When it rains, it pours......

or as my sister-in-law says,

"At your house it's raining cats and dogs, and they're rabbid and diseased!"



After this week I think she's right!! Robert hurt his arm last weekend and had to have an MRI. On Wednesday we got the results back, he needs extensive surgery, He has torn his rotator cuff, bisep tendon and his labrum. (I don't even know what a labrum is, but I think it's important !) he will be out of work for at least a week, his arm will be imobilized for 6 weeks and he will have 8 weeks of rehab after that. So we're trying to figure out the logistics of how this will all work. We will know more details when he goes to the orthopedic surgeon this week. That night (after hearing Robert's health news) I noticed that Gavin felt like a little fire ball. So we took his temp. It was 101.7. I actually couldn't remember the rules of temperatures for babies that are 4 weeks old so I called the Dr. To get the dosage of tylenol. The Dr. was out of town so we called the on call dr. He said to go in right away to the ER. Babies this small can't have Tylenol. Also, babies this young do not get temperature this high unless their is some kind of infection. Apparantly anything over 100.4 is noteworthy for an infant. (I have never had a newborn with a fever before) So I bundled up the baby and off we went. Of course it took 1 1/2 hours to be seen in the ER. by now it was 10pm and they weren't sure what was wrong with him so it was decided that he had to have a full work up. This includes a spinal tap, blood work, IV, chest X-ray, and a cathetar. They actually worked pretty quickly getting the tests administered. The IV was a little much for me to watch. They had to call special people in to give it. They had a hard time getting it in, (his veins being so small) So when the spinal tap came around I opted to leave, by this time I had to go get a COKE. I was tired and needed some comfort!! So Robert and I went to go get a drink. They came and got us a little while later and said he cried alot. Also, they had to do 2 because his first one was contaminated with blood. By now it was midnight and we were told that he has a UTI that was pretty severe-let me add here that I didn't even know that babies could get a UTI. HE was given antibiotics via an IV. We were told at 1am that we would be admitted and so Robert left to go home and I stayed. Babies this little have to be observed closely because they can get septic really easy and babies do not handle UTI's very well. We were given our room at 2:24am. Gavin at this point was pretty lifeless. He didn't really move and he didn't even really cry. They were worred that the UTI was a secondary condition and we had to wait for the culture of his spianal tap to come back. It was checking for meningitis. Long story short, Gavin was in the hospital for almost 2 days. He is much better. He does not have meningitis and he is on a oral med for his UTI. Apparantly it is VERY RARE for a little boy to have a UTI so we will be back in the hospital later this month for Gavin to have some tests done to see if his bladder is backing up into his kidney's. I was so worried about my baby! The first morning in the hospital was pretty dark-not knowing the results of the tests. I really appreciate my ward here. My friends rallied to my side. They swooped in and helped my family with food and babysitting. They dropped by for visits and lifted my spirits. And don't forget the phone calls! Yes, it counts ladies. I appreciate all of them. It was special to because I don't have family nearby who I could call on. So yes, I feel blessed today!



like I said, this is a long week for us. Don't forget the suicidal man we found earlier this week. I can't believe that this has all happened in one week. It is overwhelming. it is craziness. but I do feel a sense of peace and composure. I think that it is not the trials we get but how we choose to handle them. Hopefully I can handle them with dignity and grace. Hopefully I don't complain to much!

I thought this was hilarious, he finally found his thumb. He liked sucking it but hated that his other fingers kept stabbing his eye.




I love it that he sleeps with such abandon. If you look closely you can see that his eyes are still red and puffy from this weeks events!