My Own Miracle Experiance

It has taken a little while for me to be able to share this, but I have witnessed a true miracle!  Let me apologize in advance if this seems a little disconjointed as it was a very emotional day. 

It all started last Tuesday.  I had the kids playing in the horse tank (we use it as a wading pool as so many in our area do).  Houston, of course, was not swimming but all the girls were.  And as usual, Elli was in her US Coast Guard approved life vest.  I stepped inside the back door to grab a bucket of sidewalk chalk then  stepped back out and told the girls everyone out of the water.  I saw girls tumbling out, Samantha fling a leg over and turn back (she generally gets Elli out) so I thought everyone was out.  I ran back into the house to use the bathroom and grab towels.  As I approached the back door, Jenny and Nicci run up crying, screaming "THE BABY IS DEAD!"  I ran out and saw Samantha standing by the tank.  She was holding Elli who was pale and limp.  I grabbed Elli and ran into the house.  She wasn't breathing.  She was cold, and she was turning blue.  I called 911. 

Someone knocked on the door.  Two women from next door came in, one stating she was a nurse.  They took Elli, laid her on the floor, and started trying to get her to breathe.  After what seemed like forever, I finally heard sirens.  I ran outside (the women were inside with Elli) to wave down the first responders since the address on the house is hard to see.  Also during all this, I am trying to keep the other 4 children calm and in their rooms.  Elli was still laid on the floor, limp and breathless.  He dropped to his knees and started to pray.  It was then, Tabi took her first ragged breath and spit out some water.  It had been about 10 minutes since she was pulled from the water.  We are told that they will need to Mediflight her to OU Children's Hospital but we cannot go with her.  I call a friend to come get the other kids. 

I load the van and drive as fast as we can the hour plus to OKC.  Elli was having seizures and they were concerned that her brain was swelling.  They took her in for a CT that showed no initial swelling but wanted us to understand that did not mean things were okay.  They let us know they needed to intubate her.  We were told to give her a kiss before we left.  When the church members present prayed for her, I and her entire medical team also laid our hands on her body.  After the prayer, we were sent out. 

After what seemed like forever, I was finally allowed back in to see her.  She was so still.  The doctor explained she was sedated.  He was saying that the best we could hope for was several days to weeks on the ventilator in the ICU then weeks more in the hospital.  Even then, she may never be the same child she was before because there was no telling how much damage had been done by the lack of oxygen.  We were moved up to the ICU to wait it out. 

It could be seen on the monitor that she was initiating breathes so they decided to turn down the sedation so she could be evaluated by a neurologist.  As soon as she started to come around, she started trying to pull the tube out.  Because she was doing so well, it was decided that they would let her wake up and see if the tube could be removed.  As she woke up, she tried over and over to pull the tube out, even trying to use both arms together to grasp it as she had immobilizers over the IV lines.  About 9:30 she woke up and the tube was removed.  She looked around the room, asked for Samantha. 

I was told I could hold her.  I picked her up but her head was super floppy, like when she was a newborn.  As the hours passed, though she wasn't able to lift her head, she started getting up on her knees and turning circles in the crib.  By morning, she had some neck control though she still couldn't sit up.  She was also asking for and signing milk and asking for Samantha and Jenny.  She was given some milk and she did great with drinking it and keeping it down.  Around 2pm we got word we would be moving to a regular peds room. 

She continued to improve at an incredible rate.  By bedtime, she had eaten a meal of solids and was sitting up alone.  By the next day, she was standing in the crib and talking as well as she did before the accident.  In the afternoon she was allowed to be off the monitors and go down to the play room.  She kept trying to stand and walk but was extremely wobbly even for her.  By later that evening, she could walk several steps at a time without falling.  And, by the next morning, she was walking almost as well as before. 

At about 11:30, which was almost exactly 72 hours after the accident, the doctor came in and told us that had no intention of letting her go so soon, but everyone was talking about the miracle baby and he had to come see for himself.  He said they weren't doing anything for her because God had already done it all and we would be going home that day!  To look at her now, you would never imagine what she has been through.  She is doing absolutely everything she was before and can't seem to understand what all the fuss is about.

And for those who are wondering how this could have happened with her in a life jacket, she was able to slip her arms out and turn the "puddle jumper" jacket around.  Then, the jacket held her under the water until her sister pulled her out. 

So Many Big Events

Things have been so busy that I haven't had time to breath lately much less post on my blog.  Let me give you a quick rundown before I get back to the tasks I am supposed to be on, lol.

First, Elli is quite the walker these days.  She still hates to wear shoes but she sure can go!

Secondly, Jenny is now 6.  I can't believe it has been so long already.  Of course, she is still the tiniest thing ever.  She is still wearing a 4T.  I am really beginning to think that I need to talk to her dr about it as she has been wearing a 4T since 2010.  Anyway, her celebration was awesome complete with a Barbie Princess cake.

Third on the update list is Mr. Baby.  I guess as he is 3 today, he's not really a baby anymore :(  He still isn't wild about the idea of potty training but I keep hoping!  He got a Batman race car set and a Batman doll for his birthday.  He was so excited since Batman is his very favorite.  Also, he was allowed to eat anything he wanted for dinner that night.  Unlike his sister who at least wanted real food, he opted for 3 large cotton candies and some ice cream, lol.

And, last but certainly not least... we are currently expecting #6!  I just took the test today but I guess I've known for a couple of weeks it would be positive.  EDD is 3/31.  So, now we have to look at modifications on the van or making the Expedition our primary car come March.  I guess we will wait and see how all that works out.

Okay, I have company coming for dinner and way more things I should be doing, so I better go for now.  I'll try to update again soon.

So Much Going On

Wow.  I have not had time to update my blog in forever!  

I'll try to update all that has happened.  First, as I said on June 5, we are in the house!  On May 28 all the power went out in the trailer.  Not storm out but soaked electrical out.  We moved in to the house that night and have continued to finish up details around boxes, etc.  We got everything out of the trailer June 11.  The kids rooms are completely set up and box free.  Most of the other rooms still have boxes but we are making progress and the rooms themselves are completely set up.  The only exception is the hall bathroom that still needs a shower curtain and a blind before we start using it.  I know you may be thinking that in nearly a month we should have more done, but....

Vacation called!  We spent nearly 2 weeks starting June 15 on a blowout vacation.  We spent some time visiting my sister and her family in Teague, TX.  We spent a week on the beach at Galveston (LOVE the ocean), then meandered back home via a night in Teague, then Dallas, then Oklahoma City.  We had a fantastic time and lots of pics on Facebook to prove it :)

And, I also received my first VoxBox from Influenster.  I'll be sharing the products I tried and what I thought of them on a blog next week.  Don't miss it. 

Well, that's it for tonight.  With all that going on, we need to get some rest.  Talk to you soon!

Deadline Just Ahead

We have really been working hard on the house the last couple of days.  They have been very long days but the children have handled them like champs!  We have everything turning off at the rental house on June 1.  That's right we will be sleeping in the new house in a week!  And, my little Elli will be 1.  What an exciting week.

I have spent the last 2 days sorting through about 9 million articles of clothing.  We had stuff packed up and just kept adding more, so what we owned was completely out of control.  It is amazing how many clothes one family can amass.  It was bittersweet for me.  I find that I have no shorts at all because I have lost so much weight since last summer.  Oh well, must mean I need to shop more, lol.

We got the van back, yay!  I hated that rental and am so glad to have the Uplander back.  I know this update was really brief, but I am completely wiped out.  I will try to update again soon.

Newer Not Better

We finally got the car dropped off at the repair shop yesterday.  First, it had to be cleaned out.  I had no idea there was that much stuff in there.  It took nearly an hour and I am still not sure why some of that stuff was in the car in the first place, lol.  Anyway, they said it will be at least Friday and probably early next week before the car is done. 

So, off we go to pick up the rental.  They had us the craziest locking key/remote I have ever seen to a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country.  Let me first start by saying fuel wise, it is awesome.  Even with my driving it averages better than 22mpg.  And, there is mass cargo space behind the rear seats  plus if you do have less than 5 kids, the stow & go option is nice.  Other than that, I am not a fan of the T&C.  The rear seats lean way too far back and we cannot figure out how to change that.  There is no DVD player in this rental (I thought that was practically standard issue in vehicles these days, lol.) However, it does have this huge screen that shows a backup camera when it is in reverse.  I'm sure there are tons of people who love this, but to me it seems rather confusing.  And, it has satellite radio which means I spent the whole trip home scanning to find something in a genre I liked, just to hate the selections and switch back to regular radio.  I know, both of those can be found in a wide range of vehicles and are not exclusive to the T&C.  Now, let me share the downside to that "mass cargo space".  Everything else seems so cramped!  I generally sit all kinds of stuff (purse, takeout, etc) in the passenger's floorboard of the Uplander, but found there to be very little floor space in the T&C.  And, it was tighter for the kids to get through the spaces into the back as well. 

I know these are just first impressions and the T&C may grow on me this week, but you know what they say about first impressions so I thought I'd share mine with you.

Well, I have to go figure out where to put all the stuff that came out of the Uplander yesterday and continue to hope for super fast repairs!