Nothing new..

I guess that's a good thing, in the grand scheme of things. Not much is happening here. Macey is off oxygen after Tuesday's appointment, which is very good news! They both seem to be doing very well. They have coughed here and there but nothing terrible.

James, on the other hand, is still coughing horribly. He's growing increasingly active here at home (working on the twins' new bedroom, which was Avery's old bedroom) to try to prepare himself for the rigors of work and anything/everything sends him into a coughing fit. It's relentless! He has been able to spend most nights in bed with me so that's nice - he used to have to leave and sleep upright on the couch most nights so he wouldn't cough so bad.

Thought I'd share a picture I captured today. You may remember we tried something similar Christmas day and James made me angry and Declan whacked Macey on the head multiple times and it was just AWFUL, but today went very well! Here's our babies!!

Caden 7
Avery 5
Declan 2
Macey and Madelyn (sitting in that order) 7.5 months

We're home!

As of yesterday, all seven of us are back under one roof. It's such a blessed feeling. I had Macey and Madelyn in the crib together and granted, I am tired and emotional, but I just broke down crying at how precious they were together in the crib and how much they need each other and how much life wouldn't be the same without TWO of them! I can't imagine just one Macey or just one Madelyn - they are unique yet very much part of a set. I'm so glad they're back together!

Macey was discharged yesterday morning, but she is on oxygen here at home, needed especially while sleeping and at times while eating. We don't have a pulse oximeter here to know what her sats are, but she was pretty consistent at the hospital and it was obvious she needed the help while sleeping. We hope to be able to remove the need for oxygen on Wed the 24th at their follow-up doctor appointments.

February is a big month for birthdays in our families! Yesterday was a very special niece's 10th birthday and tomorrow is James' mom's 60th! And then Tuesday is James' birthday!! I love birthdays. :)

I also wanted to add that I have removed the ability to leave anonymous comments on my blog. I wish I still could because I realize several of you comment without IDs but I was getting too many weird comments from anonymous people and I just don't feel like dealing with it. So, sign up for a google account if you want to leave comments! Hey, start a blog yourself!!

We're still in!

I miss my husband. I really do. I want to go away with him for a nice long (cough-free) weekend and do nothing but sleep and sleep and just talk with him and have him be well and know our kids are well and just.....be. That's what I wish for more now than anything else in the entire world.

Tonight we're going to go out for supper together while my mom sits with Macey here in the hospital room. I believe Avery is going to be here as well (I'm sure that she wants to go along with us but the former preschool teacher in me will talk her into staying because "staying with Macey will be the COOLEST thing a 5yo girl could do!"). We're supposed to have Ave's Creation Station conferences tonight at 5 but we called her wonderful teachers and they are letting us get them in later when everyone's healthy, bless them. James has Ave at dance right now (bless HIM) and then they'll be over here to the hospital to see little miss Macey for a while.

Little miss can't quite keep her oxygen sats high enough, so she'll be here for one more night. Hopefully we can go home tomorrow. And then hopefully we'll start getting James healthy. My heart simply aches for him - he tells me that he's so exhausted he barely feels anything anymore. I just can't imagine. He also said last night was the first night he remembers not waking up to cough! That is HUGE! He had all 4 kids at home down to bed by 7:15 and then all slept until after 7am. Go James!!

There's good news and there's bad news.

The good news first. Madelyn was released from the hospital this morning! She really seems to have improved and it's nice to see her smiling self again.

The bad news? Macey was admitted to the hospital this afternoon. Macey and mommy were down in the clinic while Madelyn was being discharged upstairs. Poor James - he's SO exhausted and yet he had Madelyn up in her hospital room, along with Avery and Declan as well. I had to wait forever for xrays which finally showed that Macey also has developed pneumonia. She's in - we'll see how long we're here! Ugh.

Wow, the hospital internet is fast!

Yeah, that's where I'm typing from. Madelyn just didn't improve so we brought her in this morning again and she was admitted to the hospital. Her pulse ox was 92, she was breathing pretty fast, retracting, nasal flaring, all the good stuff. Tonight she is finally falling asleep at 8:30 and has smiled a few times. It was so sad - during her xrays they put her in this horrid contraption that holds her in from the sides and pins her arms up and above her head. She was so exhausted from the blood work pokes, IV pokes and all of that that she simply held her mouth open to breathe better and stared straight ahead. SO SAD!!!

We got some other very interesting news today as well. Turns out James has whooping cough! The test was positive. Worst part is...the twins also BOTH have it! So bizarre!! At least now we have an answer for James but he is just still so miserable. His mom is staying out at our house tonight with him and the other kids because he just about can't take care of everyone on his own. He coughs and throws up that much. I am praying hard that it clears up SOON.

Before I forget (again)!

I just blogged all that and forgot about our Avery funny. So at bedtime we read her stories from the Bible - her children's Bible. Then we pray with her out loud - she prays and we pray. After that we tuck her in and she usually reads from her Bible for a while longer. By read, I mean she makes things up but she does so in a very loud, talkative manner. Last night one of our stories was about the prophet Elijah.

Last night we could hear her clearly. She was just chattering away. She is going to be a gifted read-alouder to her kids someday! We paused the tv so we could hear her and this is what came out: "I'm not a mommy. I'm a prophet! I help God with new tricks!!"

Holy hilarious.

Aaaaannnnnddddd....

we're still at home. This is a good thing. The person most in need of the hospital is James I think. I have HONESTLY NEVER heard anyone cough like this. He coughs repeatedly/solidly for about 15 seconds and usually throws up afterward. Our dr did run the pertussis (whooping cough) test but we don't have results yet. Today James also has tons of drainage and is stuffed up and just plain miserable. I am truly at a loss. I've never heard of anything like it. I feel TERRIBLE for him.

Macey seems to be coming around. She doesn't cough as frequently and she is happier. Madelyn is still concerning, but after getting her up for a while tonight she smiled at me a few times which tells me she's doing ok. She still coughs a TON and really struggles with that. I actually think her cough is getting worse and will probably bring her in to the dr in the morning to get her checked over for peace of mind. The pertussis test was also run on the twins. Results pending.

I think we may have turned the potty corner with Caden tonight. He has been wearing big boy underwear to school for weeks now and has only had maybe 1 accident. Problem is, he holds it...and holds it and HOLDS it. Then he gets home and tries to go, but starts to cry and saw "ow" on the potty and it's all kinds of confusing. Tonight he started caterwauling on the potty, flapping his hands and rolling his head around, saying owie - it was just bizarre. Finally I let him get off the potty and as we were pulling up his underwear and jeans he started peeing ALL over. I got firm with him (ok, I was mad) and put him back on the potty. I think the problem is he doesn't like the FEELING of continued flow coming out. I think he thinks that's owie. So every time he did a nice, steady stream I got all excited and started hooting and hollering. When he stopped, I went quiet. Caden LOVES a good ol ruckus, so he started back up again, and every time the flow would keep going I would just whoop it up! He finally got a lot of pee out, and I think he got used to the idea that it's supposed to come out all at once and all at the same time. At least I hope so. There seems to be a disconnect there and I'm not sure if it's his developmental age or his disability or what...but hopefully tonight made sense for him!

Double RSV plus ear infection and pneumonia

I'm convinced that the more kids you have, the more you're in the doctor. I guess that isn't shocking news but it's frustrating, nonetheless.

I finally took the twins in this morning for the continued cough. Madelyn was acting sicker, fever, sounding raspy, etc. Turns out they both have RSV (even though Macey's RSV test was negative in the ER on Friday). Macey has an ear infection and is starting on zithromax again. Madelyn also has pneumonia, which is common with RSV. They're home for now. Their pulse ox was good, which is a relief. Now we just pray they turn the corner and start getting better.

James came with me and our dr was asking him about HIS continued cough. We're starting with more aggressive tests now for James, as he is still coughing to the point of throwing up and just so sick of it! Hopefully we'll get some answers.

Digging in to the baby book

the blog, that is...I'm motivated to sit here and write down the twins' weights, lengths and milestones thus far in order to get them entered into the baby book. Wish me luck! It's too bad Ebay keeps calling my name.

Can I just say how sick I am of coughing?

Avery's on medication now too - antibiotic for her cough, plus she started running a fever. James is still throwing up from time to time with it...at least once daily. The twins have started a nasty cough. And today, it became REALLY nasty.

This morning just after 10 Macey started a coughing fit. She coughed and coughed, never seeming to take a breath and gather air in. I was growing very concerned, and next thing I knew her nose and mouth were blue and the rest of her face was turning dusky. It's so bizarre - it's like everything moves in slow motion. I knew I SHOULD call 911 but then I thought, "for a cough???" and I second-guessed it like 10 times before I just dialed. They were on their way almost instantly and even though we're out in the country it only took about 10 minutes for them to get here - she was done coughing at this point, just breathing fast and rattly in her chest at bit, but was breathing again.

I am so thankful that James' cousin is an EMT and was here with the ambulance. I felt relieved that he was here, talking me through it. I was just so scared. I've never felt more helpless. If your kid had some sort of traumatic injury but was still breathing, that would be tolerable I think, but to know they aren't getting any air and not be able to do anything about it is AWFUL.
They took off with her to the ER in the ambulance. Avery flipped out at this point. I think she believed that Macey wasn't coming back. Plus I had asked Avery to sit Macey up from the floor when she first started the coughing fit and I think she was feeling somewhat responsible. She was holding her and then she realized that mommy was scared...and then mommy was on the phone and it was all just a blur for her. My dad had come out at this point and he stayed with Madelyn, Declan and Avery so I could drive to the ER.

Long story made short, they said she probably had a mucous plug in her throat (somewhere in there, anyway) and babies don't know what to do besides keep coughing until it finally breaks free. They said it would break free, just to sit her up and pat her back until she breathes again. In response to that I'd like to say YEAH RIGHT because you absolutely panic when they are coughing and not breathing like that. Tonight both Macey and Madelyn have coughed quite a bit again, but no turning blue this time. It's all just so unsettling.

Is it spring yet???