Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Color

I just heard a quote on a tv show that the
colors of nature never clash.
It made me think.


Friday, June 19, 2009

What's in a Name?

A few days ago, we caught a frog at the beach and Mariah named it "Zoe." Yesterday we caught a green caterpillar and she named it "Chloe." Today we caught a huge moth and Mariah named it "Polly."
This makes me recall the story about Jerry buying five goldfish (really as a Mother's Day gift for me a few years ago, but Mariah quickly adopted them) and she named them Polly, Colly, Polly, Colly, and Polly. Well, the poor fish didn't make it through the night, but I guess the name Polly still lives on.

Today Mariah and I took a long walk and we held hands the whole way, dodging the rain drops and talking about flowers and trees. I loved every minute of it.

We have said that Mariah is our outgoing, imaginative child that would dig for worms in a pink princess dress--yep, that is our eldest and we love her to pieces.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Monday, June 15, 2009

First Beach Day

We finally had nice enough weather to go to the beach. It was so perfect, the sun was bright and warm and the water was as smooth as glass (although it was a little cold). We built a sandcastle, took a ride in the row boat, took a long walk and found all sorts of treasures, and Mariah and I even caught a frog, which she named "Zoe." Ambria, although still not feeling herself, was quiet and content for a few hours, and Mariah couldn't get enough of the sand and water.










An Evening Walk

We took a walk last night and fed the ducks. It was such a beautiful evening.



Friday, June 12, 2009

Ambria Update

Thanks again for continued prayers for Ambria.

Yesterday she was very sleepy and slept for most of the day, she did ok with drinking fluids, considering the pain she was feeling. She took some sips here and there. She didn't eat anything though, and she wouldn't take any of her medications. Ambria wouldn't talk much, so it was a very quiet day (which was good so we could all catch up on some sleep).

We had a rough night last night. Ambria was up three times and was dry heaving all night. Poor thing hasn't eaten since Monday, so her system is beyond empty.

Today, Ambria was very crabby, whiny, and clingy. She is so frustrated because she is hungry. She tries different foods and ends up spitting them out before she swallows because of the pain, again she won't take any of her meds. I call the doctor to make a follow-up appointment and they asked how she was doing. They asked if she drank a 2 liter amount of fluids and I just laughed. No, she has had about 2 ounces. They checked with the doctor and they wanted her to go get an IV.

Go figure, I call to make an appointment and we end up in the hospital again. Ambria got an IV with fluids and as well as a steroid to decrease swelling and some medication for nausea too. We were only at the hospital for a few hours so that wasn't too bad, and Ambria did ok, but I think we all have had enough of doctors, nurses, and pokes. Hopefully this will give her a little boost and she will be well on her way to recovery.

Thankfully, Mariah has been at my parent's house this week so she hasn't seen Ambria so sick and weak. Ambria asks about Mariah and says that she misses her and Mariah has tried to talk to Ambria on the phone but Ambria won't talk back since she isn't speaking much these days. Mariah even sang her a song on the phone, it was so cute. We will be picking up Mariah tomorrow so I'm sure the sisters will be happy to see each other.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Running Red Lights

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers for Ambria. It was a very long couple of days. Here are the details...

SHORT STORY:
Ambria had her tonsils out earlier yesterday and then last night I found Ambria in her bed at 10:00pm in a pool of blood that was running from her mouth. We rushed her to ER and then they admitted her. She did not stop bleeding, she spiked a fever, and she was having problems breathing and needed oxygen. At 4:00am Ambria had emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. It was a long few days but she is home now and starting to recover.

LONG STORY:
Yesterday morning Ambria went in for a routine tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (hers were enlarged and she was having some breathing problems). She did great. She was of course in some pain and had trouble swallowing fluids, but that is normal. We were expecting this. We were able to go home later in the afternoon, Ambria took a short nap, we went for a walk, and she took a bath. I put her down to bed at 8:00pm.

At 10:00pm, I was exhausted from a long day. I went to check on Ambria before heading off to bed myself.

I found Ambria laying in a pool of blood, sleeping!!

I ran and got Jerry. We scooped her up and rushed to Hackley ER. I was in the midst of freaking out, (probably due to the fact that I was so tired and I wasn't expecting to see Ambria laying in a pool of blood). Jerry was trying to stay calm for me, but I knew he was concerned when he started running red lights!

Ambria continued to bleed from her mouth, which is not normal after this type of surgery. Her oxygen levels kept dropping, and she spiked a temperature. The emergency nurses started an IV, drew blood to check on her blood counts, and called the on-call doctor.

Ambria was such a little trooper and was just zoned the whole time! She tried her best to stay still even when they were poking her to find a vein for the IV (they had difficulty because the veins were dried up).

They admitted her at 12:30am and we got transferred to the pediatric floor. The two nurses were absolutely wonderful and they stayed by Ambria's bedside, suctioning up the blood every few minutes and tending to her. Ambria ended up throwing up a lot of old and new blood, and I think at that point the nurses knew she wasn't going to stop bleeding on her own.

By 3:00am, the nurses were on the phone with the doctor and they decided to rush her to emergency surgery. They had to hurry and get a whole team of nurses and doctors together so this could happen (thank you doctors and nurses!). Ambria went into surgery at 4:00am and the doc said it was supposed to take 10-15 minutes.

Well, an HOUR later, the doctor came back. This was the hardest sixty minutes of our life, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong in the operating room. We waited alone in the deserted waiting room, reviewing a list of people to call in case of the worst. We just held hands and tried to keep our prayers short and honest. Jerry kept watching the second hand run circles around the clock...

Thankfully, everything went fine. The doctor cauterized (lasered) some tissue together, put in some stitches where the tonsils were, performed a partial uvulectomy (cut off part of the hangy thing in her throat), and pumped her stomach or sucked out all the blood from her little tummy. They brought her back to the room about an hour later. She didn't lose too much more blood so she didn't need a blood transfusion, which they thought they might have had to do.

The bleeding stopped after surgery, but Ambria continued to struggle breathing and keeping her oxygen levels up so she continued to stay on oxygen for a few more hours. Early in the afternoon, Ambria started to wake up, takes sips of juice, and was able to get off the oxygen and keep up her levels by herself.

We were released from the hospital late this afternoon and Ambria has been only been awake for about 20 minutes since then.

So, why did this happen? The doctors really aren't sure. I guess it is rare and this only happens to about 1 in 500--I guess Ambria was the "unlucky" one.

Who would have thought that such a normal procedure could have resulted in this?! We are just thankful that Ambria is fine, and we are very grateful to the staff at Hackley, and for the prayers and support of friends and family. Ambria is the "lucky" one to have all that love!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Surgery Day

BEFORE
So silly at 6:00am




AFTER
Feeling tired and crappy at 9:00am
Poor thing







Friday, June 5, 2009

Monday, June 1, 2009

Nap Interrupted + Milk Flood = Crabby Me

I was tired today. I was a little crabby. I needed a nap.

Ambria went down for her daily nap
Mariah was resting on the living room floor watching tv
I layed on the couch and closed my eyes, ahhhh, relaxing...

The phone rings
I lay back down
The mailman delivers a package
I lay back down
Jerry walks in the door
Jerry's friend comes over
Jerry and Jerry's friend leave
I lay back down
I hear a car door--it is Jerry's dad, he rings the doorbell
(luckily Ambria didn't wake up)
He comes in and sits on the couch to visit
I lay back down, a little bit more crabby
I really didn't get to sleep

After all this, I went to pick up a few groceries, and Ambria proceeds to accidentally knock a gallon of milk out of the van when we get home, it hits the garage floor, breaks wide open, and spills everywhere. Nice. (note: my OCD with smell--the garage reeks of milk, fresh milk mind you, even after I sprayed the garage down, but I'm sure it will be spoiled tomorrow--extra nice).

Still crabby.

I am going to bed.