So I knew I'd slack off

... I just didn't think I'd slack off this soon!  My apologies (especially to Erin, who kicked  me in the ass).  Life has been crazy this past month.  Let me start with my oldest child and work my way down.... So get comfy, grab a drink... Oh hell, you better make a sandwich, we're gonna be here awhile!  Here's a sweet picture of all three kiddos to tide you over as you are forced to read my babbling...  Especially since this is all "blah blah blah... kids kids kids... not too much funny here- but thank god I think I'm over my whole whining about everything phase.  I think.  I make no promises, I'm kind of a crier, sorry.

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TYLER

Tyler spent 2 weeks convinced he was dying.  Literally screaming in pain, clutching his stomach, can't walk/talk/breathe kind of pain.  After 3 doctor's office trips and 2 ER visits, this is what we were told....

"He has a UTI".... but wait, after 3 days of antibiotics and 2 urinalysis, no he doesn't.

"He has a kidney stone"... no, not right either- no stone on ultrasound or xray

"We're calling a surgeon, it's his appendix.  Have dad leave work, we'll be operating within the hour" ... Oh wait- change of plans- with no fever, rebound pain, or abnormal labs, surgery doesn't want to touch him.

"Well, the xray showed he's constipated... Or it might be an intestinal blockage.  Give him miralax- but if he throws up or gets a fever get back here ASAP or he'll die"  Seriously, this is what I was told.

2 days of miralax and one toilet that needed a priest to exercise it before anyone else could use it; things are looking better for Ty.  So apparently he really was full of shit... just like I've been telling him for years!

Through all of this, we learned he has a urethral stricture and will need to have that fixed.  This involved a minor surgery on his penis.  We will try first to do it with a local numbing cream in the office- but if that doesn't work, we'll need to schedule him for outpatient surgery at the hospital.  The procedure will be done in Youngstown (damn insurance issues!) on April 14.  We also learned he has kidney reflux like Tori and I do, but since he's never had a problem, we don't have to treat it- just monitor for now.

So, because I love pictures- here's my Drama King: (he refuses to look at a camera unless threatened with his life)

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Tori

Tori, my beautiful, graceful Tori-bird....  Where to begin?  Princess Grace was jumping on the bed a couple weeks ago.  You know where this is going right?  I mean, you know what happened to the monkeys, don't you?  Yep, fell off the bed.  Right on her pretty, but empty, head.  She had a HUGE lump on her head.  We iced it and sent her to bed.  Kids fall you know?  No big deal.  She kept telling us "things look fuzzy" but, she's dramatic- I kind of ignored her :(  Two days later she got really dizzy and may-or-may-not have passed out in the bathroom, hitting her head on the counter on her way down.  So I call her doctor.  They tell me she needs seen, but they have no appointments.  I take her to Urgent Care- they look at her for about 30 seconds and tell me to take her directly to Children's.  Imagine if you can, 3 kids and one mom- ER waiting room on a Friday night.  It was a good time.  Wait.... I'm confusing myself now.  She ended up going to ER twice for this, and now I'm not sure when the second hit to the head was...  (now which one of us is truly the brain damaged one?)  Anyway, 2 ER visits and one CT scan later showed Miss Tori has no bleeds or fractures- but has a concussion for sure.  We have to follow up with the Head Injury clinic on Tuesday.  She's still occasionally complaining of her head hurting and being dizzy- but I'm confident these things will resolve with a little time.

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Harlow

I've saved the longest for last.  My youngest is ensuring her place as the final baby is secured.  Apparently she doesn't understand that there is less than a 1% chance of her being dethroned- gotta a love a girl who refuses to take any chances!

Feeding therapy is going well.  Her chewing skills have improved, she drinks well from a bottle and is starting to enjoy her food a little.  The weight gain is a slow process, but we're getting there.

We see the gastro doc in a couple weeks to further investigate why eating hurts for Harlow.  Her choking seems to be getting worse, and she's getting this cough that's making me think (hope) it's just reflux.  She gets very congested when she eats, like you can hear her rattling from across the room- so her therapist wants to get an ENT consult as well.  Luckily, thanks to Tori's drama from the Fall we know an excellent ENT.

At her weight check with the pediatrician this week, we discussed her new hernia and her old hip problem.  Doc was irritated I didn't bring her in right away when this abdominal hernia showed up a few weeks ago.  Whatever.  I'm tired and it I didn't think it was an emergency- but I guess I'm a slacker  (as you can tell, I've just been lounging about, eating chocolates- I've got NOTHING going on)  So off to the General Surgery Department we go.  We see them next week- pediatrician told me to expect surgery scheduled pretty quickly after that.

As for the hip, that pesky hip... When Harlow was 6 months old we noticed her left hip popped a lot, and it seemed to hurt her.  They did an xray and said she had some thickening of the bone in the growth plate but it was nothing to worry about- just watch it and see if it improved.  She wasn't crawling yet, so we let it go.  Now, at 13 months, she is crawling and every so often, that leg gives her trouble and she'll stop using it- she's perfected this "tripod crawl" which is super cute, but kind of sad to see that leg just being dragged along for the ride.  98% of the time, she crawls and stands normally, it's just an occasional problem.  So crazy-long-story-short, she is now going to an orthopaedic surgeon to have the hip re-evaluated.  I think that will also be in April- my calendar is in my purse and I can't keep all this shit straight in my head.  I'm hoping she'll be walking soon, but I think she's afraid to- she's pretty smart. Wouldn't eat because it hurt and won't walk until she trusts she won't get hurt.

I had a story about her at Amazone today, but it's taken me over 2 hours just to get this written (I've gotten distracted about 70 times!)  I'll be back- but if I forget, please feel free to yell at me!