Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
And the appts. go on......
Thanks so much for everyone who has posted that they are praying for our family and are so excited for us. We REALLY appreciate your thoughts and prayers and comments.
So our week has not gotten any easier. every day so far we have been in the clinic for visits of some sort. Yesterday Kembia had a well child exam for being one year- what a big girl- but they also did vaccines for Moyz too. Plus they wanted to draw blood and run the 8 million tests needed now that they are back home.
Let me tell you, I did not have happy kids. Kembia got 4 vaccines, and Moyz 3. then we all headed downstairs to the lab. Imagine me trying to navigate the hallways with my 4 kids, two of which are extremely upset and still crying from their shots. They needed a lot of blood to run all the tests necessary. Moyz got to go first. I felt absolutely terrible holding my child as he is screaming when the needle goes in and stays in for what seems like forever and a day. Then it was kembia's turn. Try as they could (and they did try- 4 separate times) they couldn't get a vain. She is screaming and turning and being poked over and over again and not a single drop of blood that was needed. So they sent us home and told us to come back again and visit Karen. Karen is sort of the specialty technician for hard cases.
So today we went back to visit with Karen. Again, no dice. She tried 2 different arms, and then applied hot packs to her little legs and arms to try and bring the vains up closer to the surface. In the end, we ended up going for multiple heal pricks to get all of the blood that was necessary. So not fun, but I know that it's necessary. Still, I hate to see that and hold my sweet kids and wonder if they are thinking it's my fault that this pain is happening to them. And then we have to go back again on friday to have their mantoux tests read. At least we'll get a break tomorrow!
On the plus side, we quick ran to McDonalds to grab lunch because we had to go and get more medicine, and kembia actually ate hamburger and bun! She has been extremely picky the last few days and I was starting to fret because she is so light. I was so proud of her! Of course, then I had to go and give her some french fries, and everything else was apparently disgusting to her because she would immediately spit it out and reach her tiny little hands out for a fry. People probably thought I was a terrible mom because she barely looks 9 months old, and what kind of mom feeds her 9 month old regular food? Especially McDonalds!?
Update on Chris- his antibiotic didn't work and so we had to have the doctor call in something else. Ava and I are still good so far but I just keep waiting for the other show to drop....
Here's a couple of pictures of Moyz. Love those big brown eyes!
So our week has not gotten any easier. every day so far we have been in the clinic for visits of some sort. Yesterday Kembia had a well child exam for being one year- what a big girl- but they also did vaccines for Moyz too. Plus they wanted to draw blood and run the 8 million tests needed now that they are back home.
Let me tell you, I did not have happy kids. Kembia got 4 vaccines, and Moyz 3. then we all headed downstairs to the lab. Imagine me trying to navigate the hallways with my 4 kids, two of which are extremely upset and still crying from their shots. They needed a lot of blood to run all the tests necessary. Moyz got to go first. I felt absolutely terrible holding my child as he is screaming when the needle goes in and stays in for what seems like forever and a day. Then it was kembia's turn. Try as they could (and they did try- 4 separate times) they couldn't get a vain. She is screaming and turning and being poked over and over again and not a single drop of blood that was needed. So they sent us home and told us to come back again and visit Karen. Karen is sort of the specialty technician for hard cases.
So today we went back to visit with Karen. Again, no dice. She tried 2 different arms, and then applied hot packs to her little legs and arms to try and bring the vains up closer to the surface. In the end, we ended up going for multiple heal pricks to get all of the blood that was necessary. So not fun, but I know that it's necessary. Still, I hate to see that and hold my sweet kids and wonder if they are thinking it's my fault that this pain is happening to them. And then we have to go back again on friday to have their mantoux tests read. At least we'll get a break tomorrow!
On the plus side, we quick ran to McDonalds to grab lunch because we had to go and get more medicine, and kembia actually ate hamburger and bun! She has been extremely picky the last few days and I was starting to fret because she is so light. I was so proud of her! Of course, then I had to go and give her some french fries, and everything else was apparently disgusting to her because she would immediately spit it out and reach her tiny little hands out for a fry. People probably thought I was a terrible mom because she barely looks 9 months old, and what kind of mom feeds her 9 month old regular food? Especially McDonalds!?
Update on Chris- his antibiotic didn't work and so we had to have the doctor call in something else. Ava and I are still good so far but I just keep waiting for the other show to drop....
Here's a couple of pictures of Moyz. Love those big brown eyes!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Doctor Appointments
today has been CRAZY! Well, it actually started with yesterday when we took Owen in to the urgent care. Diagnosis- strep throat. This is the first time we have had strep and Ava is 8 years old, so I feel lucky that it hasn't hit before. But who hears of strep in July?
Anyway,he had the biggest, reddest tonsils I have ever seen and a fever to match. We didn't spend too long for urgent care, only 2 hours, but when we got home Chris said "I think my throat is sore". Meanwhile, I am thinking, it is not you big baby! It's all psychological! But he got up in the middle of the night freezing and piled on the clothes and blankets all the while burning up. So off to the doctor we went. We had an appt. for Moyz today as well for some of his skin issues. So I took 3 of the kids upstairs to pediatrics, and Chris took Owen to his throat culture figuring he already has it so no harm, no foul.
We have the best pediatrician ever. Absolutely love her. She took one look at his legs and said that we were off to see a pediatrician and wasn't charging us for the visit. She called and there was an immediate appt. at the office 20 miles away. Meanwhile, Chris is still waiting on the results of his culture so we hunted him down, put the kids as fast as we could into the car and headed off. We got there 15 minutes late but they still took us thank goodness. Moyz has some type of impetigo, it starts with a B but I can't remember the first part, plus contact dermatitis on his legs and face as well as some eczema. 3 prescriptions later we were headed out the door. In the mean time it's about 2 hours later and Chris still hasn't heard back from the doctors office. We're trying to scarf down lunch at McDonalds and he just keeps looking worse and worse. Plus, Kembia has decided that she just doesn't really want to eat anything besides cheerios, not even formula or bananas. She's such a light weight that it's starting to worry me. Finally the nurse calls, he's positive for strep too- the Nelsons are dropping like flies!
Then we go to fill all of our many prescriptions. This took almost one hour at Target. Poor Chris, he just sort of sat slumped over on the bench waiting and waiting. Then we get how much some medicine for kembia's lip is going to be- $400 for some cream to rub on it. Oh, and there's no generic. So, we decided to wait and talk to her doctor again when we go back tomorrow if there might be some other type of medicine to try, or maybe even some samples in the office. $400 bucks! I can almost guarantee it does not cost anywhere near $400 to make that cream.
Now we are finally home and Chris and the babies are all sleeping. Wish I could be too, but my other two kids are basically duking it out with each other. Is it bad that I can't wait for it to be night so we call all just go to sleep?
Anyway,he had the biggest, reddest tonsils I have ever seen and a fever to match. We didn't spend too long for urgent care, only 2 hours, but when we got home Chris said "I think my throat is sore". Meanwhile, I am thinking, it is not you big baby! It's all psychological! But he got up in the middle of the night freezing and piled on the clothes and blankets all the while burning up. So off to the doctor we went. We had an appt. for Moyz today as well for some of his skin issues. So I took 3 of the kids upstairs to pediatrics, and Chris took Owen to his throat culture figuring he already has it so no harm, no foul.
We have the best pediatrician ever. Absolutely love her. She took one look at his legs and said that we were off to see a pediatrician and wasn't charging us for the visit. She called and there was an immediate appt. at the office 20 miles away. Meanwhile, Chris is still waiting on the results of his culture so we hunted him down, put the kids as fast as we could into the car and headed off. We got there 15 minutes late but they still took us thank goodness. Moyz has some type of impetigo, it starts with a B but I can't remember the first part, plus contact dermatitis on his legs and face as well as some eczema. 3 prescriptions later we were headed out the door. In the mean time it's about 2 hours later and Chris still hasn't heard back from the doctors office. We're trying to scarf down lunch at McDonalds and he just keeps looking worse and worse. Plus, Kembia has decided that she just doesn't really want to eat anything besides cheerios, not even formula or bananas. She's such a light weight that it's starting to worry me. Finally the nurse calls, he's positive for strep too- the Nelsons are dropping like flies!
Then we go to fill all of our many prescriptions. This took almost one hour at Target. Poor Chris, he just sort of sat slumped over on the bench waiting and waiting. Then we get how much some medicine for kembia's lip is going to be- $400 for some cream to rub on it. Oh, and there's no generic. So, we decided to wait and talk to her doctor again when we go back tomorrow if there might be some other type of medicine to try, or maybe even some samples in the office. $400 bucks! I can almost guarantee it does not cost anywhere near $400 to make that cream.
Now we are finally home and Chris and the babies are all sleeping. Wish I could be too, but my other two kids are basically duking it out with each other. Is it bad that I can't wait for it to be night so we call all just go to sleep?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
High Maintenance vs. Low Maintenance
My two new kidlets are like night and day from each other. Moyz is the easiest child I have ever had. So laid back, just go with the flow. Content exactly where you put him, playing with his toys and smiling so adorably that you can't just help but want to eat him up!
Kembia, on the other hand, is way high maintenance. She wants to be held. All.the.time. This makes it a little challenging to do other things, like eat, and bathe, and fix food for my 3 other kids.
We have sort of kind of been able to get them to nap simultaneously. They go down at approximately the same time, but Kembia needs a lot more sleep then Moyz. I don't know if it has something to do with how tiny she is, or if that's just the way she rolls. But it actually works out good because she takes about a 3 hour nap, and Moyz only one, so he gets up and then gets some good one on one time which is harder to do when his sister is awake. The other napping issue we are coming across is that Moyz seems to need two short ones, but the long one in the morning appears to be it for Kembia. At least every time we put her down in the afternoon she screams and cries and never falls asleep. (For real, she could make a fuss for a looong time) I am too paranoid about attachment issues to let her cry for too long to make sure that she understands I will always meet her needs. It's too early for me to tell if she is "playing the system to her advantage."
Knock on wood, the lice issue appears to be done. We haven't found any nits the last 2 days, although we check several times a day, and so far, no one else in the family has any. Although to be honest, Ava and I have so much hair between the two of us that I don't know how we would ever find a spare nit or two anyways! I am not eager for our heating bill for all of the hot laundry we have been doing. I haven't really been able to get ahead with the clothes because I am too busy washing everyone's sheets from naps and bedtimes and clothes that we change after we comb for lice.
And then there's the poop. Oh.my.word. These kids can poop! I don't know if it's the water or the change in diet or what. But they poop several times a day. It doesn't appear to be parasite poop. From what I have heard the poop is amazingly disgusting if that's an issue, and so far it just seems like regular run of the mill poop, albeit a lot at that. Oh well, guess I have to get used to that!
And for your viewing pleasure, below is a picture of our beautiful African princess. Right now she is ripping apart a paper towel that happened to be next to her and smiling like it's the best thing in the world!
Kembia, on the other hand, is way high maintenance. She wants to be held. All.the.time. This makes it a little challenging to do other things, like eat, and bathe, and fix food for my 3 other kids.
We have sort of kind of been able to get them to nap simultaneously. They go down at approximately the same time, but Kembia needs a lot more sleep then Moyz. I don't know if it has something to do with how tiny she is, or if that's just the way she rolls. But it actually works out good because she takes about a 3 hour nap, and Moyz only one, so he gets up and then gets some good one on one time which is harder to do when his sister is awake. The other napping issue we are coming across is that Moyz seems to need two short ones, but the long one in the morning appears to be it for Kembia. At least every time we put her down in the afternoon she screams and cries and never falls asleep. (For real, she could make a fuss for a looong time) I am too paranoid about attachment issues to let her cry for too long to make sure that she understands I will always meet her needs. It's too early for me to tell if she is "playing the system to her advantage."
Knock on wood, the lice issue appears to be done. We haven't found any nits the last 2 days, although we check several times a day, and so far, no one else in the family has any. Although to be honest, Ava and I have so much hair between the two of us that I don't know how we would ever find a spare nit or two anyways! I am not eager for our heating bill for all of the hot laundry we have been doing. I haven't really been able to get ahead with the clothes because I am too busy washing everyone's sheets from naps and bedtimes and clothes that we change after we comb for lice.
And then there's the poop. Oh.my.word. These kids can poop! I don't know if it's the water or the change in diet or what. But they poop several times a day. It doesn't appear to be parasite poop. From what I have heard the poop is amazingly disgusting if that's an issue, and so far it just seems like regular run of the mill poop, albeit a lot at that. Oh well, guess I have to get used to that!
And for your viewing pleasure, below is a picture of our beautiful African princess. Right now she is ripping apart a paper towel that happened to be next to her and smiling like it's the best thing in the world!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
First Day Home
I would love for this post to be longer, but I am too tired!
Their flight was delayed last night by 2 hours, probably the longest 2 hours of my life! But it was so amazing to see them coming down the escalator! Kembia came right away to me, but Moyz started crying and clung to Chris.
Last night was a little rough, we didn't get to bed until 12:30 and kembia was up 4 times. Twice for a poopy diaper, and twice because she started crying out and we went in to comfort her. Today has been really wonderful. The kids are so amazing and good natured. They eat like you would not believe!
We did find what is probably a newly hatched louse in Kembia's hair this morning, so the lice saga continues. I have two spots on the side of my head that are driving me insane, and I swear their has to be lice in my head! We are still debating if we just shave her completely so as to just end it for her, of course, that doesn't really help Ava and me if we get it! keep up the prayers for the lice to just disappear!
Other than that, kembia is much smaller than I thought she was from pictures, about 13 pounds and the size of a 9 month old or so. But she crawls around and sits up and doesn't seem to be behind where she should physically. Moyz looks like a tank compared to her, although the scale says he's only 3 pounds more. But he also probably has 4 or 5 inches on her as well. He isn't crawling yet, I put him up into the position and he rocks, but part of me thinks he's just such a big boy that he can't move his own weight around yet! That's okay, we'll work on it.
Ava and Owen are eating them up, although quite sad that they can't really hold them due to the lice, and Ava wants to feed them and carry them around. Trying to explain to an 8 year old about attachment doesn't really work. She's very disappointed that she can't do those things. We tell her to just give us the rest of the week or so, and then we'll see.
That's it for now, we are going to bed and hopefully resting up!
Their flight was delayed last night by 2 hours, probably the longest 2 hours of my life! But it was so amazing to see them coming down the escalator! Kembia came right away to me, but Moyz started crying and clung to Chris.
Last night was a little rough, we didn't get to bed until 12:30 and kembia was up 4 times. Twice for a poopy diaper, and twice because she started crying out and we went in to comfort her. Today has been really wonderful. The kids are so amazing and good natured. They eat like you would not believe!
We did find what is probably a newly hatched louse in Kembia's hair this morning, so the lice saga continues. I have two spots on the side of my head that are driving me insane, and I swear their has to be lice in my head! We are still debating if we just shave her completely so as to just end it for her, of course, that doesn't really help Ava and me if we get it! keep up the prayers for the lice to just disappear!
Other than that, kembia is much smaller than I thought she was from pictures, about 13 pounds and the size of a 9 month old or so. But she crawls around and sits up and doesn't seem to be behind where she should physically. Moyz looks like a tank compared to her, although the scale says he's only 3 pounds more. But he also probably has 4 or 5 inches on her as well. He isn't crawling yet, I put him up into the position and he rocks, but part of me thinks he's just such a big boy that he can't move his own weight around yet! That's okay, we'll work on it.
Ava and Owen are eating them up, although quite sad that they can't really hold them due to the lice, and Ava wants to feed them and carry them around. Trying to explain to an 8 year old about attachment doesn't really work. She's very disappointed that she can't do those things. We tell her to just give us the rest of the week or so, and then we'll see.
That's it for now, we are going to bed and hopefully resting up!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Day 7
Well, they are about 3 hours flying out of Kinshasa by now. I got a call 24 minutes after their plane was supposed to have taken off. I thought that Chris was calling me to say that they missed their flight. Instead they only almost missed their flight! I didn't get any details other than that they were the last ones on the plane. But hey, they made it!
Because they are officially out of the country, below is a picture of our beautiful children. Our little girl is post haircut in this picture.
I am so excited to share Moyz and Kembia with you! I cannot wait for them to be home tomorrow evening. It is going to be a very long day!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Day 6
Exit letter!
USA- here they come!
They head out to come home on Sunday- holy smokes, after almost 2 years, it's finally happening!
USA- here they come!
They head out to come home on Sunday- holy smokes, after almost 2 years, it's finally happening!
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