Tag Archive | Alan

A Very Merry Canadian Christmas

Is  what I am told our loved ones had this year! And I lucked out, friends and family were willing to share their pictures!

My brother, my nephew and my Uncle together after Christmas building toys… thanks Holly!

The Bleau kids ready to open their presents on Christmas Day… So cute, thanks Sharon!

Jeff, Sean, Tedd and Darryl on New Years! Good memories of times like this! Thanks Sharon!

Though not pictured, Karyn sent me this picture from her time in Saskatchewan… this is her mom, her sister inlaw and her nephews!!! Oh and a puppy!

And a close up of the puppy, thanks Karyn

The parents to be Kristen and Fydo! Baby is due imminently

Not a picture but equally cool! Here is the video of Ted’s very own Christmas tree… very cool!

I really missed my time with our oldest god daughter and her family. Emanuel was also rather sad to not get his usual hugs and quality time with his god mommy. But I lucked out, the den Otters have a wonderful picture to share with us here! We miss you all so much!

Alex, Isabella and Izaac, thanks for the amazing picture Xinny!

It was super busy this Christmas for our other god daughter Anna… not only does she have a new baby sister but they also moved over the holiday. So here is the picture Ada was able to find for me. So cute! She is just 2 months older than Echo.

Miss Anna, thanks Ada

And of course we must include some images from the She Chris and He Chris Christmas. With Mae as well! You will remember them especially from their wedding!

Note the owl couple! I gave that to them last year

Miss Mae

The puppy

I want to thank everyone who send in their pictures! I am hoping to do this for other major holidays so PLEASE save those Easter pictures as well! 

A Wednesday Full of Hurry Up and Wait!

And then came Wednesday… at 6am I called (Ken was exhausted from being up late into the night working using the netbook and worried that her surgery would be forced to the following week and we would be WITHOUT sitters) the number Alan left us (I had called the night before and left a message but with something so important we did not want to wait until the 8am time Alan was quoted that she would call back) and confirmed our changes. Thank goodness Thursday WAS an option AND we were scheduled as the FIRST surgery of the day. This meant the chances of being bumped due to ANOTHER emergency was slim to nil (though we in turn had bumped someone else… there were only 2 surgeries scheduled for Thursday). 

So that changed our rules for feeding her. Amazingly enough – still no food past midnight, but now we had to be at the hospital by 6 am for admitting (of course not AT admitting as the main hospital admitting office is not open that early but to the pre-op office we went to on Tuesday) for a 7am surgery. She was allowed breastmilk until 3 am and clear liquid until 4. We were given (on Tuesday) two jars of sugar water to give her as well… of course with our juice free lifestyle for the little one that was a no go! 

This left us with a day with nothing planned… and of course the need to call EVERYONE involved with the kids so that we had everyone in the know about our extra day in the city. Thankfully (she) Chris was able to take the Friday off and Karyn and Lauralee had already taken Emanuel and Trinity to the library program Tuesday night. Karyn was willing to take the twins to her place for a visit as well! They had been asking to see her place for some time now! 

With a day free Ken had to contact his contracts to alert them to the change in his days away from the computer and take advantage of the free time to do some of the work that needs to be done anyway. We had texts to make, a few phone calls and then… well Alan and Xinny were at work, Isabella sick (and sequestered AWAY from Echo) so that left Alexander, Izaac and Xinny’s mom (she is a lovely lady though does not speak much English). A nice and quiet home. 

Sean, who is still off work after breaking his foot (his walking boot is off but it is still not 100%) contacted us and offered to take us out for lunch and some fresh air. That sounded MUCH better than sitting in the house worrying about the surgery the next day! Once Ken finished up a tiny bit of work we packed up, said good bye to Alexander (who was going for his usual half day of school soon) and his grandma and headed out to Denny’s.

At Denny's

After Denny’s we stopped a grocery store and then back to the den Otter’s where Sean hung out for the afternoon as we rested up, napped Echo (and myself) and Ken continued getting work done. Alan had to work late but Xinny came home before supper. She made ribs and Ken made mashed potatoes. Ken also ran out to get Alan when he was finally done so that he would not have to take the lengthy bus ride. 

Cuddle time with Uncle Sean

The evening was also quiet, with Ken and myself both on pins and needles and watching how Echo was coughing and behaving. She nursed at midnight and then that was it (again sugar water NO GO). I actually headed to bed (cell in hand to text with a few friends to calm my nerves) a little early and plugged everything in that needed charging. After all… Thursday was going to be EARLY! We figured I had to be up by 4:30 and Ken by 5 at the latest so we could get out the door by 5:15 and on our way to the hospital with LOTS of time to spare! 

Echo and Izaac

The Start of our Adventure to Get Echo Healthy

And so the Echo surgery saga ends… I am beyond relieved that it is all done now. I have not been so scared and in need of all the love, positive thoughts, prayers and hugs that were send my way in a very long time. And of course, as in all things related to the Reinsch-Johnson family the path the this surgery and the healing after was NOT smooth. So how to best tell the story… well I guess we start at the beginning.

Monday night the Chrises came to the house – one to drop off the car we borrowed to ensure safe travel (thanks He for the loan of your car!!) and the other to be here for Tuesday and begin her stint babysitting. We had a 12:30 am appointment in the Pre-Operation section off the pediatrics division in the city to drive to. This had us leaving the house around 10:30 to be safe. We still cut it REALLY close with Ken dropping myself and Echo and most of our stuff off at one of the entrances and then doing the usual drive a ton of blocks to find a free parking space. 

Saying good bye to our sitter

Then there was a moment of panic when we went up to our normal cardiologist office only to find they had not record of our appointment and had to call around to figure out where we were supposed to be. The information Ken got over the phone when the appointment was made was not clear on which floor we needed to be on. they are both in the C section but our cardiologist is on the 4th floor and the pre-op was on the first. One above the other. Once they found out where we were supposed to go we headed back down to the main floor to register. 

In the stroller and ready to be examined

Once we got there there was a lengthy form to fill out as well as some questions they asked before we even DID anything. There was a bit of an uproar over Echo’s long standing cough that had them bringing in the anesthesiologist to listen to her chest and check her breathing. If there had been an infection in her lower lungs that would have been the end of the surgery right there. Thankfully all of her coughing and phlegm movement was in the upper chest and they okay-ed us for surgery (as long as it did NOT get worse).  We also had to do the weigh and measure (she is officially over 18 lbs which may have been her threshold for this heart issue as the past week had us seeing her showing actual symptoms of her PDA), blood oxygen levels, temperature, blood pressure and all that fun stuff. 

Pretty in pink

During that process we also agreed to be part of a study where they take a little extra blood during her surgery and keep it for data on heart issues. There is no benefit for her BUT for other children and it has us doing nothing extra. Ken and I agreed that it would be lovely to be able to assist other families, especially with no extra effort on our own part. 

The last step was to head over and get blood taken. This is very important as with heart surgery they make sure to set aside blood for a transfusion in case of need. So they put a red bracelet on her ankle with a number on it that was NOT to be lost! She was a real trooper during the blood taking, I had KEN hold her for that one. With that final step done we had our time – 11:30am surgery which meant coming in at 10. No eating past midnight, no breastfeeding past 7:30am and no liquids after 8:30 (clear). So we packed back up and headed out the door. We gave the hospital our cell, home and the landline at the den Otter’s as they needed contact info. And that was that.

While waiting on Ken to get the car (he parked way out there remember) I noticed that I went from TONS of texts to… NONE! and then one from Telus stating that our special 2500 messages thing that we have going on each month did not have enough money in the account to update! Well that was WRONG, we had put the money in well in time for that the weekend previous. So it was time to hunt down a Starbucks and utilize their internets. Of course Ken was… agitated and told the person so so they were as helpful as possible. They fixed our messaging AND gave us 5 days of unlimited (I later figured out local to where the phone is at the time only) incoming calls. WHEW! We were back in contact business.

So then it was time to stop off at Bulk Barn to get treats for surgery time for the adults and munchies for the pre surgery meals for our pixie and then on to the den Otter’s house where Alan had come home early from work to meet us when we got there. And that is where all our carefully made plans just sort of blew up. 

Alan and Izaac

Apparently while we were sorting out our phone issues the Stollery had tried calling the cell and then moved on to our next contact number – the den Otters. Apparently there was an emergency case that came in that in turn bumped us from our Wednesday surgery time leaving us with two options – Thursday or the following week. Of course we did not make it home before the office closed. Thankfully the woman was back in at 6 am so all we could do was settle in at the den Otter’s and set an alarm to wake up early and get everything sorted out. 

The baby with a temporary reprieve

This entry was posted on 25/03/2012, in Uncategorized. 5 Comments