October Pier Walk

When Crew broke his arm, the swim lessons that he was finally thriving in and trips to the pool and beach came to an abrupt halt. He asked us every single day if we could go to the pool. When we told him "No," he'd ask, "Can we go to the beach?" Again, we'd have to break the news to him that he couldn't get his cast wet, so the pool and beach were not ideal places for us to go.

But we couldn't completely keep away from the shore in our beautiful October weather. We made peace with a bike ride along the boardwalk and lunch overlooking the ocean, followed by a walk on the pier. That way, Crew's cast could remain sand and water free but we could still get our fill of salty air, waves and surfers.

That lunch view was hard to beat.

The boys were so happy to be in our favorite place that it didn't matter that we left the buckets and boogie boards behind.

Crew was especially grateful to be back after our multi-week beach hiatus.

He plopped right down to soak it all in.

Nash joined him.

And did a little of his own relaxation, in typical Nash fashion.

We stopped to listen to a guitarist on the way back to grab our bikes.

Finn was tuckered out by that point.

We caved on our "no going in the sand" rule a bit at the end because Crew wanted to go on the swings so badly and we couldn't bear adding another "no" to the list. He had close supervision to make sure his cast didn't take a dip in the sand. 

Blake and Nash quickly relocated from the swings to a gigantic pile of rocks. 

But not Crew. We didn't go to many playgrounds during the time his arm was casted because most of the parks in our town also have sand. Crew would have stayed on that swing on the beach all day if we had let him.

Some ocean air was just what we all needed after being cooped up more than we were used to. It was enough to tide us over a couple more weeks until Crew's cast came off for good.

Completed Summer Bucket List

Each year, we complete the majority of the activities we plan on our annual summer bucket list. But this was the first summer we checked off every single item.

A lot of the items on our list were activities we had plans to do anyway. But we completed some loftier goals as well. We checked off visits to 20 parks, 6 beaches and 10 pools. We collectively biked more than 150 miles. We each read for at least 200 minutes. 

We paddleboarded, nature walked, night swam, boated, flew on airplanes, picnicked, built sandcastles, launched water balloons, watched fireworks, ran through sprinklers and spotted a rainbow.

By the end of September, we only had one item left on our list to complete. Technically the boys had already been back in school for 5 weeks, but when our friends hosted an outdoor movie night and that happened to be our last checkmark to obtain, we counted it. 

The boys were very proud of our completed bucket list, but even during the summers where we don't quite accomplish every single item, we love having ideas to draw from when summer days drag on. It helps us to be more deliberate with how we spend our time and having goals to work towards is never a bad idea.

Nash loves to take "relaxing" photos and I'd say our completed summer bucket list was cause for some well-earned relaxation.

Another Day, Another Hospitalization

Exactly one week after Crew received his cast for his broken arm, we wound up in the hospital again.

Finn was on his typical two week rotation of coughing and wheezing but I didn't think much of it because he is sick more often than not. We amped up the breathing treatments when his symptoms worsened but I wasn't concerned he was in life-threatening danger. Although his breathing was labored, I had heard him sound much worse in the past.

Still, I was grateful that he had a well check scheduled the morning after his fever spiked so he could be examined.

The minute we arrived at the pediatrician's office, Finn coughed so hard that he vomited in the waiting room. The nurses took one look at his chest caving in and out and immediately sent us back to check his oxygen. When our pediatrician listened to his lungs and recorded his SpO₂ level, she determined that he wasn't well at all. We would have to reschedule his well check because he needed to be immediately admitted at the children's hospital.

His pulse oximetry reading was 86% which is extremely low. Anything under 92%, especially in a child, can be life-threatening. 

We did a few breathing treatments at the pediatrician's office and got him stabilized enough that I was given the clear to drive him to the hospital instead of having to ride in an ambulance. I made some phone calls to make arrangements for the other boys and we were on our way.

When we arrived at the hospital they had a private room waiting for us with a toddler crib set up. They hooked Finn up to a machine that would constantly monitor his oxygen.

It's a good thing we had his nie-nights with us because he had a long night of breathing treatments ahead of him and he needed all the comfort and familiarity he could get.

The volunteers from Ronald McDonald House brought in some toys for Finn to play with during the moments when his breathing was unassisted. We were grateful for the distraction but his movements kept knocking off the monitor wrapped around his toe and setting off the alarm.

He was not a fan of being in a confined radius.

After spending all afternoon and evening at the hospital, we saw his oxygen level rise a bit but it dropped each time the albuterol wore off. At 88%, I knew they weren't going to let us go home. We settled in for the night because oxygen tends to drop even more when sleeping. They ended up putting Finn in isolation, which meant that no children were allowed in the room and anyone who entered had to put on a mask and gloves.

Finn's SpO₂ dropped as anticipated throughout the night so they put him on oxygen in addition to his routine breathing treatments. It was a rough night. I had to crawl in the crib to lay down with him multiple times. He decided around 11pm that he was ready for a meal. Each time they gave him a breathing treatment it woke him up. And when he realized he had tubes taped to his face, he was less than cooperative.

I went for about 24 hours with no food because somehow there wasn't a system in place to let the parent leave the room. Troy couldn't come take a shift because he had our three other boys and they weren't allowed. I couldn't exactly leave my two year old alone and they didn't have any cafeteria meal delivery options. Finally after an entire day, I was in tears because I was so tired and so hungry. The nurse agreed to find a volunteer to sit with Finn for a half hour so I could run down to the cafeteria to grab some food.

The good news was that after a night of treatments, Finn's SpO₂ leveled out around 98-99% which meant that when the doctor made her rounds, we were given the clear to go home.

Finn was in much better spirits as his lungs offered him some relief.

Thank goodness for that thumb to help us through a traumatic night.

We decided to invest in our own pulse oximeter so we can measure Finn's SpO₂ at home. It's tricky to know when he is in danger and when he isn't because he coughs and wheezes so frequently with his asthma. I brought him to urgent care and the pediatrician twice in the past when I thought he sounded worse. I was sent home both times with instructions to "continue breathing treatments," so I wasn't exactly rushing to the ER this time around. Now we can know for certain when his SpO₂ is low enough for action and when we're okay to continue breathing treatments at home. We're taking a more aggressive maintenance plan with daily steroid treatments to reduce the irritation and swelling of his airways, which in turn will hopefully help us avoid additional trips to the hospital. 

Because as much fun as it is to sleep on a futon or in a toddler-sized crib with a two year old, I'd rather stay in a less-expensive five star hotel and eat regular meals. 

I'm only half kidding. In the end, I'm so grateful for the doctors and nurses that made my baby well again. We feel so blessed to live at a time when our children can get the assistance they need to restore their breathing. That's kind of an important thing for survival.

Casted

My big plans to get caught up on documenting life since September didn't exactly pan out before the end of the 2016. So here's to January. And here's to rewinding several months to fill in the gaps.

A few days after Crew broke his arm, we went to the orthopedic surgeon to get him casted. He was given a booklet of color choices to flip through and he instantly settled on black. I asked him if wanted blue or green or orange and he insisted, "I want buh-lack." Black it was. We picked up some metallic sharpies on the way home to fill his cast with signatures.

Crew's cast was exciting at first but he got sick of answering the question from strangers, "How did you break your arm?" over and over. Once he realized he couldn't get his cast wet and riding his bike became more of a challenge, the novelty wore off. 

He still figured out a way to cruise along with his elbow up in the air.

Even with a backwards helmet.

It was actually shocking to us that in our eight years with four boys, this was our first cast. We figured we were due.