otherwise I wouldn't have answered the door, I don't answer after dark if Jeremy's not home. There's this man on the porch holding this little white dog. He was on his lunch break...the dog was hanging around...wouldn't leave...he has to go back to work...can I call the police...all that crap. Me, being the helpful person I am to the point of my own stupidity, say "Sure!" He's just a pup. Still had puppy teeth. He's chasing the cats, humping the dog, and peed on my dining room chair. At this point, I call central dispatch for animal control to come get this monster. "I'm sorry ma'am, there isn't anyone at animal control until morning..." Of course, because that's how my luck runs. We had him for the night and he did calm down. Saturday morning, we look on the internet for animal control. There, on the website, boldly posted are their hours "M-F, 8AM - 11AM". Nice! Jacob sure liked him and we realized that Murray is just an old crank and we need a real dog.

Grandma and Grandpa came over for a visit Saturday afternoon. They brought a big tote full of Lincoln Logs. Grandpa had found them at a resale store. Of course, Jacob took a marathon nap so he missed most of their visit and was pretty shy for the rest of it. Jeremy and I did have a nice time with them while I disinfected all the logs (I clean any toy that comes to us used - please, don't feel bad). While they were here, the owners of the stray dog came and took him home (whew)!

Miss Jennifer came over to baby-sit for Jacob for the night while Jeremy and I went to a Euchre tournament with my brother and sister-in-law at some friends of theirs who are from Manistee too. Neither of us won but, we did have a very good time. Miss Jennifer stayed over and I went to bed with my I-don't-drink-very-often-and-probably-shouldn't-drink headache.

Miss Jennifer and I played with the Lincoln Logs most of Sunday morning. Jeremy printed instructions for us off the computer and we built houses and forts and towers and Godzilla (aka Jacob) came and knocked them all down. We did find a website to order replacement parts too. We'll be ordering more windows and doors and roofs to be able to build more things. Jacob will really have fun building with these when he gets a little bigger but right now, he just loves knocking 'em over.

Jeremy made us a deep fried smorgasboard for lunch. French fries, onion rings, and catfish. He also did boneless buffalo wings in the oven. I gave him a restaurant style deep fryer for Christmas. Funny thing...we have to use it in the dark, and can't use any hot water, the coffee pot, the microwave, or the oven if the deep fryer is plugged in! If we do, it trips the breaker. Old houses are so much fun!

I did all the pre-authorization paperwork for the hospital for Jacob's. We're all set to go now, just need to know what time they scheduled us.

And to our friends over at Thinking Out Loud...we're praying for you today and hoping all goes well and then some. Good luck!

Things you learn in the dentist's chair...

I went to the dentist this morning for my six month check-up. I sat in the chair and the hygenist starts making small talk like they do. She asked about Jacob and I told her he was doing well, getting ready to have tubes put in his ears. (The denstist said my teeth were perfect - by the way!)

The hygenist says (I shit you not), "my daughter had tubes done but, not for infections, she had a speech delay."

I said, "Oh, us too".

Then, she says (I'm really not shitting you here), she really said this, "My daughter has a submucous cleft palate with a bifid uvula."

I almost pooped. Right there. In the chair!

The ENT told us that Jacob would be fine, that this wasn't serious, that it wouldn't cause problems for him in the future, and I trust the Dr. but, as a mom, you're always concerned when your child has an abnormality. I have to help him through it if other kids are cruel. The Dr. doesn't. I'll be the one to deal with him being teased for a speech impediment. I'm the one who'll dry his tears, tell him that diferent isn't bad, just more special and that no matter how different he is, I'll always love him. That's the part I worry about.

Of course, I asked the hygenist as many questions as I could think of every time she took her teeth pickers out of my mouth. It was good to talk to another mom who's been there already. I do feel better though. She eased most all of my concerns. The Lord sure works in mysterious ways!

We did find a little flashlight and Jacob and I have a new game. He looks in my mouth, then I look in his and we say "AHHHHH". I did get to see exactly what's in there - we tried to show Daddy but, he was kinda sleepy and you have to be quick to see it. The cleft looks exactly like the 1st picture in the second link of my previous post. The uvula looks almost normal except it looks as if there is a bubble on the end of it that's shaped like a puffy/ballooned "M".

We're adjusting to the news. We're getting used to it and one day soon, it'll be mostly forgotten. We're learning more about it and it's sinking in. It'll all be okay. I know it will.

Tubes - they're coming...

February 29th the tubes go in. I don't know the time yet.

Jacob had his appointment with the ENT today. The ENT said the fluid would never go away on it's own and will continue to build into adolesense. This likely won't be his only set of tubes either as the cause is genetic - which we weren't quite prepared for...

Jacob has a submucous cleft palate with a bifid uvula. The cleft palate isn't serious, Jacob will always have it and there isn't anything they can do to correct it. He will always have a small speech impediment - with the letters, s,t, and k , maybe more. The ENT did say that the cleft would cause complications if Jacob needed to have tonsils or adnoids removed. He said if they weren't removed correctly, it would likely create a cleft palate that would need to be repaired.

This link has pictures showing the differences in degree of cleft palate. The top picture would be an example of Jacob's case.

I can't find a picture of the bifid uvula that I can post here. If you do a search, Yahoo! or Google...you can find pictures. Now, I don't know if those pictures are what Jacob's looks like, I haven't seen his.

According to what I have read on the subject, it's not typically detected until the toddler years when a speech delay occurs. It is genetic. Amber carries it. Her daughter Hannah, had surgery to repair her cleft last fall. Hannah and Jacob have different fathers. As I said earlier, it's not serious - just something he'll always have. We're just thankful that's all it is.

Getting back to hectic...

Jacob has an appointment with the ENT on 2/13/08 at 3:40. Jeremy is trying to rearrange his schedule to be there. I'm pretty sure we will find out then if the tubes are necessary.

Jacob has also had a word explosion this week. He's saying a lot more words and phrases. He's repeating phrases - we can't understand what he's saying but he keeps repeating the same "words". We're told that the tubes will help make our words clearer for him to understand and clearer for him to repeat. He'll also tell you what the snake says, if you ask him.

I finished our taxes last night and Jeremy is refinancing our home equity loan today to get our front yard put back together with a lower interest rate than we had. I received a tip on a tree cutter downer from a guy at work and we might lose a couple of trees this summer too. I've been looking at plants for the front and grasses (both ornamental and for sod). Once the trees are out, I'll have a clean slate. I'm excited to get started.

I still haven't heard word from my interview. With the weather as it has been this week, the guy in the know hasn't made the drive over here. I'm still doing a little bit of both jobs.

I need a haircut, Grandma and Grandpa are coming for dinner on Sunday and my truck goes in the garage on Tuesday (one of the doors won't unlock).

I think I function better in chaos. Sometimes a little hard to define what's self created and what isn't. I can't ever say that I'm bored.

and I'm back...

I'm posting a little earlier than I thought I would. I wanted to put a note out here for those keeping tabs on the interview process and well, do a little brain dump to get all of this out of my head.

I'm here. I'm safe. The flight was an hour late due to fog. The flight itself was fine - full. I knew the names of a few people - lots of execs. No major events - except for needing the seatbelt extender as my fat a$$ barely fit in the seat let alone the belt! The ride from the airport was pretty uneventful as well.

When I arrived here, I swear, there was a kid (a kid - as if I'm that old) from my high school sitting in the front lobby. I swear it was him! How freaky would that be? Another kid from Manistee in the lobby, here, on the same day as me? Small world. I didn't get a chance to talk to him as the girl from Human Resources was waiting for me and I was whisked off to my first interview. Of course, by the next, he was gone. I still swear it was him!

I'm not very warm or fuzzy about that interview. I met with the Vice President of North America for this department I'm trying to move to. Now, I'm not sure if I was more intimidated by him, his title or the fact that he doesn't root for maize and blue (obvious office decor), or what but, I was very nervous! We'll see what happens as the next phase should move rather quickly.

I talked to my mom after the interviews and told her about the first one and like she said "If you didn't get this job, what's the worst that happens?" I wasn't nervous going in...I was more intimidated by the travel (THANK YOU Mike V!! YOU are a wonderful man!). I'll still have a job when this is over. I'm almost 35 years old and, my mom is still right...sometimes. Remind me to tell you more about that conversation - oh, Edna!

Waiting...

Early On came yesterday and did Jacob's evaluation. His speech is delayed by about 5 months. He does qualify for services at this time. Based on his development thus far, the 10-20 words he has added to his vocabulary this past week, they are going to monitor him once a month, over the next six months. They gave us a couple of handouts to work with him on too. We suspect the Dr. is going to do tubes...just from the comments from the Audiologist. We're waiting for the referral to the ENT to come through. If the tubes don't come or Jacob stops making progress, we'll change our plan of action.

I have a formal interview next week for my new job. I passed everything here. I have a flight out and back next Tuesday. Jen (bless her heart), scrambled with me a few minutes yesterday to get a resume together. I thought this was a behind the scenes, job transfer type deal and I was wrong. It's a little more complicated but, I'll do it and it'll be just fine. We're planning a weekend trip to Manistee should this work out - as celebration.

Jeremy goes in for ADD/ADHD testing in 2 weeks. I don't know what that involves or means for him but if it helps him in the long run, that's the best we can ask for.

Our yard still looks like a crime scene. Thank you, God for all of the snow to cover the ugliness. We're hoping to remove a couple of trees through the process and establish some nice plants and flowers once spring arrives. Yeah it's ugly now but, maybe a blessing in disguise.

It's getting kinda crazy doing both my "old" job and my "new" job. I probably won't be back until we hear from the Dr. about our ENT referral. Talk to you then!