After dropping Johnathen off for his first day of school, we had Severins circumcision scheduled at his Pediatricians office. We knew this had its risks; bleeding, infection. We thought we had asked all the questions, to all the Drs. The Cardios said it had to be six weeks post op, and asked us to make sure our Pediatrician was comfortable with the risks. The only answers I could get to why people wait was because the anatomy was not sufficent and they needed to be under general anesthesia. Severin is on asprin, but he is not an easy bleeder-just ask the IV team. Our Dr. was confident the this would be a success. For a moment this would be a "normal" proceedure. We did not take into account that this is Severin and he doesn't do anything "normal". Everything went well, Severin didn't even cry. We waited to check bleeding, and everything looked ok. I ran kids around and it was two hours later that I fed him and changed his diaper. He had soaked his diaper with blood. Yes I did swear, and immediately called the Dr. I went into the after hours clinic our Ped. was not on call. Dr. Valdez said he knows Severin, they talk about how amazing he is all the time. He tried to cauterize but still could not control the bleeding. After one more attempt using a type of material that would form a web for the platelets to collect on and hopefully from a clot, I went home. It had stopped dripping and was now oozing. If it was still bleeding when I got home I was on my way to Primaries. Of course it was, and we were on our way for ER visit # 3. Thom and I were kicking ourselves for putting him through this. It was totally elective and now he has to endure more. At Primaries they had some stuff called surgicell brought in from the OR. It looked like quilt batting, white and fluffy. It has clotting medicine in it and then it dissolves into the skin. It still was not stopping, so they put more on and we wait. They did a heal stick to get a hematocrit- the level of red blood cells. He was at 27. They decided to admit him. They started an IV and did another hematocrit, that time he was a 33. Last time he was in the ER his count was 51. He still needed to get the bleeding to stop and replace what was lost. The Cardios want him to be 40 and above. When we made it to the room on the 4th floor, they took off his diaper and he looked great. I asked what kind of magic elevator they had that could stop bleeding.With the bleeding stopped now he still needed a blood transfusion. After the first transfusion he was still at 33. We seemed to have caught Severin in the perfect storm. He is of the age when his red blood cells are low as it changes from the fetal state. The red blood cells carry the oxygenated blood around, so when your red cells are down the oxygen need increases. When blood is sparce it goes to the major organs to maintain life, skin being the last, so in therory a skin proceedure should have been ok. The asprin makes the platelets disorganize so they can not clot. They think his body had not regulated to give an accurate count, so he was probably lower then 33 before the first transfusion. They kept asking me if he was more pale. I thought he is a white boy he is always pale. After his first transfusion I realized how pale he really was and how pink he had become. After the second transfusion he was doing much better. We stayed the night so they could keep monitoring his O2, & bleeding-which was none, but they did give his asprin again. He started sounding a little snotty nosed. He didn't have a temp. & his lungs sounded good, so we were outta there! I have learned I am not going to say I think I'm at my breaking point, because everytime I do I'm pushed a little farther. The up side is I know I am able to continue to raise to every occasion, but I'd rather not do all this. And we know without a doubt this will never happen to Severin again- you can only be circumcised once. In the ER Severin and I decided we were not going to come back until his next surgery. He smiled so I think he was agreeing with me. As of tonight he is doing great, his normal.
Johnathen FINALLY got to ride his new bike. It was so cold he only lasted 10 mins. He thought his bike was too big. He was a bit intimidated at first, but he raced up and down the street. 
Neleh on her new bike. She loves her Hello Kitty helmet. She is almost three and can barely reach the pedals. She can really get going though!
Oh Neleh you are so funny. She is trying to squish this NERDS box. Look at that crazy hair! And she is wearing her Christmas dress, I didn't get it put away yet.
Neleh DIVES into the candy. She is shoving NERDS in her mouth.
Thom and mini Thom- I mean Johnathen. They hand out the presents.
Severin happy with candy. The hat says "Babys First Christmas" it matches Dads and Johnathens. BUT his head was too big (fat Quist noggin) so I cut a slit up the back, still not enough room, so I put an elastic in to hold it on his head. It fits perfectly inbetween chin 1 and chin 2. I'll get him an adult size for next year.
This was our trees after the storm on the 21st, I did hope one would fall down it is the only way Thom is going to let me get rid of it.
This is more to show the depth of the snow, not Thom with the snowblower. Anyone who knows us, knows I do the snow blowing.
I know this is the goal we wanted. That is all good, fine and dandy, BUT I am freaking out. I woke up this morning to his alarms going off because he was Sating 68 %, his O2 was blowing in his eyes. I don't know how a few hours drive can make him ok to not need it anymore. The Cardio was the same that saw him after the last surgery too, and wanted him off O2 then. We all know how that went. Thom wants him to be "normal" but he is not normal. His sats drop when he cries. And he gets really blue/purple. They said he can have O2 at night or whenever I SEE he is more blue then usual. I'm so afraid I am going to miss a warning sign. It is just going to take me some time to get comfortable. I still have the pulse/ox so I can do spot checks on him. Yesterday was a turning point for the kid. He cried only when he was hungry-don't we all. He didn't act like he was in pain. His appetite is back. He gained 4 oz in a week. He now weighs 13.6, he lost over a pound after surgery. He doesn't want to nurse at all. I think it is ok because he probably needs the extra calories. I'll keep trying and maybe that will come back too. It just makes for exhausting night time feedings. He doesn't like to wait for the bottle to warm but he doesn't like it cold either. I tell him the solution is to nurse, its quick and warm but he just doesn't get it. Silly boy.
Not lovin the EKG. Those stickers really stick! He is still dealing with the Post Traumatic Stress of the hospital stay.
Hanging out with Dad waiting for Bonnie and the Cardio. Look at that "nutrition" as Dr. Kaza calls it
This is how we left him last night. I decided to come home with Thom. Do some laundry, shave my legs, sleep in MY bed. Severin is still a little drugie.
The joy of good friends. Thank you for your love and prayers they have been floating us along!
Daddy, Mommy and Severin just waiting our turn...
He has a little on his lip, don't worry he worked until he got it in.
I hope he likes it this much tomorrow.
Johnathen as Batman (again) He was so funny he had three different costumes to choose from and he just couldn't decide. He missed trunk-or-treat because he took so long, throwing a fit. He realized he was setting a mood for the littler ones so he put on his happy face for the picture.
Neleh the Butterfly. She loved her costume and told everyone what she was. The best part is she is wearing Halloween pjs underneath that glowed! She would not smile or hold still for a picture. This was as good as I could get. What a grump! She cheered up after she figured out there was candy involved.
Severin as a Tiger. He followed the example of his older Brother and Sister and grouched out. Everytime I tried to take a picture he would turn his head. So I held his head and this ticked him off. My mom made this costume for my oldest sister over 40 years ago. Every child or grandchild that could fit in it at Halloween got to wear it. This year Severin had the honors.
. Oh he is so fun
We did family pictures today. Severin was crying while I was getting him dressed. The thought came to me, when I bought this outfit I said it would be his going home outfit. I would take him home from the hospital in it ( I thought he would be there a long time) or he would wear it when he went home to our Heavenly Father. This is the only item I would allow myself to have for him before he was born. I am overjoyed to dress my screaming son in his head-to-toe OshKosh. He is such a gift to us. The faith of so many gave us this time with him. Thank you to all of you!
I didn't stay in my pjs every day, I was wearing jeans but Severin barfed on me. This is the back porch to the cabin. We were sad to leave.
We wondered who Severin looked the most like. This is a picture of my mom- they look a lot alike, especially the hair.
Grandpa took the kids on many wheelbarrow rides, and they loved every minute. I didn't even see them for two hours! They were outside "helping" my Dad. Every so often I would hear Johnathen say something to my Dad and he would laugh. They were so dirty at the end of the day they left a dirt ring in the tub.
Severin was "taking" to Grandma. It was so relaxing to have my parents helping with the kids. Severin was always held and the other kids were always entertained.
I picked up this hat before he was even born. I put it on him and took him outside to do some yard work.
The kids were going through the Halloween costumes and trying them on. Severin didn't miss out on the fun.
On Sunday Severin pulled out his NG tube while I was giving him a bath-in the sink. I thought it was probably out too far to just stick back in and he has only been needing it for continous night time feeds, so I let him be free of tapes and tubes for a while. He still needs O2 so that was a bit of a pain to keep in his nose without the stickers. I wanted Thom and the kids to see his face when they got home from church. This pict. is a bit of a mug shot, but hey I captured a rare moment.
When I was posting the kids holding Severin, I realized I didn't have a recent one of Morgan. That is because she is ALWAYS holding him. Morgan has been a Super Hero the past few weeks. She helps out so much with Johnathen and Neleh, and she is great at holding Severin. What a great BIG sister! I hope this is all she waited ten years for.
