~The Speth Family~: Surprisingly Mellow

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Surprisingly Mellow

What a nice weekend! Things are going really well and we had a nice, pretty relaxing weekend. At least I did. John was home Thursday through Monday and helped out quite a bit. He wasn't able to do that much with Kylie and Allie so despite a few more logistics, Ammon has actually seemed easier than the last two. I never asked John to get up in the middle of the night to help with the girls because I figured he was the one who had to go to work the next day and it was exhausting. This time he volunteered to take a few turns - wow, that was nice! I think he even enjoyed helping me take care of Ammon. Don't worry, I am still tired - Ammon likes to wake up at least once an hour and can't quite put himself back to sleep in the middle of the night yet. The funny thing is, you can put him in his crib or swing during the day when he starts to get sleepy and he will drift off without a problem. Anyway - boring newborn stuff. I spent the weekend at home. John and the girls got out quite a bit, which was good for them and we spent the evenings playing games. We taught the girls to play Uno and Kylie got to keep score. John is determined to teach her how to add double digits.

So after our surprisingly mellow weekend, I was feeling pretty confident. John went back to work today and Ammon had an appointment with his new pediatrician in Syracuse. This guy has seven or eight patients with major heart defects including some hypoplasts so that was comforting. I started getting things ready plenty early because I had a lot of equipment to take with me, but I was still a little late picking Kylie up from school. Luckily, my mom was there picking up my nephew so Kylie sat in the car with them until I got there. I took the girls to a friends house and got to the Dr.'s office right on time. Everything went south from there.

Getting Ammon out of the van while attached to his pulse ox (which was not registering and beeping like crazy), his oxygen tank (heavier than it looks), a GIGANTIC diaper bag chuck full of emergency medical supplies, infusing antibiotics through his PICC line, and his feeding pump, was a little more challenging than I expected. I made it in and sat next to a couple of ANGELS from my ward who just happened to be there and everything exploded at me. It was time to change his antibiotic on the pump so I did that and Ammon was fussy and wanted out. I picked him up and saw yellow EVERYWHERE. I went and asked the receptionist if we could go into a room so I could clean up the poopy mess. Carrie and Stacey helped me carry everything back there (much easier with three). It turned out it wasn't poop - it was bile from his NJ tube. Nobody mentioned anything about that and why was it leaking out? Anyway, Stacey held him and kept him calm, Carrie got me a clean outfit from her car and I don't really remember what I did - I think I was trying to wipe him down and get untangled. Its all hazy now, but needless to say I m VERY grateful they were there.

The appointment itself went really well. He looks great and the bile was because the pump had fallen over in the van and wasn't pushing the food through. It turns out, it can actually suction a little from the gut. I got myself organized and the trip out to the van and then home went well. The physical therapist showed up a few minutes after we got home and then Ammon and I got to rest for an hour before the girls got home (thank you Trish)! We have another appointment next week - hopefully by then I will have grown a couple more arms :)

Sidenote - When did Kylie get so big? Its amazing how putting her next to an infant makes you realize that she's not a toddler anymore. She's turning six this week! Crazy. She has been the most amazing helper this weekend - she is great at calming Ammon down and has been very patient with us while we get more comfortable. I LOVE that the girls love their brother. They get so excited to hold him and play with him. I think three is definitely easier than two. I miss having a house full of kids :) Maybe when things settle down we can have more friends over.

1 comment:

JulieFebruary 17, 2010 at 8:46 PM
I don't know how you do it Suzi! That's a ton to juggle just to get to an appointment. You're amazing! He's getting so big and so cute! He and Tate have matching jammies with the monkey feet. :)
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A Future of Peace
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