Acute Appendicitis

Four days ago, Brian had some pain in his lower right side.  That was Wednesday night.

It was an usual pain, but he decided to sleep on it and call the doctor in the morning.  That Thursday morning, the pain was still there and a bit worse so he headed into our normal doctor who sent him in for a CAT scan to check on what may be going on.  The earliest CAT scan that Brian could get was at 3 pm that Thursday and just over an hour later that afternoon Brian received a call from our doctor that said he needed to drive himself safely to the nearest emergency room and have an emergency appendectomy.  He indeed had acute appendicitis and we didn't want to be in a situation where his appendix ruptured.

Wait.  What?!

That is how it all began.  Just like that.  In 24 hours we went from Brian having a weird stomach pain to sitting in the ER waiting for Brian to get out of surgery.  It was crazy.

Fortunately, Brian was wise enough to get this weird pain checked out.  I have told him multiple times that I'm not sure I would've called the doctor if I was in the same situation.  And based on everything that I read and everything that I was told, TIME IS CRITICAL when you have acute appendicitis.  Most appendixes rupture between 24 and 72 hours after symptoms start appearing and that means a whole different, way more serious situation for the person involved, not to mention, about triple the recovery time.

But Brian knew his body and after having kidney stones while living in Scotland and experiencing the same sort of pain, that is what he thought it would be and that is why he called the doctor so promptly.  But it happened to be his appendix.

They took Brian into surgery late on Thursday night.  Thankfully, Mary and Tom, Brian's Mom and Stepdad, were able to sit with him in the Emergency Room while I took the girls home and fed them dinner, got them bathed, and put to bed.  We tried to keep our routine as normal as possible.

Once everyone was asleep and Brian was in surgery, Mary and I swapped spots.  It was just after 11 pm on Thursday night.  She came and stayed with Kate and Maya while Tom and I headed back to the hospital to await any further communication from the doctor.  Maya had been sleeping solidly until 2 am recently, so I hoped she did the same that night.  At least, I had planned on being at the hospital from 11 pm to 2 am and then coming back home to feed Maya and go from there.

When Tom and I got back to the hospital, we met up with Andy, Brian's Dad, who had been there while we weren't.  Brian was still in surgery.

Brian was the only one in surgery at the time, so he was noted
as the green patient on the screen.  It says "Surgery in Progress".

Just after 11:30 pm, the surgeon came out and said that he had finished Brian's surgery and that he was in recovery.  We were to wait until a nurse called us to meet Brian in his recovery room.

The surgeon had mentioned that there are four levels of appendicitis; one being a perfectly fine and healthy appendix and for being a ruptured appendix.  He had said that Brian was just past a 3 and everyone was thankful that Brian was able to get surgery before any rupturing occured.  Other than that, the surgery was normal and they were able to complete the removal laparoscopically so that meant less invasive and less recovery time needed.

11:32 pm and Brian is noted as "In Recovery".

About an hour later, we received a call to meet Brian in his recovery room, room number 9010.  Only Brian would figure out a way to get the penthouse suite while in surgery.  (That is mostly a joke because there are no penthouse suites in the hospital but he was on the top floor.)

Penthouse living.  #no  #notatall

Headed up.

Brian's view, though I took this photo the next day.

Tom and I arrived at his room quicker than Brian had, so we waited for him to arrive.  A few moments later, we heard a couple of nurses laughing and wheeling a very groggy yet joke telling/funny story telling patient around the corner.  Of course this was Brian.

1:30 am - Groggy and right out of surgery.  The pillow
protected his abdomen.

Tom and I made sure that Brian was comfortable and cared for.  It was weird having to leave him at the hospital to stay by himself but I had two girls I had to tend to at home and there wasn't really a place for me to sleep like there was in the maternity rooms.  (Other than this visit, the only other two times we've been at the hospital for one another were at both of our children's births.  #gratefulforthat)

Either way, I knew Maya was going to be waking soon for a feeding and then the household was going to be up soon after that, so we bid our farewells to Brian who was already dosing off and promised to see him in the morning.

The next day, Mary and Tom came over to watch the girls while I made my way to the hospital.  Even though he was on a clear liquid diet only, he was already up and walking around.  Just what the doctors ordered.

Trying to stay positive.  #justlikebrian

Brian was at the hospital from Wednesday night until Saturday afternoon.  I spent my time traveling back and forth from home to the hospital to tend to my children and my husband.  And I was extremely grateful for Mary and Tom who held the fort down as best as possible while we swapped spots.

That meant fun popcorn snacks!

Enjoying happy babies!

Coloring and tracing with chalk on the driveway!

And a few park visits!

Brian graduated from a clear liquid diet to a liquid diet to a soft solids diet to a bland diet before he left the hospital as per normal protocol during this routine type of surgery.

He was also sent home with the instructions to rest, recover, get up and walk as his body allows it, and no lifting of anything for four weeks.  He will also most likely be home from work for the next week.

He had to cancel his trip to California for a class he was going to be taking this week but we are all glad that he is going to be ok.

It's been a scary few days.  Anytime you have to go to the hospital for loved one to have emergency surgery it's scary.  It's been a tiring few days.  I've either been home tending to the kiddos or traveling to/from the hospital tending/hanging out with my husband.  It's also been a grateful few days.  We are grateful this is nothing more serious.  We are grateful that Mary and Tom were able to help so much, and we were grateful for our wonderful girls, Kate and Maya, who made this different situation not even seem to bother them.  Among many other things like the nurses and the doctors, the many well wishes and prayers from family and friends, the fact that Brian's appendix didn't rupture, etc.

Brian hit a bit of a bump in the road with this appendicitis, but we have confidence he'll be back on his feet, working his tail off, and being his normal self in no time.  Now let's just hope he doesn't get cabin fever too quickly...

#hegetscabinfeverontheweekend  #sigh

Walking Water

Kate, Maya and I did a little "walking water" experiment that ran into today from yesterday.  I had seen some ideas on this and decided it would be a fun, easy experiment to try.  (Note fun and easy are right up my alley these days.)

This "walking water" experiment was SO COOL!  It was also a great time of year to be doing it, early March, because we could tie it in with rainbows, rain, how rainbows are made, St. Patty's Day, colors, primary colors, secondary colors, how colors are made, etc.

Cool, right?!

If you do try this experiment, use cheap/lightweight paper towels.  They absorb and let the water "walk" to the other cups a lot quicker than heavy duty paper towels that actually absorb the water and keep it in its spot.

Here we go:

First, set up seven clear plastic cups.

Next, add water and food coloring in primary colors to every OTHER cup:
RED - empty cup - YELLOW - empty cup - BLUE - empty cup - RED

I put two dots of the colors we were going to be mixing on
little white cards for Kate to mix to set up some hypotheses of
what we thought the empty cup colors would turn.

Two dots like so.

Then we placed our hypothesis color cards in front of all of our cups.
On the cups with water in them already, I gave her a solid dot of
that color to paint with.

Then we folded and added our lightweight paper towels to each
cup and let them sit.

While we were waiting, we played tricks on the dog...

When we checked just over an hour later, we were already seeing
some progress!

So we let the cups sit and painted in our bathing suit.

Then played on the steps with Snoopy by sliding
him down the railing and throwing him back to the top.
Shhh, don't tell Daddy.

By middday, we were seeing some serious color definition and
by every definition of the experiment, we were complete.  But we
let ours sit for a bit longer to let our rainbow continue walking.

So we played outside... 

...and had a singing contest in our cucumber
microphone.

Kate thought this was the funniest thing!

8 hours later and we we got to really see the complete rainbow
and our hypotheses were correct!  #gofigure

We let the rainbow sit over night to see if there were any differences
but, alas, it looked pretty similar to 12 hours before.

Kate really liked this little project and has been talking about "mixing" colors and what they make since.  I love that we can have fun together and learn while we're at it without putting so much pressure on strictly learning.  It's just so important.  I also love that this was a simple project!

Snow Prints & Birthday Parties

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent celebrating this past weekend.  I'm going to keep my words to a minimum and let my pictures do the talking.  #canigetanamen

FRIDAY: Snow Prints

We got a little bit more snow and before we left
to meet Mimi and Papaw at Polaris Mall, Kate
insisted on making snow prints.

Let the records note that she also insisted on
dressing herself complete with purple tutu, Ariel
shirt, and snow boots.  Mama insisted on leggings.

Those are some darn good snow boots!

We left the mall with a special gift from Mimi
and Papaw - a new Ariel dress - and I have a funny
feeling that we'll be seeing this a lot in our future.
#alltheprincesses

SATURDAY: Quinn's 3rd Birthday

Quinn getting her baby love on Maya and another
one of Quinn's guests.

Paw Patrol cupcakes and Kate selected blue with green candies!

Let the records note here that Kate insisted on
wearing a summer dress.  #ipickmybattles
Girlfriend is ITCHING for warm weather and I think
she thinks if she wears dresses it'll come sooner.

She also insisted on helping and was the sweetest
helper.  #ofcourse

Maya Bear decided to play with used wrapping paper.
#freetoysarethebesttoys

Let her records note that I'm pretty sure she ate
some of that wrapping paper.
#secondchild

SUNDAY: Wyatt's 4th Birthday

The birthday boy and his pile-o-presents!

Kate insisted on helping here too.  #thatswhatcousinsarefor

Getting ready to make a wish!

Let these records note that Kate was looking incredibly gangsta
in her Daddy's sunglasses on the way home.

And also very cute!

Ohh, The Cuteness

Over the last several weeks, I've had a plethora of cute photos that I've taken.  They don't really warrant a post in and of themselves, though I'm sure I could make one about each of them.  I may even have done that if I was more caught up on ... everything.  But I'm not and I want to capture these little moments that make life so worth it.

Kate has loved napping in our bed recently.  I'm not sure how long naps are going to last, but I hope they continue for a while.

So snuggled and cozy!

She has also loved wearing her bathing suits
around.  #pickyourbattles

I've been cherishing the snuggles with these little
toes too.  They already seem to be dwindling.

We did a trial gymnastics class at Wendy's Gymnastics.  Initially Kate was not too interested, but when we left she didn't stop talking about it!  We are so looking forward to a more regular schedule of such a fun class beginning at the end of the month!

That little pony.  Love.

The morning time is some of my favorite time.  Even if my
eldest is wearing a bathing suit!

They are the best sisters!  Kate is the sweetest with Maya and
Maya still looks up to Kate completely!  Two peas in a pod, they are!

Sister snuggles!

Kate has been itching for Spring and insists on
wearing a dress with leggings most days.  Today,
she also donned her summer sandals and a headband
that she wore like a fashion model would a trend.
#threeyearsoldandshealreadyhasmorefashionsensethanme

Recently, Kate has been all about imaginative role play.  I can't tell you how many times I have been called "Beast" while she is Belle or "Prince Eric/Charming" while she is Ariel/Cinderella.  This day she took dress-up to a whole new level by adding gloves.  Because, "that's what Cinderella has...".  Her words.

Oddly enough, Maya is usually the fun-loving sidekick, like Flounder in The Little Mermaid, and Jack is usually the funny animal/pet, like Max in The Little Mermaid or Sven in Frozen.  For some reason, Brian seems to get stuck with the villain role.  He's been an evil step-sister, Anastasia, from Cinderella.  He's been Ursula from The Little Mermaid.  And he's been Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.  I'm not entirely sure he knows his role when it is given to him, but if he finds out he's the bad guy, he strongly petitions to have a character change.

Cinderelly!

More recently, I feel like Maya plays with more non-toys than she does toys.  I give her toys but being as mobile and curious as she is, she much prefers the non-toys.  Today, she was very interested in the items I had in a box to recycle.

You know, just digging through the box.

Ooohh!  A paper towel roll.  She ate a little piece
of that too...  #secondbaby

And jingle bells by the door?!  I live in a fun house!

That smile!  That face!  That little squashed ear!
I just heart her to pieces!

Ok, in a matter of a month Maya has gone from inchworm crawling, to legit crawling, to standing crawling!  Sister Bear is going to be walking before we know it.  #iamsonotreadyforthat

How is this possible?!  I am literally looking for an answer here.

[Cuteness to be continued...]