My dad, St. Vincent's and the poopy diaper

My dad had to go to the ER at St. Vincent's yesterday. He had 6 bypasses on his heart before Tucker was born, and has since had another bad heart attack last year, around this same time, that we were afraid he was not going to make it out of. So, when he felt some bad chest pains Monday, he was wondering if they might be indigestion, but called his cardiologists office just to check. Dad had undergone a stress test the week before and evidently the doctor's office had left him a message at home to let him know that he needed to call the office to be admitted, because they had found an irregularity on the left side of his heart. He thought the nurse told him to take an ambulance to St. Vincent's ER, but what she meant was, to get to the office, which is across the street from the hospital, as soon as possible because they needed to make sure he wasn't having a heart attack. Long story short, his enzyme levels from the ER came back negative for the enzymes that are present when there has been a heart attack, so it was probably just indigestion. However, because he went to the ER, they admitted him into the hospital and put in him on the no eating or drinking after midnight because he would have the cathertisation the next day. He didn't have it done until around 5:30 this afternoon, and thank the good Lord above, it only showed that his arteries were narrowed in places. He thinks that they are just going to adjust his medication.

Funny and crazy part of the day was that I had both my cell phone and my home phone in the bathroom with me this morning when I decided I should take a shower. Connor was amusing himself with cars on the bathroom tile and I was in the middle of shaving my legs when the house phone rang. I jumped out of the shower, water, shaving cream and all to answer the phone thinking it was my dad telling me that they were about to take him for the cathertisation. It turned out to be the nurse at Tucker's school. Tucker had a rash on his face, arms, and legs and she was afraid he was having an allergic reaction to something. I told her that he had just started taking Stratterra two weeks ago for ADD and that might be the problem. She urged me to get there as soon as possible. I turned around to get back into the shower to finish shaving my leg, and wash the conditioner out of my hair and who is standing in the shower? Connor, pjs and all, smiling and saying, "sower too, sower too." I had no choice at that point but to strip him down and bath him as well. We got out and got dried off, I put a diaper and clothes on him and sat him in front of the tv in our bedroom to watch Bear in the Big Blue house. I attempted to put on some make up because I knew that I would have to either go straight to the pediatrician's office or straight to the hospital to see my dad. Finally, I was almost ready when the nurse called again and wanted to know how much longer I was going to be. I was thinking, "Sheesh woman! I am trying my darnedest to get out of the house as fast as I can." We got to the school and I realized Connor had no shoes.

I checked Tucker out, called his doctor, they said to bring him in immediately and to give him benadryl. I ran by the house to get Conman some shoes, and grabbed a different shirt off of the drying rack to put on thinking it was dry. It wasn't, but I thought it was at least halfway dry. It wasn't, so I was stuck wearing a wet shirt and then went to the pediatricians office. The parking lot was so packed that i drove around 4 times and couldn't find a spot. They share an office building with a bank, and evidently the bank customers were taking up the spaces. So, I called the doctor's office and told them that i would keep an eye on Tucker's rash after the benadryl had time to work and go on to see my dad in the hospital. We got to the hospital and I loaded Connor into the stroller, argued with Tucker to put his jacket on, and freezing in my wet shirt went to see my dad. St. Vincent's is a confusing hospital, but thankfully I had Tucker there, and new my way around pretty good. We got into daddy's room and had not been there ten minutes when I started smelling what I thought was somebody letting one rip. I looked at my dad, and asked, "Is that you?" He laughed and said "no, I think Connor has a stinky." BAM! It dawned on me that I had not packed his diaper bag and had no diapers.

I will conclude here, with saying that I ended up taking a 30 min trip around St. Vincent's hospital in search of diapers, and almost had to pay 6.00 for a tiny pack of convenience diapers which consisted of two diapers of indeterminable quality or size, a tiny thing of wipes and some diaper cream. I was in line to buy them when a SWEET mom behind me said, "Do you need diapers? You can have two of mine." She reached into her sons stroller and gave me two huggies and I have never wanted to kiss someones feet so much in my life! Thankfully I had some wet wipes in my purse so we made it fine.



Please pray for my friend and her husband tomorrow, and for my sweet Daddy to get home tomorrow with no complications from the procedure today.



Love to all,

April

Sad news for my friend

If you read my posts earlier in the month I asked for prayer for Amanda and Craig Snead, and their 2 week old baby girl Addie. She and her twin sister Catie were born with Trisomy 13 disorder. Catie passed away after only 9 days, but Addie made it until this past Saturday. I had no idea as I had not heard from Amanda in a few days. My friend Christine called me today to tell me the news. The family is holding visitation tomorrow in Gadsden at Collier Butler funeral home from 11-1 pm. the funeral will be at 1:00. Please pray for Amanda, Craig, Wilson (3 year old son), and Amand and Craig's parents as they grieve. Life is so precious, and it breaks your heart when you see it taken away so quickly.

Another note

In my previous post I mentioned how upset I am at Tucker's ADHD diagnosis and how I try to remind myself that the small bumps I encounter on this road of life, are nothing compared to the sink holes that others find themselves in from time to time. I have learned through life experiences that if you don't appreciate every single thing that you have been blessed with, or start taking credit for what you have, or complain about what you don't have, God will give you a good kick in the pants. He is merciful, and thankfully, He sent his son to die for our sins. However, Jesus' sacrifice does not keep God from giving us gentle reminders on a daily basis that He is in control. He is our Father after all, and He is the one who wrote the words, spare the rod, spoil the child.
On the flip side, He takes care of us even when we don't ask him to or feel as though we don't need His help. I had a difficult childhood in some ways, and when I went to college and after graduation, I rebelled against God and what I knew to be the right path. Now that I am older, and look back, I can see where God was with me in some of my darkest moments. He held the steering wheel for me on the nights I drove back and forth from Gadsden to Birmingham when I couldn't see the road through my tears because my mother was dying in the hospital. (Praise God she didn't). He kept me from killing myself with alcohol on the nights that I went out with my friends and downed a bottle of tequila plus who knows how many more beers. He kept the boys that I thought that I loved out of my life so that I would come back to Him through the godly man that He sent to marry me. I especially felt his hands on me when Connor was in the NICU for 14 days. Through Connor's experience, I changed my attitude toward life and what it really meant to be a disciple for Christ. I still slip up from time to time, well, a lot of the time, but for the most part I try to do as Jesus would do, when I am dealing with people or situations. I am not taking credit for any of my actions, I just write that to say, that God works in every facet of our lives especially when we feel that he is further away from our hearts than he has ever been before. We are His children, and no matter how hard we push him away, he never leaves us, even when we blame him for what has gone wrong in our lives.

I don't know why I was led to write this tonight, but maybe there is someone who is reading this post who feels separated or abandoned by God right now, and this will help them. The poem Footprints has been in my mind a lot lately and I will post it here:

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."
Mary Stevenson

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!

Due to the rain, Tucker's last two soccer games have been cancelled. They are making up one of the games this Tuesday which rocks, because I will be able to see him play.
This week was not a good one for our household. Not one thing in particular, just a series of unfortunate events. Tucker was officially diagnosed by Dr. Joe as having ADHD with anxiety. Tucker did really well in his interview with Dr. Joe, and the doc was very impressed with his intelligence and his vocabulary. He seems to think that once he gets his attention deficit under control, he will do extremely well in school. I have mixed feelings about Tucker's diagnosis. On one hand, I am glad that they make a medicine that can help kids with ADD. Tucker is bright, he does very well in math, but when it comes to memorizing the stupid sight words that the school system requires kindergartners to do now, it is tough on him. We were working on his sight words the other night, before his appointment, and he broke down in tears because he was so frustrated. He would know three whole pages of words one time, then two seconds later he could only remember half of them and it was because Connor was making noises in the next room. I have ADD too, however mine went undiagnosed, so I understand his frustration. I told him that there is a light switch in his brain that shuts off on him when he gets distracted by things going on around him. This explanation made him feel better, especially when I told him that his mommy had the same faulty light switch. Brad thinks that I am too easy on him, but when he broke down in front of me the other night, I put all 57 pounds of him in my lap and held him like a two year old until he calmed down. It is so sad to see your child upset by something that is totally out of his control.
On the other hand it makes me so sad to think that he will be on medication now. Dr. Joe prescribed Strattera, which is a non-amphetamine ADHD drug that helps more with the anxiety that comes as a side affect of the disorder. The side effects of Strattera are a lot less severe than with Ritalin or Adherol. His appetite should not be affected, but he has to take his pill with his dinner because it can cause an upset stomach as well as drowsiness. So far, his stomach has been okay, but he told me that he is sleepy by the end of the day at school. It takes two weeks for Strattera to get into his system, and until then, we really won't know if it is helping with the ADHD or not. I met with his teacher, who is WONDERFUL, the day after his appointment with Dr. Joe. Our parent teacher conference just happened to be scheduled that day. She was happy that Tucker was going to be on medicine, because like me and Dr. Joe, she can see his potential but knew that the ADHD was holding him back and frustrating him.

So, that has gotten me down a little bit this week. However, one of my dearest friends in the world lost her 9 day old baby three weeks ago. The baby's name was Catie, and she has a twin sister who is still in the NICU at Children's hospital. Amanda's situation is so much more than what mine is, and what she is going through is a reminder that we need to take life for what it is and never, ever take a single moment for granted. Some of my hardest days, do not compare with a good day for some people who have dealt with so much more heartache in their lives. Please pray for Miss Addie, and Amanda, Craig and Wilson. Pray for God to continue to give them strength during these days, and to hold them up when they can't seem to stand any longer.