Acolyte Sunday

Evan was asked if he was interested into being an acolyte at church. I was surprised that he said yes right away because he really is kind of shy and doesn't like to be the center of attention like an acolyte is at the beginning of the church service! So today was his first day. I swear I think Mike and I were more nervous than he was. He acted as if he's done it a million times. Mike and I teared up. Mom cried.

Hard to imagine that 9 years ago today he had major surgery-at only 4 lbs, his lung was collapsed and a doctor with big man hands went thru his rib cage and put his esophagus back together. Our prayers that day were simple-please God, let him make it through the surgery and maybe, just maybe let him be able to eat by mouth. What a joy it was today to watch him eat at the brunch we went to for Liz's birthday. He had a huge omelette, sausage, shrimp, salad, pasta, cheesecake, etc. I never, ever take any of that for granted.

Happy Birthday Evan!

Yearly picture on the kitchen counter

But it was indeed time. He couldn't stay inside of me one more day. So, inside of waiting until March 3rd or so, he arrived into this world at 11:41 a.m. on January 18th, 2001. Now he's 9!

We had a great weekend. On Saturday we took Evan, Zach and Andrew to Ichiban for lunch. His friends had never been there before so I got a big kick out of watching their faces. They came back to the house for cake and ice cream with Evan's neighborhood friends, Trevor and Cameron. Well, I should say they had the BIG cupcake (as seen on TV)!

Sunday was our family party. Lots of laughing as usual. Evan got the entire Harry Potter book series from Grandma AND two Harry Potter movies from Uncle Jay and Aunt Kate-can you sense a theme here? He loved his Target gift card from Aunt Sissy and Cathy as well as his Star Wars Lego watch from Jack and Cara. He's had it on all day.

Today was nice because it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day so no school. No work for me either. We were able to spend the day together. We went to Tim Horton's for breakfast and then met Mike for lunch at El Vaquero. Too much food this weekend!

(I'm frustrated with the Flip video camera and downloading stuff to this site. I need to take the time to perhaps read some instructions!)

Nine years ago today....

Was the beginning of the end of my pregnancy. I had gone to the ER on Dec. 26th of 2000 with what I thought was an ear infection. My ear hurt so bad that it brought me to tears. They took my blood pressure and it was really high. I was 30 wks pregnant and up until 6 days prior, had had very low blood pressure. I'm surprised they didn't admit that night. Instead, they sent me home. No ear infection. I saw my OB the next day and was told no more work, no more much of anything. I had to buy a blood pressure monitor and take my BP twice a day. I had to see a high risk OB for the rest of my pregnancy. I also had to lie on my left side once a day and count how many times the baby moved in a certain amount of time. Talk about stressful. Then the 24 hour urine tests started the next week to check the level of protein in my urine. I never imagined that I wasn't going to make it to term-the thought of delivery early still never crossed my mind. So, on the morning of January 15th, Mike and I went to my regular OB for a stress test and to deliver my latest 24 urine test. The stress test was fine and I left without knowing the results of the protein test. My parents had come in to town and picked me up. I was going to spend the night in London and go to my dentist the next day. I had on a white t-shirt, black leggings and a big denim shirt of Mike's. Isn't that funny how I remember exactly what I was wearing? We went to the Dutch Kitchen in Plain City for lunch and when we got to their house, I was feeling kind of weird and hit the couch. I think about 4:30 I decided I needed to take my blood pressure. Well, it was the highest it had ever been. About 160/110. I called Mike crying and he in turn called Dr. Essig, my regular OB. He said that I HAD to go to OSU Medical Ctr. right now. So, my mom and dad got back in their van and drove me back to Columbus where Mike met us. In the ER my BP was 180/110. They took me right up to Labor and Delivery and I didn't leave the hospital until January 21st. Turns out that the urine test I had just taken and delivered that morning was, in their terms, "spilling" protein. If I hadn't called the doctor's office, they would of called me. At that point we were dealing with preeclampsia. They stuck a catheter in me, said I couldn't get out of bed and started me on magnesium sulfate, something to help prevent seizures so they would have time to give me the steroid shots that would help Evan's lung in case of early delivery. The resident on call told me it would make me feel like I had a bad case of the flu. Well, let me tell you. I've never had a flu that has made me feel as though I was paralyzed! It got to a point where I couldn't move my limbs. Anyhow, so it began. The next two days were somewhat of a blur. I couldn't get comfortable. I couldn't read, watch TV, etc. Mom and Mike took turns staying with me. Mom had to call all my friends and tell them my baby shower, scheduled for January 20th, was going to be postponed. (I never had it). The main goal of the next couple days was to get my pressure down and keep him in there as long as possible but there were no guarantees that anything would work. We were scheduled that week for a tour of the maternity floor-surprise,we were there! I was suppose to go visit a pediatrician's office. I didn't have time to be in the hospital! I still really didn't think this would be the week that Evan would be born. I thought they'd get things under control and that maybe I'd go home or just stay in the hospital until his due date in March. Well, by Tuesday night (I was admitted Monday), they talked about trying to induce me. They used some type of suppository that ended up not working AT ALL. I thought, see, it's not time and my body knows it. Unfortunately, by Wednesday night, the decision was made to deliver via c-section on Thursday morning. They were not able to control my blood pressure and things were getting critical. I did receive the steroid shots for his lungs and was told his weight was good so everything should be fine. I remember Dr. Essig being at the foot of my bed telling me he had to come out and I just cried and said it's not time, it's not time......

Today

Evan and I went to the gas station, Kohl's to return something and McDonalds. That's it. Nothing too exciting. However, when we got home he said "Mom, I like spending time with you". I know I won't hear that too much longer. Then we got home and played with the Wii together (Mike went to see Avatar) and he said it again. Awww. He kills me. He's so full of love.

Happy New Year!

Random photo of Evan sleeping on Grandma last week

No resolutions for this girl. I'm just going to continue my quest to be healthier at 50 than I was at 40. Three more years to work on that! I'm also taking time this year to purge from each room of my house including closets with the grand finale being my basement. The basement is too overwhelming as is the house so if I say I am going to do one room at a time, then for some reason it seems more manageable. Today I cleaned under the hutch and the server in the dining room. Wow. All I can say is that it's been a long time since I've really looked to see what's under there. One treasure I came across was a letter that we received around the holidays in 2001. 2001 was a rough year for us not only because of dealing with Evan's birth and medical issues but it was hard on us financially. I had to quit my job when Evan came home from the hospital because we had no nursing when he came home and even after we got some hours, it wasn't enough for me to work. You can't just take a trached kid to daycare. Anyhow, I got the mail one day and opened this letter:

Michael, Anne and Evan,

Hello. We don't really know each other. We have heard about your sick little boy and thought you wouldn't mind a little extra money.

We don't need a thank you as we just want you to know there are people out there pulling for you and your little boy. Big and small miracles happen every day.

We found some money in a card for someone on our road one day and could never track down the sender or who it was meant for. So we just kept it until we heard of someone that may be able to use it. We don't know your financial situation but just assumed we may have a few medical and assorted extra bills for Evan. Otherwise, take yourselves out for a fun night or some new clothes!

We wish you the best of luck with Evan. You sound like wonderful parents and he sounds like a real cutie. He has a great smile-we laughed at the photo with the fez.

We'll keep you all in our prayers,

Your anonymous friends

The envelope contained $200. No return address. The postmark was from Steubenville OH and to this day, I still don't know anyone from Steubenville. Obviously they knew someone that knew us. What a blessing that money was, especially at Christmastime. What a gift it was for me to find the letter today.