Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Thing 2's first trip to the ER

I had just gotten back to NC after being back home in VA to do some cleaning up in the house to get it prepped to sell while leaving the kids with Daddy to look after. We're all exhausted and hoping for an uneventful evening. The following are the events as they unfolded.

I was changing Thing 1's diaper and putting her in her pajama while Thing 2 was walking around; Daddy and I were chatting the entire time. Suddenly, Thing 2 approaches Daddy crying with a very small toy in her hand. She coughs and points to her mouth. Instantly, I yelled at Daddy to check her mouth because she is choking. Daddy puts a finger (a pointer finger! I yell at him to use his pinky) in Thing 2's mouth and Thing 2 cries harder. She spits up. By this time, I left Thing 1 diaper-less to rush to Thing 2. I put her on my lap while she cries harder. I am panicked at this time so I shove my pinky down her throat and do a sweep. Thing 2 spits up blood. I continue my sweep down her throat and she cries and turns blue. I sweep with my finger and thought I touched something. I can't get it because she bites me. Daddy then hands me a small toy to put in Thing 2's mouth so as to prevent her from biting me. I yell at Daddy for coming up with a dumb idea. Thing 2 continues to cry but I can't do anything more so I hush her and calm her down and yell at Daddy to call someone.

After a few minutes, Thing 2 calms down. I call our pediatrician back home and spoke with the doctor on call. I described everything that unfolded and she suggests to take Thing 2 to the hospital just to make sure that the toy didn't get in her lungs. So we drive to the hospital and after a total of 2 hours (which isn't bad in terms of ER wait time goes) and xrays, we find out there's nothing lodged in her throat and there is nothing in her tummy. PHEW! But wait, what was all that?? As far as we can figure, the gagging happened after Daddy shoved a big fat finger down her throat. And the spitting the blood by the time I took over was probably due to Daddy's finger nail. Turning blue was probably due to all the shoving of finger we were doing.

Late last night when all are quiet, Daddy and I agreed on a few things: 1-we absolutely do not mind having gone to the ER to be safe rather than sorry. We would spend our life savings to keep our kids safe, though thankfully, our COBRA coverage has already kicked in so we didn't have to and 2-Daddy spazzed out (and he freely admits it) big time!! I am not the only one, ha! But having risen to this occassion, I realize that my trigger is the sight of blood.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Chit-Chatty Thing 2

There has been a lot going on this past few days, with Curious George's party on Saturday and with us finally moving to their Nana's and Papaw's place on Tuesday. Life is very busy and there are a lot of photos/videos to share but just don't have time to do that.

But there is something I'd like to share with Miss Thing 2. She has been chatty this past few weeks. For the past couple of months, she loves to pretend to talk complete with gestures and facial expressions but of course, none of us understand her. In the past few weeks, she's been repeating words, use them regularly and pronounce them clearly. She started with the word "water", "apple", and others I can't seem to recall this very minute.

Yesterday, when I caught her doing something she shouldn't, I told her to stop. She didn't listen. I called her again and then she turned to me and said, "What?" I had to ask Daddy if I heard her correctly. I did. Then when she bumped her head one time, I went to her and asked if she had an owwie and if I needed to kiss it. She rubbed her head and replied, "head hurt, hurt." Her first string of two words!

This evening we went to a church dinner and while charming the folks, she went out to a few people (including me) and said, "what?" in a New Yorkan rudish way.

Chatty little monkey!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday, Curious George!

Yesterday was the big 4 for Curious George. He requested to have pancake for breakfast and requested candles. I wasn't planning on blowing candles because his birthday party is on Saturday. Thankfully, I had left over candles from previous birthdays. Phew! He opened our presents after breakfast and then we headed to the Playroom to have some fun - videos on that to come later.

Words Words and more Words

Lately the twins have been spouting and pontificating more and more. Just some of the recent shenanigans from them are:

Twin 1 frequently calls her sister "Jo" or "Jojo", but twin 2 has not been prone to calling her sister. Just the other day Twin 2 is on the couch when twin 1 climbs off the couch, and she called out "Kagie, you okay?" This was a first in our hearing.

Both twins will now ask if you are okay, usually followed by a pat on the back and a hug.

Twin 2 will try to have a conversation with you, a very animated head shaking arm shaking conversation. She gets very animated, especially if you start talking back. Of course it is usually not understandable but it is cute.

Twin 1 just today has been saying "Matthew go away" and yes it is VERY clear. When I came home from a job fair she wanted a hug, and when Curious George tried to join in, this is when she said it.

Of course curious George got a little out of control due to excitement and decided to push. As I calmly told him not to push, Twin 1 came running up and shaking her finger at her older brother saying "no no no, no pushing".

It is rather amazing to see them grow and start talking like this. It seems only yesterday they were so tiny..

-Daddy

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

the big girls at the big table

The girls recently had their first try at the big table eating meatloaf, and rice. They are truly their mama's daughters. Filipinos eat rice 3x a day, but of course I've been toned down since living in the U.S. I can go for days without rice before I crave it. I wonder if the girls would be the same. Curious George is proving to be the opposite; he doesn't like rice or at least he says he doesn't. Depending on what is with the rice, he says he likes it.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Woman and the Sky

I went out with Curious George this afternoon so he could enjoy the warm day using his bike. He fell once in a while, so I was ready to help him. But I got ahead of myself once and helped before he needed it, and it turned out he didn't need the help. He said, "You don't have to do that, woman!" I cracked up laughing and made Daddy crack up with I told him. It seems I'm not the only one Curious George repeats things from.

One of Curious George's favorite phrase lately is , "the sky told me!" Sometimes we exclaim how smart he is and ask him where he gets things. He has probably heard someone responds, "This guys told me" but substitute sky for guy. :-0

TV TV TV!

Curious George, Thing 2, Thing 1 watching Curious George's favorite, Fireman Sam.


Thing 1 in green, Thing 2 in blue.

And then some horsing around with Daddy. They love being on the floor time. All you have to do is sprawl on the floor, and it's like a magnet!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

at the playground

It is pretty amazing that not 5 days prior, we had 8 inches of snow and now it's 75 degrees! We headed to to park with packed PBJs and allowed the kids to go wiled. This is the twins' first playground experience.

Thing 1 (gray pants) inspects something interesting on the ground, while Curious George and Thing 2 (red pants) follow Daddy.

Curious George shows his "big boy" talents by going up and down the slide by himself. He also found some friends he enjoyed playing with. He kept calling the kid, "boy". "Hey, boy, look at me I can do this!" Daddy had to explain that he must ask the kid's name and call him by his name.

Thing 2 goes under the bridge.

Then the kids enjoyed the swing. And then off for a little hike in the jogging path.







Friday, March 6, 2009

it's just all about the knee

After completing 6 weeks of physical therapy post right knee arthroscopy with bilateral release, I'm still in pain and have a great deal of pain lifting my leg straight up (with knee straight/locked). I saw my orthopedist again a few weeks ago and he said that usually this operation alleviates pain and it doesn't seem to be working so I was referred to a Sports Medicine Ortho. On Wednesday, I had a consult. He said that because there is pain right on the knee that I can't get passed, the physical therapy is not doing it's job of strengthening/developing the quads (thigh muscles). This is important to keep the knee cap where it's supposed to stay. There is definitely more surgery that could be done, but the Sports Medicine Ortho said it's a lot more invasive and more downtime and something that should really be put off after trying other measures.

After x-ray of both knees, he said that the cartilage under both my knee caps are thin, especially the right one. He gave me a cortisone shot on the knee to take the pain away in order for give physical therapy a chance to do it's magic. I agreed that this was the best course of action. I don't really want to have another surgery (cartilage replacement from a cadaver) with our financial future in limbo. The words "knee replacement" were thrown in the discussion, and hopefully I'm many many any years away from that.

I must confess that I never really knew how much pain/discomfort my knee was in until the pain was gone. Halleluiah! Now, I still can't lift my leg straight up because there is still pain and my thigh is very weak. But at least now, the pain is not as intense and I can do more exercise.

I will be doing physical therapy until April at which time, both the doctor and I can discuss whether the physical therapy has done it's magic. If there is improvement, we will continue with the shot and go for more therapy. And if there is no improvement...well. Who knows.

I've been in physical therapy for a total of 6 weeks for both knees pre-surgery and 6 weeks on the right knee post surgery and an additional 4 weeks. Now, with this new course of action, I will have another 4-6 weeks. I tell you, my physical therapist and I are pretty chummy, but apparently, we're going to be even closer.

On to a possibly bad news - my husband and I have decided to elect COBRA coverage. We submitted the application a few days ago, and when that kicks in, we will have the same exact health insurance coverage that is effective the day after his termination of Feb. 6th. I stopped going to PT a week after that because didn't know which route to take with the health insurance. But once we've decided, I kept on seeing other doctors. Yesterday, my husband tells me that should the company (who has already filed for Ch. 11) file for Ch. 7 bankruptcy, there will no longer be COBRA coverage. If that happens, this means that I've been seeing doctors without health insurance. I estimated that we'll already be about $1,500 in the whole, and it's just going to be bigger if I keep going 2x a week for physical therapy.

Do I keep going to therapy even though there is a possibility that we'll have to pay for the treatment out of our own pocket? Or I do I stop now and proceed only when we're certain of the future? Questions, questions. My wonderful hubby thinks I should keep going. I'm pretty much useless if my knee doesn't improve. And the Sports Medicine ortho already said it won't improve on it's own if I don't do anything.

Oh my. And to think I used to think I was as healthy as a horse.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

what does a boogie board and a pizza pan have in common?

As promised, I have videos of Daddy and Curious George enjoying the snow. As I mentioned previously, we don't have any sled. We don't even have proper snow attires, so when we got 6-8 inches of snow yesterday, we had to improvise.

Daddy took his boogie board and wrapped it with a lawn bag and duct tape. After dressing Curious George in 2 pairs of pants, 2 socks, rain boots, and 2 pairs of gloves (his regular fleece gloves and one of my leather gloves over it, that is now trashed), they were off to try the contraption.



Daddy had a hard time here, since Curious George had other ideas. He wanted to shovel the entire backyard, apparently. As you can see, the 'sled' seemed to work OK going up the little hill.



At first it looked like it was going to work, but then again, maybe not. This was funny while I was filming it nice and cozy inside the house. But I tell you, this just gets funnier and funnier every time I watch it!



Then it was the pizza pan's turn. It looks like this was my idea, but really, we have Daddy to thank for it. I just put it into action by handing him the pan. If you're not tearing up laughing hard by this point, you have a serious problem!

Daddy was determined to give Curious George an fun experience and he wasn't going to just give up just because we don't have a sled. Curious George actually had a lot of fun here!

Later that day, I took him out again and tried the cover of the sandbox (thanks to Daddy, again for this ingenious idea), but it still didn't work. The snow was too dry and fluffy and our hill is just too tiny.

Oh, the fun!

Monday, March 2, 2009

the twins' first snow experience

We have about 6-8 inches of snow today so the girls got to experience it for the first time. They almost didn't because they don't have any snow outfits or any other water resistant outfits, but thankfully, I still have Curious George's snow suit from 2 winters ago that he never even got to use.

While Curious George and Daddy were outside, I dressed the girls up one at a time. For shoes, I also found Curious George's rain boots which worked just fine.



Thing 2 was first. The way she just stood on the snow and not know what to do is the cutest thing ever. :-) But as soon as I took her back in, she wailed like she's never wailed before.



After a quick exchange of clothes, it was Thing 1's turn. You can hear Thing 2 throwing a fit in the background. Thing 1's snow experience was a bit shorter than Thing 2 since she's been wheezing lately. The cold makes her wheeze more so we had to be super quick.

I have videos of Curious George and Daddy's attempt to sled, but I will have to post that for tomorrow since it's pretty late. I have an 8am physical therapy appointment tomorrow and I must go to bed. Though more than likely, I may have to cancel. It's going to be super cold and being unstable with a bum knee it's not a good idea to be slippin' and slidin'. We'll shall see.