Dylan surgery - part 2

Dylan did very well during the surgery the doctor said...no complications....he said it was a very good decision taking everything out as his adenoids were as big as they could possibly be, his ears were super infected and his tonsils were infected as well...poor guy!!!

When Dylan came to his room for the night and he was completely out of it...was just so super sleepy...I did notice one thing on him which was his IV. For those of you that don't know, I am HORRIFIED and I mean HORRIFIED of needles. I am one of those patients that they make me lie down when I give blood because I have passed out too many times...the thought of them even freaks me out...In High School, we had a blood drive and we all had to participate some how...I said I would do the juice and cookies...I walked in, saw people pumping their fists with those balls and passed right out...no lie! Anyway, they had to put a makeshift cast around his IV because they said he kept trying to rip it out...lovely....so when he would wake up at all, he would just have a fit about this needle and I couldn't blame him at all.

Just out of surgery

So precious

He just looks so small in this big bed

Once the anesthesia wore of, he had had enough of the IV...they really didn't want to take it out but I insisted that they remove it...They took it out and you would have never thought this child has surgery...He hoped out of bed and starting running down the hall...He was jumping in the wheel chairs and asking for rides...unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that!

 

After multiple hours of running up and down the halls like a wild man and eating more than I have ever seen, we asked if they could please let us go home. Dylan sleeps in a crib at home and there was NO WAY in this world he was going to sleep in that bed overnight. It would have been torture. They agreed since they could see he was acting fine at the moment but warned us the next few days would be very different. We packed up and made it home before Landon went to bed, so I could see him and give him some love!

They were not kidding that they next few days would be different. We went about 5 days barely eating a thing. I could get one fruit snack in here or there but other than that...nothing...the only thing that saved us is that he would drink. We did stay right on top of his pain medicine which had to be given every 6 hours which meant setting your alarm for the wee hours...that was a reminder that I am very unsure if I want a newborn again as I really enjoy sleeping all night :) Sunday (Mother's Day) was by far the worst day...He woke up and had developed a fever and was super lethargic..He fell asleep in my bed around 10 am and slept until 4:30 pm when I finally woke him up...We tried to do a Mother's Day meal that night but he just felt awful. He was back asleep in Gabe's arms at 7 pm and was out for the night. It really did take about 10 days to get my Dylan back, but now he is back full swing.

Here is Dylan living it up in my bed (on day 9) - which is where he stayed non-stop for the 10 days - he was not allowed to be super active for the risk of bleeding, so he watched more TV than I would ever care to admit.

Hanging out with Tink and pretty sure feeling good, but taking advantage of the TV time

In the end, I am also so happy that we did it because his speech has skyrocketed since the surgery and his appetite has gotten better as well. He has gained 2 pounds and hopefully we will be out of our 12 months clothes soon (remember he is 26 months :)!

Dylan's surgery - Part 1

So Dylan has always had crap ears...when I mean crap...I mean crap...I have always been a worry wart when it comes to my kids...most likely because I am naturally a worrier and some of my friends have special needs kids, so I worry...I noticed when Dylan was about 7 months old, he wasn't responding to ANYTHING AT ALL!!!! I mean dogs barking, clapping behind his head, no sound...So like all moms, I took him straight to the pediatrician. It turns out Dylan's ear drums had burst and he wasn't hearing anything so they had to grow back. They slowly did and then around 11 months old, they burst again. So after 2 sets of burst eardrums and more than I can count ear infections, he got an urgent set of tubes. Of course his ear drums burst for the 2nd time when I was away on work...I felt like the mom of the freaking year let me tell you...He got the tubes and the infections stopped and he slowly finally started making sounds. He was also completely non-verbal before this happened. He was deaf during what they call a critical hearing period, so now we needed to work on his speech.

We started in speech therapy when he was about 17 months old. They thought things would get better with the tubes, but because of the severity of the hearing loss (which is TONS better now), the delay was considered moderate/severe. All of this caused just from a tiny pair of cute little ears!

Anyway, on April 26 I took Dylan in for his routine hearing check up. He has to go every 6 months because of the ear drums bursting. The doctor looked at me and asked if Dylan was fussy or cranky or had a fever..Nope, he was fine and as rambunctious as ever..he is asking me this as he is climbing on the table and counting to 3 to try and jump off...Does he look sick? :)  ..Turned out one of the tubes had fallen out (it lasted 14 months which is normal) and he had a very bad infection and the other tube was about to fall out (plus it had a dog hair in there...I know, so gross). This is how his ear drums burst before...he shows no symptoms of an ear infection until they burst, so we could not allow that to happen again. He put him on a 5 day round of antibiotics and said to come back the following Wednesday. If the infection has not cleared up, we were going in for a 2nd set of tubes, which is really no big deal...In and out and on your way home.

Unfortunately, the antibiotics did nothing and the infection was still there when we went back...Not only was the infection still there but his adenoids and tonsils where incredibly swollen. The doctor looked right at me and Gabe and said, surgery is first thing Friday morning. The tonsils and the adenoids have to come out and the ears must get fixed. I thought we were getting tubes people. Not what is considered a major surgery for my little 25 pound baby...

It turns out they think one of the reasons Dylan is a terrible eater is because his tonsils were so swollen that he could barely swallow, so he only ate the things that didn't bother him. So the doctor thought all around that this was for the best!

We were told to be prepared to stay in the hospital overnight for the night of the surgery and then we would get to go home. So Gabe and I lined childcare up for Landon and left for the hospital that morning since Dylan was first to go because of his age. They told us the surgery would last about an hour and then once he was wheeled to his room, we would meet him there. I know this wasn't something life threatening, but it really did feel like the longest hour ever!

Poor guy had no idea what was about to happen to him.

Dylan watching Barney just waiting to be taken back

Hanging out with Daddy

He LOVES the ABC book

He was just his normal self....he is my wild child and when it was time for him to go back, they just asked him if he was ready to go for a ride, and he smiled and said YES! He hopped on the bed with his dog and said "love you mommy" and he didn't even look back as the doors shut behind him.

He was so brave!

First weekend away, Gabe's Birthday and Easter!

Gabe and I realized about mid January that we had not been away just the 2 of us since...well...we got pregnant with Dylan. So we knew we needed to find the time. So between busy weekends of birthday parties, travel and other miscellaneous things, let alone finding someone kind enough to watch the boys (thank you TONS Aunt Cee Cee), we finally found a weekend in April. It just happened to be Easter weekend and Gabe's birthday weekend.  It also happened to be the weekend we promised Landon we would take him to his first movie in the theater.

So Friday we packed up and headed to the movie theater to see African Cats. Landon was so excited to go. We got the popcorn, candy and a drink bigger than him. He was in heaven! The movie was ok...It was a big slower than we would have liked but he made it through...barely...the last 30 minutes was tough but overall it was a huge success. I am sure we will have better luck when we go and see Cars 2 while at the beach!

After the movie, we took him home and Gabe and I headed up to my parents house at the river for some alone time. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. We had the whole place to ourselves. We made dinner and didn't have to tell someone to sit down once and we watched an adult movie...it is the small things people! I even slept until 11 am the next day...I could have kept sleeping but didn't want to waste the day! It was Gabe's birthday!!! We went for a great hike and just relaxed. That night we drove into town and had dinner with our great friends, Fleming and Blair, who just bought a house near us as well. Dinner was wonderful and the company was even better! Gabe was perfectly fine with a nice quite night for his birthday so it turned out perfect!

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home since it was Easter. It amazes me how tired you can get with 2 little ones and also after only a day and a half away you can miss them so much. We were ready to see our boys and have an Easter egg hunt and see what the Easter Bunny brought!

Landon loves Lighting McQueen!

Couldn't get Dylan to even look...he was loving everything Elmo!

After naps, we headed over to my parents for another Easter egg hunt, Easter dinner and Gabe's birthday dinner!

Tink helping the boys out!

Excited about his eggs!

Seeing what goodies are inside!

Happy Birthday to the most AMAZING hubby!!!

Cake time!

Gabe and his mom, Dylan (Nona to the boys)

Me and my sissy...thank you so much for letting us get away!

 That night, everyone was a bit tired but Dylan was still IN LOVE with his Elmo stamp and it is true what they say...you cannot take your eyes off a 2 year old boy for one minute...Here is how I found him watching tv in our bed!

Covered in Elmo stamps!

He is still so stinking cute!

A fun day at school!

Again, still very behind from my March posts so trying very hard to catch up and have told myself that I have to make more time for myself instead of work...trying very hard! Starting typing this at 12:17 pm and now it is 5:43 pm...I said I was going to try :)

Gabe and I have been super pleased with the preschool down the street from our house. They always do such fun activities for the kids and try to involve the parents when they can but understand we can't do everything.

Landon had a hat parade at his school in mid April...you were supposed to wear a fun spring hat...now lets be honest...a spring hat is for a girl...not a boy...some people did come up with some clever ideas but I do not claim to be very creative and plus Landon is ALL BOY...all he wanted was his train conductor hat...but he sure looked cute!

Landon with his train conductor hat...he was so proud of himself

Here is his class singing their song...you can see some of the other hats...I know...I am not creative!

Here is D watching his big brother...Love the curls!

Off to go and get ready for Girl's Night...so much for the gym but time to go and enjoy some wine!

Dylan turns 2!!!

So almost 3 months of nothing shows that I have been more than busy...No excuses I know, but lots has gone on...So I have decided that instead of writing very long blogs for right now...I am going to update with short but good info as I am using this more for my baby book since I update that so often...not :)

So since March 31, my last blog, here are the fun and exciting times in the world of the real Jonas Brothers!

Dylan turned 2!!!

We had a great party and loved having all of our friends and family around to celebrate with us. Dylan had an absolute blast. He and Landon and some of their favorite friends played in the bouncy house and rode the zip line until 7 pm when I dragged them in the house kicking and screaming...needless to say, they both passed out shortly after...

Happy Birthday to my adorable, loveable, crazy haired and rambunctious baby boy!!!

Family picture...there was no getting Landon out of the bouncy...

Here is D just born and at 1...and then here is Landon at 1 :)

Dylan just born

Dylan at 1

Landon at 1...my little chunkster :)

Dylan is quite the opposite of Landon stature wise at 2 years old. At his 2 year old check up he was 26.6 pounds (25%) and was 35 inches tall (75-90%). Reminder to those that didn't know Landon...he was 25.11 pounds at his 1 year check up...needless to say, the sharing of clothes for my 2 boys has not been the easiest...

• At 2, Dylan is full of love and all boy.
• You can't take your eyes off him for one minute and he will jump right off a table thinking you are going to catch him.
• He loves to make people laugh and is constantly smiling.
• He is now singing his ABC's and is talking up a storm...we can't always understand it but he is being verbal which is what counts for us!
• He loves school and just gives us a big kiss and says "bye, bye mommy" and walks away...
• He still isn't the best eater but that is because of his tonsils (next blog)...
• He thinks every color is red...his brothers favorite color..
• He loves to talk on the phone and read...he could read all day!!!
• He loves all things car, train or truck!

He loves to "drive" Nona's new car!!!

He is such a joy and I thank God every day for him!!!  Happy Birthday sweet boy!