Sick Eva

My poor baby has had it ROUGH! As I mentioned in an earlier post, she came home from the hospital and immediately started throwing up all day and night. It was so hard on her and she got down to 7lbs 3oz at 2 1/2 months old. She developed a full on oral aversion and had an incredibly sensitive gag. We finally decided we needed to get rid of the ng tube and she had a g-tube placed. A week later she completely stopped throwing up and was making vast improvements. 2 weeks after getting the g-tube she got sick and again started throwing up and was just not well in general. She struggled to overcome that sickness and just when she seemed to be getting back to her healthy little self she was hit hard by the flu. I don’t hesitate to say that she has, by far, been the hardest to care for of all of our trach babies. While it’s taken a toll on me, my heart breaks to see all that she has had to endure. Here are some pics of her forever sickness.

Pedialyte

One night of laundry

Sick and still so pretty.

During her sickness she really enjoyed sleeping on her belly. I had to put down a couple of blankets in addition to her sheet because she threw up so often. I just kept a pile of those little blankets by her bed and when she would throw up I would just change out the blanket.

The kids missed her so much because I wouldn’t let them near her while she was sick or if any of them had so much as a sniffle.

On the mend…

Her first day of really feeling pretty good. I was SO HAPPY!

I’ve been so grateful to have the support of an incredible husband that does all that he can to help. He takes the night shift on weekends so that I can get some sleep and does bedtime every night with the kids(brushing teeth, pj’s, books, tickle time/snuggles) while I take care of Eva. He makes sure to get off of work early enough on Monday’s and Wednesday’s so that I can go to Zumba. Every Saturday he takes the kids out to a movie, humane society, lunch…anywhere they want to go and they stay out all day so that I can “relax” at home with Eva. He takes all of the kids when he goes grocery shopping without me even asking or expecting him to. Then, on Sunday he goes to church with all 3 kids all by himself. He helps lighten my load so much and NEVER makes me feel guilty for the piles and piles of dirty laundry or for him having to scrounge up dinner most nights.

Going through hardships can either drive a couple apart or bring you together. Our hardships have definitely brought us together because of all that he does. It didn’t happen over night and we have definitely had our moments where the weight of it all didn’t bring out the best in us but I can honestly say that we have never been happier or more in love with each other than we are right now. He is absolutely the most incredible father I know. Seeing the father that he has become makes me love him and appreciate him so much more than I ever though I could. Despite the stress and sleep deprivation, I feel BLESSED.