Running for our Angels 2013

Tatum Update:  We are HOME!  Yay.  We got to come home yesterday afternoon.  We waited to watch and make sure that Tatum was tolerating her feedings, which so far she seems to be.  Her system is just working slow.  Not the best thing, but for now I think we can work through that.  It will be interesting to see if her system works a little better once all of her feedings are going into her intestines.  Who knows?  We waited to leave the hospital until she woke up because she had gone for almost 29 hours straight without sleeping.  Not a typo, 29 hours!  So she took a 5 hour "nap" in the middle of the day so we just waited until she woke up.  She was still sad when she woke up.  I hope that when her rash and pneumonia are cleared up that she can be a little back to herself.  It is really hard and sad to see her cry because she never does.

This is the sign we put on the door so Tatum could get her nap.  It worked very well.  The first picture is of the hideous rash that she developed, possibly from the tape around the IV.  The night nurse thought that it would be OK to not treat it!  What the?  My doctor said it gave him chills when he saw it.  That may have been the irritation that kept her awake all night.  Wow.  I am learning a lot.  I did ask about putting something on it, next time i will be a little more insistent.  Ugh.

Overall the hospital stay was positive.  I always feel a little safer there because my doctor comes in and checks on her and we know a lot of the nurses and techs and respiratory people.  It is very home like for me.  So I do not have the disdain that I know a lot of people probably have for the hospital.  I even kind of like the food.  I know, crazy.  I do not like being away from the kids.  Poor Heidi kept texting to see when we were coming home and what was going on.  She is definitely my worrier.  The boys, not a word from either of them:)  Halea just kept sending me ridiculous pictures.  Social media has definitely been a highlight of this entire ordeal.  It has truly saved my sanity.  I can connect with my kids, our family and friends in a way that was impossible when Trevin was going through this.  So nice to get a text, or a call, or an instagram or check facebook.  I can listen to Pandora, or check emails.  It is really amazing and different.  

We took time to do a little pedicure and manicure.  We have never done Tatum's fingernails before, but this time we thought we would be a little crazy!

It's hard to tell, but it is pink sparkly polish.  It looks adorable.  Hopefully it will be enough to charm the people at Primary Childrens on Wednesday to know how special and loved she is.  

When we got home yesterday, it was the typical craziness.  We tidied up a bit and did laundry.  The boys were a little disappointed that they were having to miss their Father's and Sons outing so Lance took them to Chik fil a.  Yummo.  We girls were supposed to do something fun while the boys were gone, so when they got home we ran down to Zupa's and got some food.  The kids are being very patient.  Sometimes we have to cut out things that are not totally necessary in our lives to maintain some semblance of order in our life.  Some activities just have to be missed.  To have Tatum here, it is worth it.  Our kids are learning a very valuable lesson of flexibility and prioritizing things as they should be.  Things that will be great to have in their arsenal as they grow up.

This morning I was able to go down to Thanksgiving Point and participate in a race that has been going on for 9 years.  It was started by a lady that I met at the hospital when she lost her sweet baby.  It was her second loss.  She ended up writing a book and creating this race to help raise funds for Women and Children's health issues and to give families an opportunity to run for a loved one that has gone to the other side.   Many run for babies that have gone too soon.  Some of the proceeds help to fund our Angel Watch and Common Bonds programs at the hospital so I try and go if I can, but this year it was a little tentative.  I just wasn't sure how Tater bug was going to do.  Luckily she was sleeping pretty soundly when I woke up this morning so I made a last minute decision to go.  A lady that comes to our Common Bonds group and started our facebook page organized getting shirts with our babies names on them.  It was fun to get there and see some of our peeps. 

 About half way through the race, down pour!  It rained like I haven't seen it rain in a long time.  I laughed to myself and thought how appropriate, like tears from Heaven.  And it was a down pouring of tears.  Very symbolic.  I was happy to get home and climb in the hot shower.  Grateful for those times to remember that we are not alone in this journey.  Many of the people there are family members of the moms and dads that have lost babies.  They bring their support system, they walk the journey together.  Very cool.  

Grateful to be home.  We need to stay healthy for 5 days. The countdown has begun.