Andrew got the kids to bed and I finished up some last
minute things with getting one more load of laundry done, finishing the packing
and making sure everything was ready to go for the next morning. Lincoln came in to sleep with me around 5 and
I guess he came down to give Andrew a hug around 2 in the morning. My parents came over around 6:30 as the kids
were getting up. I breakfast ready for
some of them, we did our goodbyes and then we were on our way. Leah was able to take Jackson and Ellie to
school while Annie took Lincoln and brought him home which worked out well for
my parents. Andrew had a couple
appointments the day before the surgery at the hospital so we did those
first. We hoped to have a good break in
between them so we could eat lunch on The Hill but we ended up only having an
hour so we had to just eat at the cafeteria. Definitely not as good. But
everything went smoothly with his appointments, then we went to a few stores
and then to Sara’s house. Sara was
leaving to take Bella to dance class when we got there so we got to hang to out
with Lissy, Brady and Charlotte. Brady
entertained us with his drawings and playing with the Christmas tree. Sara was so excited. So we got to sit and
visit with them for a little bit and then we met up with them, Ryan and Heidi
and her family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was great to see Heidi again and catch up
quickly. But everyone had to get home since the kids had school the next day
and so Andrew and I headed to our hotel.
We decided to just stay down by the hospital instead of trying to deal
with traffic the next morning.
We had to be at the hospital at 8 and then we waited in
the registration area for about an hour before going up to pre-op. Our pre-op
nurse was getting into cycling and triathlons so we talked about that quite a
bit. A fellow working with the surgeon
stopped by to go over some things with us.
He asked if Andrew had taken the naproxen that day and explained that he
needed to continue to take it after the surgery along with the pain medication
they would be prescribing. He said some
about the naproxen and bone growth so I just had to ask what that was all
about. I was wondering why they had him
taking it before surgery and for a couple weeks after. He said I am the first one to ever ask that
question which Andrew found entertaining since he jokes that I ask too many
questions. But they use to help prevent
a process called heterotropic ossification in which little bone fragments from
the shaving process are left behind in the soft tissue and more bone can start
to grow. I thought it was pretty neat. But on to the surgery. Everything went really smoothly and he headed
back to surgery a little after 10. I
brought a bunch of stuff to work on including some Christmas stuff and since
the twins’ third birthday is coming up it is time to answer questions for the
study they are a part of. I got a
notification that they had started surgery around 10: 30. Then Lissy stopped by
and brought me lunch from Cheesecake Factory which was awesome, plus it was
nice to chat with her for a bit too.
Around 1:15, I was notified that they were out of surgery and the doctor
wanted to talk to me on the phone. He
said that they had to repair some cartilage and a labral tear. They did take off quite a bit of bone on the
femoral head to make it the right shape and also removed an old, small
fractured piece of bone from the rim of the socket and smoothed the rim
out. He said everything went well which
was great. So I think they had to do a little more than what they thought they
were going to but it sounds like he should have an awesome hip now J. I got to go up and
stay with him in recovery after about an hour. He was still pretty out of it
and was shaking. It took him about a 1 ½
hours before he was coherent again. And
even then he still had trouble remembering what we had talked about or focusing
on things. And things were also confusing with the nurses and what all was
expected of us for discharge and recovery.
Our first nurse actually didn’t work in the recovery area so she wasn’t
too sure about what all we were supposed to do. There was confusion about if we
could take his sutures out on our own or had to come back in two weeks for it,
whether we needed an ice machine and where it was, whether we need to use a
machine to prevent blood clots or another machine to get Andrew moving his
legs. After all of it was said he done,
we were given a suture removal kit so we could do it ourselves, we got the ice
machine to use for the next week or so, and they really don’t use the other two
machines that often even though the original packet we were given before the
surgery said we would have them. Then
they remembered last minute that he needed an x-ray before we left too. Andrew was doing pretty well though once he
finally came around. We didn’t actually leave the hospital until around 5:30
which was great timing for rush hour traffic out of downtown St. Louis. And I
am definitely not the best driver for all of that. But we eventually got on the interstate and
sat there for a while off and on. We talked about stopping in Troy to get some
gas and food and let Andrew stretch but he was out at that point so I kept
going. He woke up after over an hour of good sleep. I even took a couple of phone calls and he
had no idea anyone had called. We
stopped a little before Hannibal to fill up because I knew the gas station was
easy to get to and had a nice open parking lot which I thought may be
beneficial to Andrew. So he got out for a bit and even made it to the
restroom. Then we just drove through
Wendy’s in Hannibal to grab something to eat.
We made it home a little after nine and my parents and Molly were there
with the kids waiting on us. They had them all ready for bed. They helped us get everything into the house,
put the car seats back in our car and even put the kids to bed while I got things
situated for Andrew. And while we were
gone, Michele came and cleaned since I had one more gift certificate to use
this year from Christmas last year. So it was so wonderful to come home to a
clean house with the kids all ready to go.
The help we got from everyone-from taking care of our kids, to taking
them and picking them up from school, to hiding our packages on our porch, to
bringing our trash cans up, etc…it was all so appreciated. Molly and my parents
left around 9:30 or so and after getting stuff put away and organized from
being gone and getting Andrew ready for bed we finally settled down around 11.
I had everything ready for him to sleep in the bed but then he decided he
wanted to sleep on the couch. So we had
to cover that up because he was bleeding through his wound dressing and his
pants but he didn’t want to change it yet. I thought I had some large gauze
pads but I didn’t, so I just taped a washcloth over the dressing that was
already there to hopefully soak up some of the blood.
I guess he didn’t have the best night because he was up a
lot going to the bathroom. I heard him a
little but I didn’t realize he got up that much. But we were all up early the next morning to
get ready for school. I made sure Andrew had his medicine before we left and
then I got the kids off to school. After
we dropped off Lincoln (who told his teachers that his dad was sick and had to
use “crunches”) I ran by the office so that I could pick up all the phone
messages that had come in so far and pay Molly’s friends for the time they
spent at the office. And while we were
driving back and forth I realized I still had not ordered cupcakes for the
twins’ birthday on Saturday so I got that done.
We were able to make it home for a little bit so I could change Andrew’s
dressing, get him situated in the bedroom so that the twins couldn’t bother him
and get him set up with the ice machine so it could run for a little while
before we had to leave for Ellie’s Christmas program at school. I told the twins that we were going to
Ellie’s school to watch her sing and they had to be quiet. They said okay and then Bennett put his
finger to his mouth and said, “Sshhh.”
At least they partly understood.
They weren’t horrible but they weren’t the best either. Mary, my mom and Molly came to watch the
program too and I had called my mom before to see if she had any Smarties, so
she rescued me there. They did entertain
the twins a little bit. The second
graders had a cute program called “Christmas at the OK Corral” so Ellie dressed
up like a cowgirl. For some reason she
actually didn’t smile too much but I finally got a couple with her beautiful
smile. And thankfully we were done by
10:30 or so.
We picked up Lincoln a little early and they were just
heading out to the playground. They had
not been able to go out and play for a while so he was upset that I was early.
But he was happy that I stopped and picked up some McDonalds for them and then
I made some pasta for Andrew and I. I
put the twins down at their usual time for naps so that they would still be
asleep when I needed to pick up Jackson and Ellie from school and I could leave
them at home with Andrew without them causing any problems. While we were gone Andrew actually got
himself ready to go to physical therapy. He can’t really bend over at all so
that is quite a feat. We have all helped at times with helping him get pants
and shoes on J. The twins were still napping so I left
Jackson and Ellie at home with them while Lincoln and I took Andrew to physical
therapy. Once we got him situated, we
headed home and then picked him up a little later. He really wasn’t looking
forward to doing it because anytime he moved it hurt and he knew it would
involve more movement. But he definitely needed to do it to help get things
moving. He said his brain would tell his leg to move but it wouldn’t do
anything. I think he was pretty sore after he was done so I got him set up with
his ice machine and started heating up the dinner that Kristin had brought us
earlier. Our small group was kind enough to set up a meal calendar for us even
though I resisted. I know everyone is busy this time of year and I had made
freezer meals to help get us through this time, but they insisted. And my mom
keeps asking if I want them to take the kids. But we are doing pretty well. Things are crazy, not in a bad way but just
like a whirlwind of activity. From making sure Andrew is taking his meds at the
right time, has food and drink, setting him up with the ice machine, changing
his dressing, making sure the floor is clear of anything that could trip him
and just making sure he has everything he needs plus taking care of everything
with the house and kids, makes for a very busy day
Andrew came out of the bedroom a little while after we
ate dinner and he had some too. Then he
sat out in the family room for a while. I think he gets pretty bored in the
bedroom by himself. And the kids enjoy
seeing him too. I cleaned up from dinner, bathed the kids and got their clean
laundry upstairs for them to put away. I
tried to convince Andrew to try to sleep in the bed again but he opted for the
couch. So I moved his toilet seat (and
then I have to move it back to the master bath during the day J) and got him all
situated out there. But even with all
that I do, he still tries to help himself out.
Early in the morning he got himself an ice bag and made some
coffee. I got up early and got a bike
ride in and then got the twins ready for the day. I took them with me to take Jackson and Ellie
to school and let Lincoln stay at home with Andrew. I figured Lincoln may like to have some time
to play by himself without worrying about fighting with the twins and Andrew
would enjoy the quiet without all the screaming that comes with the
fighting. After we dropped the kids off,
I ran by the accountants and then headed home.
Andrew decided he wanted to try to get on the bike when I got home. He wouldn’t be going back to physical therapy
until Tuesday so he needed to do something.
They also gave him some exercises to do. The best way we could figure
out for him to get on the bike was to climb up onto the hope chest we have
beside the bike so that he could sit on the seat and then swing his left leg
around. It actually worked and he spent
about 10 minutes on the bike.
I needed
to get some more ice for the machine after he was done so I just left the kids
here (actually Lincoln had gone over to Alex’s to play at this point) while I
made a quick trip to Dollar General to pick up some. But I guess in the little
bit of time I was gone, one of the twins had to poop and Andrew managed to take
care of wiping him. I think he was thinking the timing wasn’t that great on
that one. But I did get him set up with
the ice machine and then got busy with getting some stuff done around the house
including decorating for the twins’ birthday party. I decided to just go ahead and use the same
theme as last year to keep things simple.
And I didn’t use everything I had for last year so that there wasn’t as
much to take down afterwards. And the
kids entertained themselves by playing with Andrew’s crutches while the twins are very into their dump trucks and track hoes these past few days.
That evening the Heerens ordered pizza for us which was
so nice. After we ate, I made sure
Andrew was good to go then loaded up the kids and headed to my parents
house. I thought it would be good to get
them out of the house for a bit and let Andrew have some peace and quiet. Then I made a quick trip to Walmart to pick
up cupcakes for the twins’ birthday the next day and a few other things. Ellie went with me because she needed to pick
out a gift for her Secret Santa at school.
The hard thing was that it had to be only one dollar. Ellie insisted we go to the Dollar Tree and I
think she was a tad bit disappointed with what she could get for $1. After
quite a bit of browsing I had to give her a time limit and she ended up
choosing a ribbon wand which I thought was a good choice. So we headed back to
my parents to pick up the other kids and head home. I got the kids to bed,
Andrew all situated and then went to bed.
Andrew was determined to go to work the next morning. I
think he was getting pretty anxious about no one being at the office. I wouldn’t let him drive since he was still
taking his pain meds, so he worked his way around it. He took his medicine with
him to the office so he would take it while he was there and then wait the four
hours before the next dose was due before he came home. When he got home he did
the bike, finally got to take a shower and then did his PT exercises. He was wiped out after that! He slept until party time but he got up just
in time and actually shaved. I spent the day getting stuff cleaned and ready
for the party and working a little on some more Christmas projects. The kids played with their friends and doing
some craft projects. Ellie made some
thank you cards to send to my Grandpa Mike and Karen and then she and Lincoln
worked on some Christmas shrink dinks. Lincoln colored his but abandoned Ellie
on the cutting part to go play with Alex.
But Ellie got them all cut out and then we put them in the oven. It is always fun for them to watch them
shrink down. They were supposed to be
ornaments that went on a piper cleaner tree that Ellie started to put together
but didn’t have time to finish it before the party.
A little over an hour before the party started I went
upstairs and turned off the twins’ noisemaker in their room to wake them
up. Bennett was the first up and he was
excited to finally get a cupcake. He
gave me a little smile for a picture and finally Miles came down right before
the party. He was a tired boy and wasn’t
too excited about getting his picture either.
I wasn’t successful at getting one of them together until after the
party. We just ordered pizza and tried
to keep things pretty simple since other things were hectic at this time. As we
were eating Bennett spent most of the time crying because he wanted a cupcake.
But then it was time for presents so his attention was diverted. Opening the
presents was just pure chaos. One of the first presents the twins opened were some
remote-controlled Thomas trains so they weren’t too interested in opening the
others. But they didn’t need to worry because their siblings and cousins helped
them out. Then my dad and Molly took
charge of getting the toys out of the boxes and batteries in. And then it took
some convincing to get them to move onto the cupcakes-after all of that crying
before. But again, they were good to go
after they realized what was happening and they even blew out their
candle-first time for both of them. But
then it was time for everyone to head home. The after-party was a little
different than usual. Andrew usually does baths and gets the kids to bed while
I clean but it was all up to me this time.
It went pretty smoothly though. I bathed the kids first and let them
play with the new toys while I took down the decorations and cleaned up. So
they went to bed kind of late but it wasn’t a bad thing since they were
traveling to St. Louis the next day with my parents so there was hope they
would sleep in the car for them.
Our world certainly changed for the better when these two
boys made a speedy entry into our world three years ago. I never imagined I would ever have twins but
I wouldn’t have it any other way! They definitely challenge me with their stubbornness,
feisty attitude and fighting but I wake up every morning excited to see their
smiles and to feel their hugs. They may
fight quite a bit (and they can get pretty intense J) but they also watch out for
each other and take care of each other which is so much fun to watch. Their
conversations crack me up at times-some of it I don’t understand and other
times I am impressed with their vocabulary. It has been a joy watching them
grow from tiny babies to toddlers and I am excited to watch them grow into
little boys.
Andrew headed to the office again Sunday morning while I
got up and got the kids ready to go.
Everyone but Jackson got to go but he seemed to be okay with it. He
enjoys having some time at home by himself.
So he was at a sleepover at a neighbor’s house. The other ones had to be ready to go by 7:30
and my parents were even a little early. But I think they were on the road just
a little after 7:30. I got a quick bike ride in before I needed to get ready
for church while Jackson got home about 20 minutes before we needed to
leave. After church we did some quick
grocery shopping. He fell back into
helper mode pretty easily-got the cart for me and pushed it around, found a few
items for me and helped me scan things at Wal-Mart. Then we stopped by Andrew’s
office and brought him some donuts and I also surprised with a new hoodie that
they were selling at church. He said he
just had to finish up something and then he was ready to call it a day and head
home to rest.
After lunch I finished up the last of my wrapping I had
to do and then worked on teacher gifts. I did the same thing that I did last
year (fleece blankets and a Starbucks gift card) and they were pretty simple to
put together. Jackson worked on putting
together one of Miles and Bennett’s toys from their birthday. It actually took
him about an hour to do it, but he stuck with it and finished it for me.
Andrew really wanted me to watching a French movie with
him, Amelie. It was a bit of an odd
movie but he liked it. I worked on paying bills and few other things while we
watched the movie but it had subtitles so I did have to keep my eyes on the screen.
Jackson spent some time outside with his friends playing at their fort. It was
actually almost 60 degrees outside which was great. He came inside at one point
to get his light saber. Then that night,
some friends from our small group, Tyler and Danielle, brought a delicious
dinner by for us. We are so
spoiled. So we ate it and watched Catching Fire. We got get it free on
Amazon and Jackson was wanting to see it. I worked on designing some tags for
Ellie’s class Christmas party favors I signed up to bring. I decided to do little bags with Snowman
Peeps, graham crackers and chocolate with a tag that says “Frosty the S’mores
Man was a jolly happy soul.” Andrew ended up going into the bedroom to rest and
ice his hip again. After the movie I made a quick trip to Hy-Vee to pick up
some cupcakes and drinks since we were having Andrew’s family in for Mary’s
birthday the next day-yes the marathon of birthdays continues.
And while we enjoyed a quiet, productive day our other
kids were having fun with their cousins.
First up was Charlotte’s baptism and then they got to go on the Polar
Express at Union Station. I got a few
pictures from my mom and Lissy said that they loved it. They are getting back late tonight so I am
anxious to hear all about it tomorrow. It was so nice of my parents to take
them!
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