Sunday, July 3, 2016

June 2016

June was a really rough month for Baby Felix. On June 1st he had to have surgery on his left kidney. I had placenta previa during my pregnancy with him, and at my 35 week ultrasound to make sure the previa had moved we discovered that his left kidney was enlarged. We have been going quite often to the pediatric urologist for ultrasounds and test, and it was only continuing to get larger and larger.  On June 1st he had to have surgery to try to correct this issue. After he was under anesthesia and in the operating room they started out by doing exploratory surgery to determine exactly what was causing the blockage.  Eric and I were told that if it is something that they believe will eventually work itself out as he grows, then they will not need to continue with surgery. If it is something that will require surgery to correct it, then they would go ahead and do the surgery right then. Felix wasn't able to eat anything the night before after 9pm, couldn't nurse after 6:45am, and could have apple juice or clear pedialyte until 8:45, and then nothing after that. He had to be at the hospital at 10:45 and then they had an emergency come up so he didn't go back for surgery until 12:45 pm. He handled it all like a champ, though! He was very active, talkative, and won the hearts of all the nurses there. Once they came and took him out of my arms to go back to surgery (with him crying and reaching back for me- cue the many tears from me), Eric and I went out to the waiting room. They called a bit later to let us know that they discovered the problem and that it would require surgery, and that they were starting on that right then. They said Felix was doing great through it all. The entire surgery took about 1 hour and 45 minutes, and then they called us back to speak to the doctor. We learned that Felix's main artery was lying on the cord from the bladder to the kidney, which was causing a kink and making the kidney enlarged. Felix had a tube on his left side that had to stay in for a week for drainage, and then a stint that stayed in for three weeks while healing. The surgery went well and when we went back to the recovery room my heart broke at the screaming I could hear coming from his room as I walked down the hallway. We were told that he would be very sore, and I tried to nurse to comfort him but he didn't even want to do that at the moment. I was worried it would be a long ride home from Knoxville, but he was still so groggy from his pain meds that he slept the majority of the ride home. 
 Unfortunately just a little over a week after his surgery he started running a super high fever (like 104.9). I was so scared it was some type of infection from the surgery, but after running several test it was determined that he had a UTI. He was put on a antibiotic for ten days and had to have several doctor visits. He started feeling much better a couple of days after starting the antibiotic, but then after the ten days were over it wasn't long before he started running a fever again. I just knew it was another UTI and after another visit to the peds office it was confirmed it was sure enough a UTI. Dr. Adams gave him a shot of antibiotics and an even stronger oral antibiotic for ten more days. After that round he seems to be his normal self again.
 June also wrapped up the end of t-ball and baseball season. Jackson, Ansley and Elsie all had a great season and improved from where they were at the beginning of the season.

 Elsie- my just finished kindergartner- wearing my shirt from kindergarten.
Vada Belle and her love of kittens
One Sunday as we were headed to Sparta for a birthday party for Eric's aunt, my van completely stopped running as we were driving. Turns out it was the engine that blew.  We had to start car shopping and ended up with this new ride:
 The kids at Emergency Fest and Elsie and Vada Belle holding some of our baby turkeys (with our big turkey, Tony, behind them).

We were so glad that Felix finally started feeling better:
 Our sweet kittens, Oreo and Cookie, and the kids saying good-bye to a turtle their daddy found.
 Eric took the kids and I to our very first Drive-In movie this month. We all loved it (and I actually prefer this over the movie theater after going), and we saw Alice Through the Looking Glass. We all had a wonderful time.
 We also celebrated our wonderful daddy (and husband!) on Father's Day (which was also the same day as Vada Belle's birthday!).
 Ansley Kate has worked and saved up her money to buy her a new American Girl doll. She will go with me when I go to clean a rental house, and she will help me clean so she can earn a few dollars. She then immediately put it in her place where she saves her money, and then one day she finally had enough saved up that she was able to purchase all of this when they had a great deal going on. Can you tell she was a bit excited! It has been close to a year (if not longer) that she has been saving, so we were so proud of his accomplishment!
 We also had Bible School this month at our church. The kids had a fantastic time and here are a couple of pictures from Elsie's class and Vada Belle's. (Jackson and Ansley were in the class I taught so I didn't get a picture of them).
 -Jackson and Black Cat
-The kids helping out in the garden
-Something kept killing our chickens! We ended up catching two raccoons, but only after they killed 10 of our chickens.
-Picnic with my little man at the park
Felix finally feeling much better at the end of the month! Here he is swinging at Mamaw and Papaw's house. Check out that sweet little grin:
 Two of my best girl friends from high school were able to come hang out one day, and I loved watching all of our kids play with one another. What a sweet group of kids!
 Vada Belle, Felix, and Vada Belle snuggling with Oreo

We love the Summer Reading Program at the local library and all of the wonderful events they plan. One day in June they had a dinosaur puppet show that taught the kids all kinds of neat facts about dinosaurs, and then the kids were able to go out and take a ride on one.
Felix's 11 month old pictures! Like I said earlier, it's been a rough month for him with surgery on his kidney and then two UTI's after that, but he was still smiling through it all and loves snuggling, especially when he doesn't feel well. He is now cruising along while holding onto things, he loves to climb up the stairs (but I'm not a fan of that), he loves his cars, trucks, tractors- anything with wheels, and he thinks summer time is the best since he gets to play with his big brother and sisters all day long.
 Playing in the backyard and loving these summer days with my babies:
 Family Selfie in our messy play room:

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