Recovery Week.

I knew Jackson's recovery would be rough - I had all the warnings beforehand.  So I was prepared.  I have been blessed with so many amazing friends and family members who showered us with gifts and dinners during this time.  Here's our day-by-day recovery.

Day 2 (Wednesday) Jackson wasn't feeling too bad at all.  He wanted to play with the new coloring books that Mimi brought over and he loved the new superhero pillow she had made for him.  We played with the new Hot Wheels cars that my friend Kim gave him. We watched lots of the movies we already had and I actually had to tell him to relax and stop running around.  He didn't want to eat much but I was able to get a pediasure down him and a few Popsicle and 2 scrambled eggs and a little bit of mac and cheese.  Not too bad.

Day 2 was actually our best day.

 He had his first chocolate milkshake - and he even had time to pick on his little brother - just like old times.

 

Day 3 (Thursday) wasn't nearly as fun.  He woke up early that morning - around 330am crying and so we gave him some pain meds and put him back to bed til about 6am.  On Day 3, he was extra fussy and whiny.  I bribed him to get his first pediasure down him by giving him a present from Ben - and he wanted to open it so bad so I set it out in front of him til he finished the pediasure.  He was delighted to open a Spiderman pillow, Spiderman comfy blanket and 2 new movies!!  He kept saying "that's so nice of Ben to give me that..." Ethan went to Mother's Day Out so he could have some fun... Ryan was helpful to pick him up so I wouldn't have to wake Jackson from his nap.  While E was at MDO, Jackson watched both of his Spiderman movies and that kept him very entertained and happy. Overall, he fought food but I was able to get 3 pediasures down him, a little bit of egg and about 7-8 bites of a PB&J (his request).  He turned down anything I thought he'd love like ice cream and milkshakes - he wanted no part of anything like that. I think maybe the sugar was hurting his belly... He stayed in a constant state of rest all day... He did take a 4 hour nap that day and I had to wake him up after 4 hours. I stayed on top of his pain meds so he got them as soon as his time was due. I felt really puny all day so that evening, my mom came over, brought pizza and helped out and I went to bed.

Day 4 (Friday) - Jackson woke up crying again - at 230am this time.  He was thirsty and said his throat hurt.  We threw an enormous tantrum when I tried to give him pain meds - said he didn't want them.  Finally got them down him and he went back to sleep til 630am.  The morning didn't start out any better as we tried to get more pediasure down him and he just threw a massive freak-out session in his room.  He needed to eat something before we could give him the pain meds because the pain meds on an empty stomach was making him nauseous.  So we made him drink the pediasure and then he got his pain meds and calmed down. He was pretty quiet all day - he ate little, talked little, drank little - just very uncomfortable.  It helped that his friend Cole came over and cheered him up.  I let him play outside - nothing too active - for about 30 minutes. I think it was good for him to get some sunshine...And really good for Ethan to get outside for a bit too..

Day 5 (Saturday) - Friday night/Saturday morning, Jackson was up twice asking for medicine because his throat hurt so bad.  That morning, my mom came over so I could go help co-host a baby shower for my friend Heather... So I left my whiny boy in my momma's hands til about 4p.  She actually got him to eat some and he rested well.  She said he did not want to take a nap and actually woke up after about 20-30 minutes because he had a bad dream.  He wouldn't go back to sleep.... So I knew we were in trouble that night.  Well, we were.  Saturday night/ Sunday morning was the worst of all.  Actually, probably the worst night we've had since Jackson was about 5 days old and up all night crying. It was miserable - really tested my and Ryan's patience level.  He would scream his head off for what seemed like forever - completely unreasonable and inconsolable.  Nothing helped - medicine, nothing.  He had a runny nose so he couldn't breathe through his nose and his throat hurt so when he breathed out of his mouth, it made him cough - which hurt - which was our vicious cycle.  Horrible. Horrible.  Horrible.  Miserable night.  I hope to never have to repeat that again.  The main problem was that he didn't take a nap. This combined with the nose/throat pain and cough - was just too much for my little man. I think Ryan and I had about 3 total hours of broken sleep.... Maybe 30 minute increments.  At this point, I was thinking something may be wrong since it just doesn't seem right that after 5 days of this, he seems worse than ever.  I just kept praying for that to be the worst it would get and it would only get better... 

Day 6 (Sunday) - Sunday morning, Jackson up screaming again at 600am and I just decided it was time to stop trying... So I got him up and brought him downstairs and asked Ryan to put in ear plugs and go back to sleep... at least one of us should be somewhat rested.  Jackson and I hung out downstairs.  I got some medicine down him again and then after about an hour, I got some "chocolate" sandwich down him - though not willingly again.  I sat him down and told him that he is no longer sick.  So we aren't going to treat him that way anymore.  He is now a big boy and all healed.  He seemed to feel relieved by this and I realized that maybe we have actually babied him a little too much.  I think he was starting to "act" the role.  So all day I treated him like any other day... And he started acting like his normal self.  I had to occasionally remind him to drink but we just hung out in the house and he and Ethan played all day and I finally started seeing that light that everyone talked about at the end of this long tunnel....After his nap, daddy had taken Ethan to community group and so I told J since it was just the two of us, we would do some painting...  So we painted rainbows and trains and fun stuff.... Sunday night turned out to be much like Saturday night - miserable.  I just keep thinking after a week of this - it HAS to get better soon, right?
Day 7 - TODAY - Dear Lord, Please PLEASE PLEEEEASE make this boy sleep at night and feel better so mommy and daddy can be sane again!  PLEEEEASE!!!?

Tonsillectomy

Jackson has always been a snorer. I had no idea how bad it was until we traveled to Dallas to visit some friends and we slept in the same room as Jackson and he was constantly waking me up with his snoring and gasping for air.  He stops breathing several times each night.  I knew that Ryan had major problems with that growing up and ended up having his tonsils out when he was 20.  Upon Jackson's first visit to the dentist - when he turned 3 - the dentist noticed his gums were white on the top and bright red toward the roots.  He said this is due to him being a mouth breather and it's definitely something to watch.  So I talked to my pediatricician a few months later who confirmed that we may need an ENT to look at Jackson's tonsils because "they are pretty big."  So a few months after that, we had our appointment with the ENT.  Dr. Lee is a funny doctor... and he said Jackson's tonsils "are juicy"... meaning very very large.  He suggested that we do remove them - and his adenoids too.  So we were going to do it in December, but because he was under 4, we had to do an overnight stay in the hospital.  That didn't sit too well with me.  I don't want him to have to stay in a hospital and also, I don't want to pay for it!  So we decided to wait til he turned 4 since he was so close anyway.  In March, we had another appointment with our dentist and he told me that he went to a conference on children and mouth breathing/sleep apnea type problems.  He stressed how important it is to take care of this as early as possible.  He said that a child's IQ drops 10 points when they are mouth breathers and also that they have been shown to have more problems with their organs because of the strain that's put on them when they tighten those muscles sleeping - because they are gasping for air so much... Anyway, I'm probably not repeating that perfectly, but it was a good reminder to me why we're doing this.  So Jackson turned 4 on May 23 and his surgery was scheduled for June 19.  So my mom took a sick day and kept Ethan that morning while Ryan and I took J into the hospital.  His check in was 615am and he was the first case (thank goodness!).  He knew what we were doing completely.  We didn't keep any secrets from him.  He totally understood that the doc was going to remove the "big things in my throat" and that afterward, his throat would hurt for a few days and then he'd feel much better and would sleep better.  I think it also helped that Ryan explained to him that the doctor took HIS tonsils out too and Jackson felt like he was going to be like daddy... that always helps comfort him.

 At the hospital, we got J in a gown and the nurses were extra nice to him.  They gave him some colors and even responded to his special request for "yellow" so he could color the sun... :)  He insisted that Mr. Bear go into the room with him too so the nurses said Mr. Bear needed a ID too - so they badged him too.  So nice of them - they were really great!

Jackson wasn't nervous at all - he was perfectly fine.

 After the surgery, the doctor came out to talk to us.  He said that it took a little longer than normal because Jackson's adenoid was quite large but good news that they got all out and there was no bleeding!  What seemed like forever was actually about 45 minutes before we could go see him.  The nurses said he woke up out of anesthesia perfectly fine - no crying or anything.  When he saw us, he was really thirsty so we gave him juice and water and a Popsicle.  He wanted to go home immediately.  I knew he would so that made me happy that we made the right decision waiting til he turned 4.  We stayed in the hospital so they could monitor him for about 2 hours.  LOOOONG two hours.  Finally, we got the green light to go home.  Jackson only teared up once and it was when he was asking to go home and I said we had to wait and he said "but mommy Ethan misses me and he needs to see me."  Such love between those two.  :)

 Headed home - Jackson wasn't allowed to walk and didn't want to take the wheelchair so daddy walked him out.  He was acting so good at this point.  He was still a little drugged and tired but fought sleep.

 When he got home, I had told him he got to watch lots of TV since the doc's prescription was nothing active - rest only.   Soo immediately, he asked for a show and Ethan jumped onto the chair to snuggle with big brother.  Jackson did so good on this first day- I will update about the rest of the days tomorrow.  :)

Backyard Fun!

On Monday, we had a few neighborhood friends and Brett and Eli over to play in the backyard.  Jackson was scheduled to go in for his tonsillectomy on Tuesday AM so we wanted to give Jackson a big playdate before he would be stuck in the house for a week.  Ethan refuses to get wet or sandy, so he opts to just run around and play... but he did occasionally get a blast of water - which he did not appreciate.  :)  The big boys had a blast!  They played hard for over 2 hours outside in the heat!  Success!!

Father's Day In Little Rock

The Saturday before Father's Day, Ryan took the boys to Little Rock to spend some "boys only" time with his dad.  Ryan said the boys had an absolute blast and Jackson really enjoyed it being all-boys.  Ryan took a few pics for me...Jackson came home bragging about what a good time he had!

Quack.

I took the boys to feed the ducks the other day.. we took some bread and we were ready to go!  The ducks spotted our bread pretty quickly and J was a pro at tearing a small piece out of the bread and throwing it out to the ducks.... We had some ducklings right next to us too!  Ethan enjoyed watching but he only threw a few pieces... We had a fun time!

To Entertain a 2 year old for 30 minutes....

  

What was Ethan doing during swim lessons you ask?  

I think these two pictures explains well.

Swim Lessons, Round3

Yes, we've done 3 rounds of swim lessons.  My little weasel hates to get his face wet... this is due to the fact that as a baby throughout his toddler years, we were extra careful to never let his face get water on it... we were nervous that he'd get water in his ears and cause an infection.. blah blah.. we know better now.  So the first year we did it at the YMCA in Little Rock.  Failure.  Last year we did Fayetteville Athletic Club and had to bail out before the 2 weeks were up cuz he begged me not to go (this is mostly due to the lady telling him she'd catch him when he went down the slide and she purposely let him go face under in the water as he came down - trust broken.)  This year showed some promise... He has been watching his good buddy Ben swim like a champ for years and for some reason, he's finally worked up the courage to say he "might" try putting his face in the water.... So we bought some extra good goggles and signed up for Mrs. Dana's swim class!  He was extra excited (also a big surprise) and I guess the timing was just lined up great because on the first day, she insisted he go under and he did!!!  He had finally understood how to hold his breath - and let's just say that makes everything much easier.  :)  We absolutely loved Mrs. Dana's class and her sweet daughter Sydney who helped out.  It was incredible to me to watch him actually swimming!  I mean, by the end of the two weeks, he was SWIMMING!  It would be 3 or 4 strokes of his arm and he'd be floating by himself, kicking and all... I was shocked!  I will definitely be bringing Jackson back next year and Ethan too!

YAY for learning to swim!  I'm so proud of him for conquering his fears!  He loves putting his face under water now... It's incredible what a difference a couple weeks and some courage will do for a growing boy!