Recalling a hard time...

Last night, I was just thinking about how God has taken care of me and my family. You see, just after my son, Connor, had his first birthday, I noticed something on his finger. It was a bump. I really didn't know what to think of it at first. It didn't seem to be bothering him, so I waited until Ben came home and showed him.
We initially wondered, could it be a broken finger? So, just in case, we called our family doctor, who happened to attend our church. It was after hours, so we called him at home. We described the situation, and he didn't seem to know what it was either. So, he said, if it doesn't get any better -or if it gets worse, call my office in the morning for an appointment. Well! The next morning, his finger was HUGE! So, we called and got an appointment for early afternoon.
The hours couldn't go by fast enough. I was worried. No, I was SCARED out of my mind! What was wrong with my baby boy?
So we went in, and the doctor, who is normally rather laid back -had this look on his face that made both Ben and I cringe. He cut open the "wound" and when no puss came out -like he was expecting, he excused himself from the room to make some phone calls. Okay, that's what frightened me.
He came back and told me he had called two doctors. One, a pediatric hematologist in Iowa City -a childrens' hospital. And two, a bone doctor from the local hospital.
He wanted us to take Connor to the ER immediately, and the bone doctor was going to meet us there.
Needless to say, all of the doctors were baffled...they didn't know what was going on with him. They took Connors' blood for a test -and then proceeded to insert an IV for antibiotics into his arm.
They admitted him. Connor fell asleep in my arms, as we waited to be moved upstairs to Pediatrics. Ben and I were stressed to say the least. No one was giving us any answers as to WHY my dear son had this infection, or what type of infection it was.
They moved us upstairs, and I stayed the night with my boy. Ben went home to get some sleep...no sense both of us having a sleepless night -and I needed to be with my boy. I needed him, probably more than he needed me at that time.
The nurse came in about every 2 hours to do something! Check his temp, restart some antibiotics, give him Tylenol, etc. At one point, his temperature was up to 104.something! When the nurse told me that, she said, that's good -that means his body is fighting something. I felt like saying, lady, why in the world would you tell a young Mommy that her baby having a 104 temp is good! That's just not right!
Anyhoo...this nurse did EVERYTHING by the book, coming in to clean out the garbage -in the meantime turning on the light, making noise while Connor and I were trying to sleep. He would JUST fall asleep and within a half-hour, in came the nurse! For the first 2 days, we had different nurses on each shift. I was really hoping for the second night, that we would have a different nurse for the night shift....but, no such luck!
During the first night, Connor was not sleeping. No matter how much I tried to nurse him, he wouldn't fall asleep -and he was so uncomfortable. So, I asked the nurse to look at his arm -where the IV was. His entire arm was swollen! Poor guy, that's why he didn't want to sleep. Well, they need to reinsert the needle somewhere else....and it was between his foot -or in his head. I hoped for the foot, but the nurses said it would be "easier" to put it in his scalp! Well, they were WRONG! They had me lay over his body, and comfort him, as they wiggled that needle around the veins in his scalp. I cried as he sobbed. That was tough. They told me that usually the Moms don't stay around for that -because its so difficult...but, I couldn't leave my little guy alone through that. NO WAY!
Anyway, after the blood tests came back, it showed that Connors' white count was down. Our doctor told us that it should be going up -in order to fight the infection. We needed to find out why it was doing this.
Well, we spent 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital. That was TOO long. At the end of our stay, they told us that they believed Connor to have a staph infection. And, that's normally something that is on our skin -at any given time, but for some reason, Connors' body reacted to it. I began to think about the state of my home -and how I am not the best housekeeper...blaming myself for not having a cleaner house for my little pumpkin to crawl around in...but that wasn't it, we later found out. That experience taught me a lot. We could have lost not just Connnors' finger that week, we could have lost our little boy. I learned to have so much compassion for parents' of chronically ill children. I cannot IMAGINE how parents function long term under those circumstances. It was so hard to watch my little boy sitting in his hospital crib, with needles sticking out of him.
I'll continue tomorrow with more...

What kind of English do you speak??

Well, I haven't posted in a while, but here is something I found interesting....I love taking these silly quizzes!
***Your Linguistic Profile:***


55% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern


What Kind of American English Do You Speak?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/

A meme for you mommies!

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it’s all about your first born!


1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Yes. We had wanted to get pregnant the month before we did, so we could tell our Mom’s at Mothers’ Day –but that didn’t happen, but it happened the next month and now we have Connor!

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
We had been married ALMOST 5 years at that time.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
We were excited – Ben didn’t think I was pregnant, but I was NEVER late, but the pregnancy test (even the early ones) didn’t say I was pregnant for 10 days after the first day of my missed period! I KNEW, but waited so impatiently for it to finally register on the pregnancy test!

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
Never

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
I turned 26 just before I found out, and then 27, the year he was born.

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
My period was late –like I said before, I was only ever early, NEVER late!

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
Ben, and then his parents, at dinner –waited for a special weekend trip to tell my Mom –and then my Dad.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
Absolutely! I hoped and prayed we would be able to tell –I only thought of how horrific (for me, the planner!) to not be able to find out at the ultrasound! LOL

9. DUE DATE?
February 12

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Not one bit. (Yeah, you all have permission to hate me! But, I’m one to gain lots of weight –so that was my problem!)

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
I didn’t really crave anything –just avoided Chinese food, and couldn’t stand the smell of raw hamburger cooking! Ewww…then dh took me to MaidRite –yucko! LOL Of course, toward the end of the pregnancy –we were getting Whiteys’ ice cream, a lot!
12. WHO IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Nothing really…just hated working where I was –may be paranoia, but once they found out I was pregnant, they tried REALLY hard to get rid of me!

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILDS SEX?
Boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
I did –up until the day he was born, and then I thought, what a precious child, how could I even think this?

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
About 45 pounds (he weighed 7 lbs 11 oz of that)

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes - a few of them. Two before he was born, and one afterwards.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
I knew about it ahead of time.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
No.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Silvis, IL – Illini Hospital

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
14hrs, from the beginning of the induction to when he arrived.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
My husband

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
My husband, my ob, a bunch of nurses, and my Mom was there too

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
Just something that they told me would take the edge off –it DID NOT, and then by the time it was “okay” for me to have an epidural –he was all ready to make his appearance, and too late for one! Ugh!!! It was a long night!

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH??
7 lbs 11 oz

28. DID YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS??
Nope.

29. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Connor Isaac

30. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
2 years, 4 months & 14 days

*MOMMIES, Its always fun to talk about our first born...now its your turn to try the survey*

Joy and Roses

I wanted to start this blog with explaining what my purpose with this blog, and why I named it the way I did.
I want my home to be a place of Joy. I want my children to know our home was filled with joy. This doesn't mean that everyone in this house is always "happy". No, joy is something different. Joy lasts much longer than happiness -it is something deep within my heart that keeps me going every day. I have joy, because I believe God exists. I know that He sent His only Son to die for me and for you. This, is what I want my children to know. That, even though there may be hard times, fun times, silly times, challenging times...there is joy.
The roses part is, well, I love roses. What girl doesn't? Anyway, its a reminder to myself to "STOP" and smell them. I am the type of person who, wants to get from point A to point B - NOW! But, that's not living life! That's sprinting. Life is not a sprint -its a marathon. Life is meant to be enjoyed, or savored, like a fine piece of chocolate!
And, this blog is for my family and friends -and whoever may stumble upon it. We no longer live close to our families, so this is the best way to keep EVERYONE updated! I also will share what God has done for me and in my life, and hopefully that will encourage you to keep on carrying on! God bless!