Where this Blog started.......
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Lessons I am learning
The hard part is cutting the cord. My son has spent two weeks half way across the world without me, and I survived. It wasn't always pretty, but I did cope fairly well until he came back home. My daughter has gone on several three to four day field trips without me, and I have handled that with as much grace as I could muster. I would still rather be with them on each trip they make, but I know that's not practical. Plus my kids have gone from, "Mama, will you pleeeeeease come with me on the trip?" to, "Mama, I don't might if you want to come with me on the trip." Heck, I have my pride too, I know when I'm welcome!
But I don't think any of these smaller milestones have prepared me for my teenager beginning to drive independently. Today Safa is leaving school in a few minutes and headed about 10 miles down the road to a debate tournament. She will be driving home tonight, at the end of day 1, probably after 10pm. That is pushing teenager curfew in our city, but exceptions are made for school events and commuting back and forth from a job. I know I will be up waiting for her whenever she comes in. But I didn't realize how much her night time drive home has already been weighing on my mind. Early this morning I awoke with a sudden wrenching feeling in my stomach, and woke Zakir to ask him if he had heard Safa come in last night. His sleepy response, "No, was she supposed to?" Then I looked at the clock and realized it was 4am. So I said, "Oh, it's only Thursday." Zakir, now more awake, said, "No, it's Friday." And technically he was right. But for some reason I awoke thinking it was late Friday night and she hadn't come home; I was totally thrown off by almost 24 hours! Of course, after that night time scare it took me for ever to fall back asleep, and I awoke this morning feeling terrible. But for parents, that comes with the territory!
Admittedly, I am proud of her every new independence, every accomplishment, every step towards adulthood. But there is a part of me that wishes she were still just this little:
Thursday, February 23, 2012
A little teaser....
Eventually the boys gave up on the puppy, and decided to create their own entertainment.
Nope, I don't know quite what to make of the last photo either!
Tomorrow's predicted high is 55 degrees, and Safa's hair is telling her that there is rain in the forecast. So, just a short-lived teaser before we end up with more seasonable weather again.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Not much happening
Sunday wasn't much different; today was actually one of those rare days when I didn't get out of my pyjamas. And neither did Safa! Zakir took the boys to Sunday School and then to lunch, while we stayed at home and ate leftovers. So just another lazy day. We have, however discovered a fun game to keep us busy. For the last two nights, Safa, Hamza and I have played a board game called Sequence. It's sort of a cross between Connect Four or tic tac toe and a card game, that is part a game of strategy, and part chance. Thanks to Vicki who gave it to Hamza as a present. I can see that it will keep us occupied during many, many evenings, right up there with our other favorite game, Phase 10.
And I apologize for the lack of current photos recently, I have to locate my camera, which is hiding somewhere in the house. I'm sure I'll find it as soon as I actually start looking for it!
Tomorrow the kids are out of school for a weather day, and Zakir and I head to work as usual.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Improving
And with him sleeping comfortably in his own room, Mama and Baba are actually getting some sleep too!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
February 14
When we talk about CHD awareness we are aiming for earlier detection of congenital heart defects. Early detection can help prevent significant morbidity and mortality. Plus awareness of the condition can help channel funding towards research into prevention, and better treatment. There are many advocates working towards these goals, and I have a list of some of these on the right sidebar of this blog. Honorable mentions go to Cora's mommy, Kristine and Eve's mommy Annamarie who have been particularly constructive in introducing mandatory post-natal pulse oximetry screening. There are many other hard working advocates who are working at the federal and state level to promote this easy, non-invasive test that may help detect heart defects at birth. And the word is getting out. This year, in particular, many families have been interviewed by local TV stations and newspapers, and given an opportunity to share their personal experiences as parents of children born with heart defects. Considering approximately 1 in 100 children are born with a CHD, it is not an uncommon condition. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out this informative site.
I have already shared the details about the Pinterest CHD project. Go check out the board if you haven't already. Go ahead, who doesn't love Pinterest?
And here is my 1 in 100:
Labels: CHD, CHD awareness, post-op, pulse oximetry, Valentine's Day comments (0)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Slow progress
After two nights of Bilal sleeping in Mama's bed and Baba sleeping in his, last night we made him a bed on the floor in our room, so that Zakir could come back where he belongs. He'll be sleeping downstairs tonight too, but we are all ready for him to get back into the routine of sleeping in his own bed. Maybe tomorrow, I hope?
We have had our good moments though, yesterday we actually saw more smiles earlier in the day.
We have played too numerous to count games of Too Many Monkeys, and I think Bilal has won all but one of them. We've also had a chance to read some library books, although he would still rather I read to him, than the other way around. Lazy boy!
You might be able to tell from today's pics that his face is a little more puffy and he has dark circles under his eyes, but his smile (when I can convince him) is as bright as ever:
His elephant companion, Fuzzy and his blankie haven't left his side for days!
And he needs another hair cut!
Hamza spent the morning at Simmons Middle School, for a math tournament. I took Safa down to Hoover when we went to pick him up and we made a stop at one of our favorite music and book stores, 2nd and Charles. We ended up getting four great music CDs for $10.62, thanks to the cool selection of pre-owned music and my handy dandy Groupon. Yay, Groupon! Best creation ever, $10 for $20 of merchandise.
Labels: adenoidectomy, music, post-op, shopping, sick, surgery comments (0)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Post-op
In post-op recovery |
Right now Bilal is dozing next to me in our bed; he'll be sleeping downstairs with me today so I can keep and eye on him. Tomorrow I am going to work and Baba will stay at home and play nurse. I hope that goes well. Bilal is already insisting that he wants me to stay home with him.
Surgery update
Just a quick update while I wait here, waiting for Bilal to be released to go home. We got to the surgery center at 5:45, signed in, and we're almost immediately taken back for pre-op, vital signs and such. I briefly met with the anesthesiologist and then Bilal was taken to the OR. Turns out he was first case of the day. So I met with Dr. L just after 7am, and the procedure was already over. Everything went well; he found a lot of infection in the adenoid region. So adenoids are out and the nasal passages were thoroughly flushed. I wasn't allowed to see Bilal immediately after surgery, I had to wait for about 20-25 minutes until I was allowed to go back. But he was awake, with his cup of Sprite and sounding rather croupy. The nurses had already given him some liquid Lortab to help with the cough and sore throat. After they brought a humidifier into the room and Bilal settled down a bit the coughing improved. So we have read a book, and Bilal dozed off just as I was downloading another one to my iPad. We have received discharge instructions, and he has had a little more than half a cup of Sprite to drink. That's a great sign. We will be out of here and headed home as soon as we are permitted. Thankfully it has all gone smoothly. We will give him a few days at home to recover, they play it by ear about sending him back to school. If recovery from his other surgeries is any indication I have faith that he will be back to himself in no time.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A little unexpected
But this morning he woke up sicker that ever. Cough was worse, he kept on complaining that his throat hurt and he kept gagging and blowing out green gunk. So we had to keep him home from school. That's when we decided we'd have to go ahead with the surgery sooner rather than later. He can't just keep missing school!
So after a few phone calls Bilal has been scheduled for adenoidectomy tomorrow, at the out-patient center in Birmingham. We played around with the clinic schedule as much as possible, so that I can take off tomorrow, but Zakir will still have to work. He won't be able to come with us, at such short notice. Then I will work all day on Thursday and Zakir will be off with the baby. After that we'll take it day by day.
We would rather deal with a few days of yuckies than recurrent infections. We have explained some to Bilal, but naturally he is scared. We have to be at the out-patient center at 5:45am. I hope that means his turn will be early in the morning. Hoping all goes well with the procedure tomorrow.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Another award and a pleasant Sunday afternoon
And as for the results of the debate, she qualified for the quarter finals. Unfortunately the judges put her up against another student on her team, so she didn't compete, in order for her team mate to able to advance. But she did earn a medal for qualifying, and placed 7th by speaker points. Not too bad!
Bilal came home on Friday with the 'Good Citizen of the week' award for his class. He was very proud of the ribbon he wore, especially after the 'oops' from earlier in the week. But all is forgiven and he is happy again. Incidentally, a little over a week after finishing his antibiotics, the yuckies are back. Thick, green, nasty stuff, ugh! We are going to see how he does otherwise might have to talk to the ENT again. I hope it gets better by itself! The post-antibiotic nasal culture did not grow any further bacteria, so we were hopeful that it had completely cleared.
Hamza potentially had a math tournament this weekend, but he opted out from going; he hasn't missed a single one this year and has a few more to attend, so it wasn't really a big deal. We were invited out to dinner yesterday evening, and today was Sunday School as usual. This afternoon we were outside for a while, and I actually got on my bike after a very long time. After a couple of little races against Hamza I realized how deconditioned I really am. I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow! I really need to get back into the exercise groove and work on becoming healthier.
Race! |
Friday, February 3, 2012
Independence
I took Safa to Oneonta this morning to get her driver's license. Since she didn't take a driver's ed course in school she had to take the road test. We got to the basement office at 8am, and did the necessary paperwork, plus Safa had her photo taken. Then we hung around until 10:30 when the road tests are offered. She was the first of three to take her test. She had an idea regarding what skills would be tested, but it surprised me that the entire driving test only lasted five minutes. Then back to the
This is the first picture of Safa driving after getting her official driver's license. The actual ID picture on her license is not really that flattering. But not many ID pictures are!
It's another bittersweet moment; she is growing up and becoming so independent, and I am very proud of that. Yet, part of me still wants her to be the little baby she used to be.
Today she spent the afternoon at a debate tournament, and I brought her home at about 8:30pm. Tomorrow she will be going back to the tournament, and she will be driving herself. Sigh.