Jackson Goes To The Hospital

On the evening of December 26th I was playing with Jackson on the living room floor after work. I ws on the phone with Camille and mentioned to her that he had a little bruise under his eye. I just figured he must have hit himself in the eye or bumped it earlier when I wasn't looking.

Recently, Jackson had a bump on his chest that I had chalked up to impetigo - something he's had before with his chronic eczema. It was pretty nasty but we were covering it with a bandaid and it seemed to not be bothering him. It dawned on me that this spot on his face looked similar to what the bump on his chest did several days earlier. So I went to google to try and understand what was going on. Through all the discusting images I searched nothing really looked like what had been on his chest, except maybe a spider bite, but even that didn't quite fit.  

By the time Brad got home about 3 hours later Jackson's cheek had begun to swell up.

I called our pediatrian's office and spoke with the on-call nurse. She said that as long as Jackson wasn't running a fever and there were no red lines radiating from the bump then to just wait until the morning to see the pediatrician.

That night when we were undressing him for his bath the bump on his chest "ruptured". It was nauseating what came out of it. And then it began to bleed. I went back online and broadened my search. That's when I found images for MRSA. It looked EXACTLY like all the images of a staph infection in the first few days. I read the profile on WebMD and was too scared to tell Brad what I read.

Needless to say none of slept well that night. I laid there stairing at Jackson and silently prayed that what he had wasn't as serious as I had read online.

The next morning, Jackson eye was swelling shut. His cheek was red and he was clearly in pain. He went to work with Brad. As soon as the doctor's office opened up Brad was there waiting. It didn't do much good because they told him to come back at 11:00. I was able to sneak out and meet up with them.

Jackson's regular doctor wasn't available so we saw a back-up (her name escapes me right now). When she came in and asked what was going on I told her I thought he had a staph infection. She said that is exactly what he had. She prescribed two types of antibiotics and told us to come back at 9am the next day. If it wasn't better she would send us somewhere to have it drained. Before we left she called in a nurse so they could take a sample of the fluid from Jackson's chest for a culture. I broke down. It was one of the hardest moments I've had to experience as a mommy. To see someone hurting my baby...to hear him cry in pain like that...and there was nothing I could do.

I had no idea we would experience so much worse in the days to come.

Trying to get the antibiotics from the pharmacy was a joke. We left the pharmacy at 11:00 am on Thursday and it was 5:00 pm before I was even able to pick up ONE of the antibiotics. The other one had to be ordered and as I'm writing this I realize we STILL haven't received a call (it's been four days). The swelling continued and after a near fall just the pressure on his face left him crying for two hours in pain before he finally passed out. Another sleepless night of fear and unknowning.

We finally got up around 4:30 am on Friday morning. The only way to describe Jackson's face is "deformed". His eye was almost completely swollen shut and the side of his face was shiney, red and swollen. We debated waiting four and half hours for the doctor's appointment, but we wanted to give the prescription some more time to work. Every minute last forever. I gave up and decided to be standing at the door when the office opened at 8:30. Brad met me there.

We saw the same doctor. He took one look at Jackson and said she wanted us admitted to the children's hospital so they could lance and drain the abscess that was causing the swelling. We waited about an hour while she made some calls. All the beds were full so finally she told us to just go to the children's ER and they would get us in.

We walked through the doors at Methodist Children's Hospital around 11:00 am on Friday morning. The receptionist asked our last name. Rabel....and before we could tell her anything else she said, "Let me see him." We turned the stroller around and she turned to the woman next to her. "Take him back next." We immediately went around the corner for vitals and then went straight back to a room. Half a dozen medical personnel came in to ask questions, check vitals, get Jackson ready and to get us settled in. Then two nurses came in, asked Brad to hold down Jackson and they began to hook up his IV port.

I thought the previous day at the pediatricians was hard. This lasted twice as long. I stood off to the side while Brad held Jackson down. I covered my face and tried to hold back the tears but I just couldn't leave the room. When it was finally over my little baby was in an over-sized infant hospital gown and had tubes and tape all up his left arm.

Nana then came by. And we waited...and waited...and waited. As the day went on, nurses came and went to get Jackson hooked up to IV medicines. We went for a CT scan (I held Jackson while they pushed me in a wheelchair...awkward) and "Auntie Carissa" did Jackson's scan. Finally, Dr. Burrell showed up. He said that Jackson had a bad staph infection that was creating an abscess around his eye. The CT scan had shown that the infection hadn't gotten into his eye or brain...ruling out the possibilty of menigitis or losing his eye. But they couldn't rule out surgery at the time. The plan was to continue to administer steroids, antibiotics, an anti-itch medication, fluids and an anti-fungal and reassess him the next day.

Nana had to go home and Grandma stopped by. It was so nice for Jackson to see his two favorite ladies other than mommy. When Grandma left we settled in for the night in the ER.

To be continued....

Great giveaway from Robin Jansky Photography

http://robinjanskyphotography.com/blog/?p=405#comment-36

Newborn session with Robin Jansky

Sneak peak from our newborn session with Robin Jansky. She was amazing! Took her time with Jackson and had such creative ideas.

Welcome to the world, little one!

On March 23, 2012 at 5:23 pm (yes, 5:23 on 5/23) we welcomed our precious son, Jackson William Rabel. Our little man came in weighing 8lbs 1oz and 20" tall. Words can't express the love and joy we have in our hearts for him. We waited so long to meet him and he is finally here.

It's been a while...

...but mommy and baby are doing well. We go in tomorrow for an induction and hope it won't be long before we get to meet our little boy!

11W1

This was the ultrasound where we really got to see baby move! Our little dancing king/queen was swimming all over the place! We have a DVD if anyone wants to see it.

10W1D Ultrasound

Baby was starting to look like a little person. Still a dancing machine! We could see the little eyes, feet and hands!

8W4D Ultrasound

Here is our little dancing machine at 8W4D. Baby was doing the robot. This wasn't a great ultrasound picture,  but we got to see baby moving his/her arms and legs and wiggling all aorund. The little white blog was the yolk sac...yeah! Who knew babies start off with yolk sacs!?!

6W4D Ultrasound

This was our first picture of baby, who was a little jumping bean! Baby might have been tiny but he/she was wiggling away. We were in awe hearing the heart beat so early. We can't wait to meet our little one.

How We Found Out

We had been trying for a while but unfortunately the news each month wasn’t what we expected. We had decided to give up and start trying again next year, but something told us to give it one last try. I had an appointment with my doctor on September 12^th for some blood work and one last pregnancy test. But on the 7^th I woke up a little woozy. I didn’t think anything of it because it would have been WAY too early for morning sickness. But the next day I woke up queasy again. When I woke up nauseous on the third day I already knew what I was going to do. I consulted with Brad who told me not to take an early home pregnancy test because if it was wrong I’d be bummed out, and we should just wait until the appointment the coming Monday. So I asked Camille…just to get a second opinion. She was on Brad’s side and I knew they were both right. So what do I do? I went right home and took a test! It was instantly positive and I said out loud to myself “I KNEW IT!”

The next morning, Saturday, I woke up at about 6am. Brad was still asleep so I decided to take my very last pregnancy test. In my excitement I didn’t press the button properly and the test errored out on me! So I rushed to HEB at 6:30am and bought another box of tests. I also grabbed some donuts and chocolate milk in case Brad woke up and was wondering why I was at the store so early. When I got I home I took the test again and again it read “Pregnant”. I wrapped the test up and put it in a box. I put the box, the chocolate milk and a donut in a gift bag with a card and rushed upstairs to wake up Brad. As soon as he saw the bag he asked “You took the test, didn’t you?” I insisted he just open the gift. He pulled out the chocolate milk, then the donut and then the card…it read “Sending you love wrapped in sunshine…(then on the inside) all the way from mommy’s belly. Love Baby”. The test was just further proof!

Baby Rabel

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first little one come May 2012! We’ve known for a little while but just shared the news with the world. Words can’t express our excitement and awe. Our hearts are already overflowing with the love we have for our little one.

Breakfast with the Family

Woody and Erika came by for breakfast and Harley and Sue were right behind them with Logan. Here's a picture of the little guy. 4 months and already 16 lbs. He is such a good baby! I think I held him almost the entire time. Of course I gave him back when he threw up and needed a diaper change. :P

It was so nice spending time with the family.It's hard to get together often but when we do there's just so much that has changed since the last time we saw each other. Hopefully a lot more to come.

Bird Hunting - Opening Weekend

Brad and I went out to Uncle Bob's property last weekend to shoot skeet and do a little dove hunting. Well, Brad went for those things, I just went to hang out with my other mom and sister-in-law.
We had fun. Brad killed the only bird (here's a picture of John being silly). It was fun watching Arnold, Brad, Bobby, John and Zach. Hope we have a lot more weekends like this!

Brandon Wins First Football Game

We went on Saturday to see Brandon play in his first football game. It was HOT (over 100) and there wasn't any shade. I don't know how these kids do it. But it was nice to see the kids and family, and to see the Warriors take home their first win for the season!

King of the Grill

Brad has taken on an interesting hobby: smoking brisket. He's trying to perfect the process. I have to say, I'm enjoying this hobby. He's smoked 3 briskets since June and they keep getting better. He has the rub and sauce down - salty sweet with a little kick. We've learned that untrimmed cuts will be moister, but take much longer to cook and obviously have a lot more fat. He's also been using a spray mister with a secret concoction that also makes the brisket very moist. Here’s a picture of his latest attempt. This is an untrimmed 12lb slab.

Broady: The opossum killer...

Brad told me last night our dog Broady killed a rat in the yard (gross!). I go to let the dogs in before bed and see Broady's catch on the deck...it's not a rat! It's a baby opossum!

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well. All I could think about was my dog going back out side and chasing me down with a slobbery baby opossum corps! So at 5:30 a.m. I finally woke up and laid there in bed contemplating how I'm going to get this thing off the deck.

I go out the front door, open the garage and get the rake. Then I go around to the back yard, leaving the gate open,  and opening the garbage can lid as I head around to the deck where I saw it last. Oh, did I mention I don't have my glasses on and it's an hour before sunrise?

So I go to where I saw it last on the deck but it's not there! Good! Something must have gotten it! I scan around and just as I'm about to go back in I see a ball of fur next to one of the patio chairs. I squint to try and see what it is but I already know. Barely able to see it in the dark and without my glasses, I try to scrape up the gnawed-on little critter with the rake but it wouldn't come up! So I tried from a few different angles...it was somehow stuck between two boards....I couldn't imagine how it could be so stuck because I didn't have my glasses on. I finally manage to snag one of the paws...I don't know how because the rake is pretty spread apart. I take a few steps and drop it! Ugh! So here we go again! I try scraping it up again and AGAIN it's stuck???...Finally I snag the paw and just as I am lifting up the rake....it raises its head and looks at me!!!

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

...so that is why the neighbors saw me creep around my own house in the dark with a rake, scream and run through the front door with jazz hands!

By the way, Brad is handling it. My suggestion was to toss it over the fence of the really nosey lady who once kidnapped our dog! Maybe she can nurse it back to health.

It's Football Season!!!

Well, Brad has a new manager (finally!). I just paid for my books for the fall semester and start classes on Monday. Got my grades from the summer and got an A in both my classes (not sure how, lol!). So I get to keep my 3.9 GPA. Let's see how this semester of Macroeconomics, Accounting, and Government treat me!

Brad and I will be grilling up our fish from the coast! Text us if you want to come join us. Not sure if it'll be Saturday or Sunday. Just let me know.

It's football season and the Seahawks won their first pre-season game last week against the (hated) Chargers. This new QB, Jackson, is going to take some getting used to. Had to watch Hasslebeck in his first game as a Titan and he did great! Congrats also to the Cowboys who one their first pre-season game.

Texas is still in the midst of one of the hottest, driest summers on record! I can't wait for the cooler weather...something about the kids going back to school that makes me miss the smell of maple trees and frosty mornings. Autumn is my favorite time of year. Brad loves the summer. What about you? What's your favorite time of year?

Empty Nesters

Well the day has come. After 5 years together and only 6 months of living without roommates or house guests, Brad and I will now be empty nesters. It’s very bittersweet. My brother Woody and his daughter Erika have found a lovely apartment, actually the same complex they lived in before they moved to Illinois. The 2^nd floor unit they have is totally remodeled with new carpet, laminate flooring, new cabinets, sinks, and brand-spanking new appliances (I’m so jealous). My sister Beth will be living with them just until she gets a place of her own, but the unit across the hall is available. She really did a lot to get Woody and Erika’s stuff moved and I know Woody couldn’t have done it without her.

Erika is sad that she won’t be going to Nichols for 5^th grade, but her new school is a block away. She should be back in the area and with her old friends for middle school. Woody’s plan right now is to save up over the next year for a down payment and then look in the neighborhoods around ours for a home to buy. I’m sure moving stuff down stairs will be a lot easier than moving it up them.

So what are we going to do with an empty house? Well, we plan to keep one of the rooms as a guest room. Brad and I have accumulated a small collection of Seahawks and Longhorns memorabilia, so we plan to make that the theme of the guest room. The other room we’ll use for our exercise equipment for now.

It sure will be quite and I know the first day I come home to an empty house I’ll just cry! But they'll still be there for dinner tonight! Yippy! I’m so happy for them and excited for what the future holds.

Asking for good luck dust....



1 year 9 month and 17 days!
So glad we found each other!

 ...we have some big things in the works this week. Can't tell....but please send us all the good luck, well wishes, and prayers you can! We're going to need it over the next week!

First Coast Trip of the Year

Hi family!

We are doing great! Just got back from a trip to the coast. Our first one of the year. I know! Hard to believe. We didn’t get many pictures, but hopefully I can load the ones I do have shortly.

 

Fishing report: About 15 minutes in to fishing on Saturday morning Brad caught a nice 27” red! The thing practically swam to shore…after a little struggle. The rest the trip we just caught small reds, trout and a few perch. No other keepers. It’s a good thing because it took me 2 hours to clean that fish! Ok…there were breaks to call my dad for instructions and attempts to look up instructions on youtube. Can’t wait to smoke it in about a week!

Brad’s doing great at work. Working less hours. Can’t wait to get a new manager in there on the 1^st to take some of the load off. I’m almost done with Summer semester and already registered for the Fall. Looks like I’ll be getting A’s in both US History II and CPR. Then I have Accounting II, Economics and Government to look forward to.

Erika gets back today from her trip to Washington to see her mom. Woody has been looking at houses and apartments, but hasn’t found anything quite right. If you know of a place, let him know. He’s looking for a 2bd for about $600 a month.

Love yall lots! Until next time…