but wait...there's more!

If I believed in "jinxes" I would say that I jinxed myself/my family by posting about our recent ailments. Perhaps it could really be attributed to my claiming God's power over our circumstances and the enemy not liking it...well, I still feel God's hand over us despite more injury.

Yesterday I woke feeling better, but still sluggish. I knew I didn't have the energy (especially since I hadn't eaten all day prior) or will power to get the boys dressed and out the door for my Bible study. I was worried that when we got there I'd end up getting sick again and nobody wants that to happen in public! Anyway, we did end up driving down the block (boys in their pi's) to my neighborhood friend Amy's house. It was a really nice break actually, the boys played so nice together for quite a while. 

Anyway, at one point Des was in my lap and I was touching his hair and felt a weird hard spot. I looked at it and he had a lot of dried blood caked in his hair! He wouldn't let me clean it and was acting fine (and rather energetic) as usual so I decided to wait til we got home. Later I was able to clean it better and when I got the hair off the cut I could see how bad it was, and it wasn't pretty. 

The night before Desmond and Malakai had been wrestling and Kai was on top of Des at one point on our laminate floors. Des fell back and his his head from less than a foot off the ground. From where I was it looked like he just hit the floor. Looking back he was way too upset for what I thought had happened. He was in front of our entertainment center, so he must have caught his head on the corner. Somehow between then and the hour before putting him to bed we didn't notice it. His hair must have hid it or it healed over and then reopened in his sleep and his hair stuck to it. Either way, Ben + I felt like terrible parents for not realizing he was hurt! 

I called the doctor and they couldn't figure out just over the phone if he would need stitches. Since it bled again after I got the hair off of it, they thought he should be seen. I got in on a cancellation that afternoon and headed over, but by then it had dried up again and stopped bleeding. Thankfully he didn't need any stitches and they barely touched it (I was prepared for the worst- having to restrain him for stitches). I did however have to also explain the giant gash in his tongue and how it was from a separate incident on the same day. Kiddo had a rough one, mama too. It was embarrassing, but I'm assuring myself injuries like this are normal from rowdy boys of this age and I need to not beat myself up over it. 

He's so resilient, all we need to do is not get it wet so it will heal and let him be. He  is acting completely normal, just as rambunctious as ever. 

I've got new meds that aren't as strong, but will hopefully rid me of this sinus infection for good so I can move on and we can hopefully all be healthy for a while. Now- to break up the boys from hitting each other before someone gets hurt...again. 

Kai's 1st ER trip...

A while back we had taken Kai in to urgent care for a sprained ankle, but we haven't had any issues since then. Saturday we had no obligations to do anything or be anywhere, so we decided to go watch the game at Ben's parents' place. When Kai got out of the car he tripped and fell onto the pavement, picked himself up and then fell again. He said he was okay and played pretty rough in the backyard afterward so we didn't worry about it.

Later the boys took a laundry basket ride through the house and almost tipped over, and Kai stretched out his arm. Then he yelled out in pain and we were frantically trying to figure out what was wrong. His arm was red and he had a small scratch so we thought maybe he scraped it on the basket. However, he was crying our periodically and he isn't usually that sensitive. We chalked it up to missing his nap earlier, but as I watched him he wasn't using his left arm at all.

{trying to cheer him up: Vanessa + David playing with glow bracelets}

I decided to call our pediatrician's office and speak with a triage nurse. She gave us some instructions to check for a dislocated shoulder or elbow but Kai wouldn't let us move him enough to really tell. When we touched him, he'd scream. So the nurse said to take him into the ER to get checked out.

Since we were away from home and it was bedtime for Desmond we decided that Ben would drop Des and I off at home and he would take Kai in. It killed me to not go and later when Kai was crying for me, I called Ben's brother David and his girlfriend Vanessa on their offer to stay with Des so I could go.

{in the waiting room with Daddy. in the exam room with Grandma}

By the time I got there I had missed the X-Ray they decided to do (because of where he claimed the pain was) and the repair of what ended up being "nursemaid's elbow" Something we didn't really expect because of where he was saying it hurt and that nobody had touched him. Apparently he had jolted it just right when on his laundry basket ride. It's amazing to me that something so small caused this issue after all the crazy falls he has had with no injury (boys!). The doctor set it before I got there and I came in to a different child. He was smiling, eating a popsicle, and using his left arm like nothing had happened. Although, he was very sleepy.

Ben and I traded places and as he headed home to Desmond, I waited with Kai and Grandma Debbie (who was visiting while on shift at the hospital) for our discharge papers. When they came the nurse joked for Kai to sign and he grabbed the pen and scribbled on the line. She was pretty surprised and it made her night. That's my funny boy!

As we were leaving the parking lot Malakai told me "That was a really nice doctor. We had a fun time." (for more quotes like this, follow @kaithoughts on instagram). He clearly wasn't traumatized by the experience, thankfully. He fell asleep about halfway home and snoozed peacefully all night.

{still wearing his glow sticks}

We are so thankful that it was a quick fix and that we don't have to deal with a 3 year old in a cast...not yet anyway!

injury at the dr's office...

Yesterday afternoon Kai + I went in for my 34 week appointment. We're going every two weeks now, soon it'll be every week! On the way there my upper back was feeling a bit tight but since I was driving I couldn't do much about it. I resolved to try to stretch when I parked.

When we got there I grabbed the stroller out of the trunk, hoisted my 32lb. (at least!) son into it and started to push him toward the building. Then a rather alarming and incredibly sharp pain stabbed through my upper ribs and right shoulder blade. It hurt to push the stroller or have my purse on my arm. I put my purse on the stroller and pushed mostly with my left arm as much as I could. I struggled through checking in and all that entails and then sat to wait.

As I sat in the waiting room, the pain intensified and I was holding back tears. I'm normally fairly tolerant to pain, even at somewhat extreme levels, but this was taking me by surprise. I could hardly move my right side and being alone with my two year old I wasn't quite sure what to do. I texted Ben to pray for me and tried to relax, hoping it would let up by the time the nurse called me back. Just a few minutes later, my name was called.

I told my OB's nurse what was going on and asked if she would mind pushing Kai's stroller into the exam room for me. She was very sweet and helpful, even as Kai screamed for her to stop pushing...he has moments where only one specific person pushing the cart/stroller makes him happy. That was fun.

As I waited for my doctor in the exam room I realized that there was no way I'd be able to get Malakai back into the car to head home. I didn't know what I was going to do, so I texted Ben.  Thankfully he only had another 30 minutes of work, so he left early and met me in the exam room. He got there just in time to hear baby brother's heartbeat with us. Baby is doing just fine and other than what is most likely a separated rib, everything is normal for me as well. Dr. M recommended heat and prescribed some muscle relaxers that are safe during pregnancy, just in case.

Once we got home the pain started to ease up from a sharpness to a dull ache. It almost feels bruised now. I don't plan on taking any meds unless absolutely necessary to function, so here's hoping that some heat and some rest (which is really hard for me) will do the trick. I tend to go about my regular business once the pain lets up and then make things worse. It's hard to rest or even be on "light duty" staying home with a toddler! Hopefully my husband's disapproval will ring in my head all day today and I'll remember to be careful and take it easy.