Chaos at the Kings

The month of October has really been a difficult one from the beginning. It started with a tragic event in the life of a dear friend of my brother's family in Texas (Oct. 2nd). Her 21-month-old child wandered into the backyard and got entangled in a soccer net to the point of strangulation. After several days in the hospital with little brain activity, he passed away (Oct. 6th). All week long we prayed and hoped for good news, but, alas, Heavenly Father had other plans. I feel such sorrow for that dear mother who lost her little child to a tragic accident. I know that Heavenly Father will make all things right in the end, but it sure is hard to have that perspective during such grief.

The following week (Oct. 8th), Caleb was diagnosed with a hydrocele, which is a fluid-filled sac that surrounds a testicle, causing scrotal swelling. It's caused by a hole in the abdominal wall. Most of the time, baby boys are born with it and it resolves itself by the end of the first year. But other times, it just occurs in older children, and when that is the case, surgery is required to fix the problem. The day after we found out what it was (Oct. 9th), the swelling got much worse, so we took him to the ER in case a hernia had developed. It hadn't, and we were relieved. However, I believe the ER trip brought the sickness into our house that has stayed for the last few weeks.

Two days after the ER visit (Oct. 11th), Caleb came down with a stomach bug. He threw up a couple times and spent the day dozing, either in his bed or on the couch. He also had a fever of 102 almost all day long. By Friday (Oct. 12th), he seemed much better, so we went ahead and celebrated his birthday as previously planned. But because he'd been sick, we didn't take him to church on Sunday. Travis still had a respiratory infection that had started at the end of September, so he stayed home as well.

On Monday, the 15th, Caleb had an appointment with the pediatric urologist. We were all planning on going to that, just so Corey and I could both be present to hear his assessment and ask our questions. Unfortunately, Westley came down with the stomach bug that day and had a few bouts of throwing up. So Corey stayed home with him and Travis, and I took Caleb to his appointment. At the appointment, we scheduled the surgery for a week later. Boy, that appointment seems ages ago now.

Tuesday the 16th was Caleb's birthday, but since we celebrated it the previous Friday, we didn't do anything really. Then on Wednesday, the 17th, Travis started throwing up. I had to monitor him carefully since he is transitioning from bottle to cup and not doing well with that. He's had a hard time getting enough fluids down because he refuses the cup and now the bottle too. I finally figured out that he will drink from a regular water bottle with help and a regular cup.

On Thursday morning, when Corey called me from school, he wasn't feeling well. He got sick with a respiratory infection on September 22nd and still hadn't fully recovered. But this time he was complaining of stomach upset and feeling like he had to throw up. By the time I talked to him again later in the day, he seemed to be feeling less like that. He still has a bad cough from his respiratory infection.

So we come to Friday, the 19th. Everyone seemed well, so I took the boys to playgroup. Later that day, however, Westley started throwing up and having diarrhea again. He had a really bad night where he was up a lot so finally we pulled a mattress into our room and he slept there with me in the bed and Corey on the couch. Travis had a bad night that night as well, and I couldn't get him back to sleep when he woke up around 4:30 a.m. Corey went to work on Saturday, and Westley slowly seemed to get to feeling better. I picked up some Pedialyte at the store as well as some more cleaning supplies and I disinfected the whole house--doorknobs, telephones, light switches, etc. I aired out the boys' bedroom and cleaned the bunk bed frame with Clorox wipes. I changed all the sheets and pillowcases and even washed all the boys' blankies and lovies. I thoroughly cleaned the bathrooms--sinks, counters, toilets, floors, tubs, and mirrors. And then I went through the house and cleaned every surface I possibly could think of that the boys had touched a lot--the refrigerator door, the garbage can, the bookshelves, the crib, the dressers, etc.
On Sunday, we all stayed home from church to recuperate and to not spread the illness. Also, I didn't want Caleb to get sick since he was having surgery on Monday. We went Sunday afternoon to my parents' house in Mesa (closer to the hospital and the surgery was scheduled for 7 a.m.). On Monday the 22nd, we got up and took Caleb to his surgery. I wasn't feeling very good, but I'd gotten little sleep the night before and thought maybe I was just hungry.

Caleb's surgery went well, except for the waking up part. He didn't handle that well. The anaesthesia made him nauseated and he threw up, plus he had been given an epidural and couldn't feel his legs. I think it was a bit scary for him.

I, on the other hand, ended up with a major stomach bug. I spent the rest of the day throwing up and laying in bed with massive stomach pain. By midnight, I was so sick I required a trip to the ER to get fluids. Because I was so dehydrated, I'd started having regular contractions, which wasn't good because I'm only 33 weeks along. But after spending the night in the ER, with my mom by my side (Thank you!), I got to feeling MUCH better.

Hopefully, that is the end of all the sickness and chaos for a while. I wish I could say for good, but that's not how life works, is it?