Well these past 2 weeks have been very hectic! My birthday and fostering anniversary was on November 25th. I still have a hard time believing I've been on this roller coaster of a journey for a year now. It has definitely been one of the most blessed years of my life so far.
My birthday started off pretty well. My 11 month old foster son, baby J, was cleared of any developmental delays that he was diagnosed with when I received him in July! Best birthday news I have ever received! We have definitely been working hard towards that goal and I really didn't think we could accomplish it so fast. The rest of the day was spent in a car on our way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a family Thanksgiving with my wonderful boyfriend's family. We had an amazing trip and visit with his family. I even got Black Friday shopping for the kids done. I did not go out during the early morning madness. I waited until almost noon and still got almost everything on my list.
Most of Saturday was spent in the car on the way home from Iowa and baby J started to not feel very well. I just figured he was tired of being in the car for so long. We spent most of Sunday in bed resting and hoping baby J would start feeling better by Monday. Unfortunately, both of the boys weren't 100% on Monday, so my mom watched Caden so I could go into work and get some things done. I brought baby J with me and wrapped him on my back for his nap while I worked. He slept great for about 2 hours and I finished most of my work in that time but when he woke up, I knew something was not right. I laid him down to change his diaper and he had a seizure. I rushed him straight to the ER. After spending many hours in the waiting area, the doctor finally saw us, They had a very hard time getting a vein to draw a blood sample for testing. It took 3 nurses to finally get a good vein and draw some blood. The tests came back okay so they sent us home with instructions to go see the Pediatrician in the morning.
Tuesday morning started off pretty normal. I got up and ready for work, then woke up Caden and got him ready for school. Baby J slept in, which was not unusual because he was sick. When I woke him up and laid him down to get dressed and ready for the day, something wasn't right. He had a blank look on his face and then had another seizure. When it was done, I sat him up and he threw up and it had some blood in it. I rushed him to the ER again and ended up getting pulled over for speeding. The officer followed me to the ER to make sure we got there okay. This time, the nurses got us back almost immediately. The doctor came in within a few minutes. After some discussion between nurses and doctors, they decided that we needed to be transferred to the Children's hospital in Tulsa. While we waited for the transfer, the nurse told us that an IV was going to be put in, It took 6 nurses and over 30 mins to try and get a good vein, After blowing 2, they decided to stop and have one final nurse come in and try. After only 5 mins, she got a good vein and the IV set up, But they didn't give him any fluids through the IV. I guess they were waiting until we got to Tulsa. It took the ambulance almost 2 hours to finally arrive to transfer us. Once we got to Tulsa, things went pretty smoothly. The doctors came in and discussed what was going on and the tests they needed to do, The process was pretty lengthy. I was told nothing about how long we would stay but we ended up staying the night. I had to leave Wednesday to go to work and my mom stayed with baby J. They took a few more tests and released him on Wednesday evening with instructions to follow up with his pediatrician on Monday.
Now comes the BIG news! During everything else going on, I heard back from my caseworker and I had been approved to move into the Methodist Children's home to an open 5 bedroom house. My mom decided that since we had available workforce (my brother, nephews, friends, and boyfriend) over the weekend, we should move everything in 3 days. So Thursday while I was at work, they started cleaning and moving. We worked all day Friday and Saturday packing and moving. We got everything but one final load moved by Saturday evening. I was so very stressed but grateful to my wonderful friends and family for working so hard to help me get all moved in,
Early Sunday morning at 2 A.M., there was a little too much excitement when my brothers trailer, which was hooked to my dads truck, was struck by a drunk driver. The truck was parked in front of my parents house. It was pretty damaged but thankfully my boyfriend saw the accident and got the car description so they found the car and impounded it. We managed to still be able to use the trailer for the one last load on Sunday.
Monday was pretty eventful. I had some help unpacking in the morning and I got one side of the house unpacked and set up. At baby J's doctors appointment he had a few more health concerns so we need to keep him out of daycare for the rest of the week. My wonderful mother is helping watch him so I can still go to work. Monday evening I finished some baby proofing around the house and my goal is to be completely unpacked and set up by this coming Monday for a house inspection. I am hoping and praying that I can take another foster child in time for Christmas. I will be back to update again next week! Prayers for peace while unpacking and health for baby J are much appreciated.
