Spring Break

Spring Break was full of activities. Saturday the Bedrick family came over to visit for a couple of hours while they were in town. It was so nice to see them again..Tanya and I have been friends since 5th grade and it's so fun to see our kids play together now and I wish she would move here. About an hour after they left my cousin arrived to stay overnight with us. We actually made it back to church Saturday evening...oh, how I missed it.

Sunday I offered to watch my cousin's daughter, Mya, while she went to Six Flags to be a kid again. ;) We played and played. I did think about how it would be if Autumn was not disabled...it saddened me because Gage had such a great time playing with Mya but it was also nice not having to deal with toddlers fighting over toys and chasing and picking up after 2 little ones. ;) I decided to give all 3 kids a bath together that evening. They had a blast!

Autumn LOVES her bathtime and laughs when she splashes

Monday morning Autumn had physical therapy but she was up in the middle of the night so she was not ready to wake up early. I was able to get her all dressed and fix her hair while she slept.

After therapy I took all 3 kids to the grocery store...it was the first time Autumn has ever been in a grocery store and for me to take all 3. Madison pushed Autumn in the stroller while I shopped. It all went well except that I spent $100 more having the kids with me picking out things.

Since the shopping trip went so well and Madison was being a big help and in a good mood (this a rare with Madison) I decided we would join my cousin and go to the Children's Aquarium in Dallas. This is where our week of line standing began. ;) The line to get in was only about 15 mins. This was my first time to this aquarium and it we had a great time. It was small but fun.

They have a Stingray area where you can touch the small stingrays as they swim by and the kids loved this. I did too but had Autumn in one hand so I could not participate long. They also have a great shark tank with large stingrays as well. Autumn really enjoyed the aqaurium and loves looking at the fish swim around...I think it was her favorite activity of the week. I think it was mine as well. I wanted to be a marine biologist, zoologist, or animal trainer when I was younger but my life took a different direction when I became pregnant with Madison. I become a kid again at these places and could go to them everyday and not get tired of them.

My cousins, Kyla and Mya at the aqaurium with us

Tuesday I had a day nurse so Madison watched the other kids so that Jen and I could
go get pedicures. It was so nice to get pampered. Later that afternoon we all (my 5, Jen plus kids, and Jordyn) headed off to Six Flags for the evening. Wow, it was SO crowded! The kids each rode about 3 rides in 5 hours.

Dean (my nephew) kept making Autumn laugh.

Madison, Jordyn, and Haley

I forgot to add the picture of us up in the Oil Derrick..James and I took Gage, Dean, and Autumn up and they loved seeing all the night lights of Dallas.

Wednesday we planned on hitting the zoo but heard how busy they are on Wednesdays so we decided to take a day of rest and wait until Thursday for the zoo. I'm glad we waited because Tuesday wore Autumn out and she decided to let her ventilator do all her breathing for her that night.

Thursday we were all rested up again and headed to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was STILL insanely busy. Crowds take away the fun of the zoo because we stood in line to see each animal. Autumn was only interested in keeping her stroller hood over her to block the sun and cared less to see any animals. It was Saint Patrick's Day so we were all in our green except for Madison. We took a couple of pics but did not get more because even to get pictures would be a line. It was crazy!

Friday we packed up a picnic lunch and headed to the Dallas Arboretum. It was so beautiful and also crowded. They had fairy tale castles for the kids to play in and all the tulips were in bloom. We found a secluded spot with shade to have our lunchAutumn and I hanging out while the other kids played in the playhouses. Poor Autumn is never in the sun so her eyes are very sensitive and she keeps them closed when outdoors. I guess I need to make a point to get her outdoors at least 5 mins each day to strengthen her eyes.

It was a busy, fun week and glad to have the weekend to catch up and relax.

Oh, Autumn

This is what a trach looks like when it's been ripped into two pieces. Autumn pulls her vent circuit off to communicate to us in different ways. I guess her nurse put her vent on too tight and when Autumn went to pull her circuit off she pulled hard enough that she ripped her trach into 2 pieces to get the vent off. The tube piece was still in her trachea so she could still breathe and the other pice was still hooked onto the vent circuit. The nurse came to show me...I walked in and Autumn was smiling so big and playing with the metal coil hanging out the end of the tube. I did a trach change and she's fine. I didn't even know that could happen because it's made of strong silicone but Autumn proved it can with some strong muscles. New thing to watch out for now.

So, that happened last night and then this evening we had a near drowning episode with her. Daddy was giving her and Gage a bath while I got Autumn's after bath and trach care supplies ready. I went into the bathroom to let James know I was ready for her and he was rinsing her hair. She leans forward in the tub sometimes but the bath water was too high so when she leaned forward her HME went into the water and filled with water and went down her trach tube. (An HME attaches to the end of the trach for moisture but we only use it during bath to block water better when she splashes). I noticed she was blueish and she started coughing at that time. James pushed her up more when I said something and then she was getting a darker blue. I got her out and took her to her room and started bagging her. James got her oxygen going and she threw up the water. She was getting pink and then went blue again and looked sleepy (like she was about to go completely unconsious). I bagged her again and she became pink again. James suctioned her and got her vent on her. We heard Gage yelling from the tub so James went to check on him. Apparently, Autumn had pooped in the water right before I took her out and Gage was standing in the tub trying to stay away from her waste and yelling to be rescued. James took him upstairs to take a 2nd bath. ;)

I finished getting Autumn dressing, trach care done, and then did some CPT and gave her a breathing treatment to hopefully get out any other water that may still be in her lungs and hopefully to prevent anything from causing sickness. James felt bad about it but he did not realize that her HME was underwater and that the water had been too high. We have both now been guilty of making a simple mistake and causing Autumn to almost drown. I did it back in 2009 when water in her tubing went down her trach after a bath and we had to call an ambulance because she was out for almost 2 mins. She was fine though once we got to the hospital and the x-rays showed no water in her lungs. It's very easy for things like this to happen when bathing a trach child and that is why many stay away from pools because it does not take much water to cause a huge problem...just have to always be aware and alert.

It still amazes me how God takes over in these situations. This time I did not panic and my heart never raced. I was clear headed and calm the entire time. I guess experience helps of knowing exactly what to do to in these situations. It still blows my mind how one minute we are bagging Autumn and less than 30 mintues later sitting as a family watching American Idol and it's normal for our family. It's strange because I never thought God would call our family to deal with these kind of things but He has and has equipped us with everything we need to be able to care for Autumn and all the "suprises" she throws our way.