It's Been a Rough Week

I'm not going to lie...this has been one of my hardest weeks in recent memory. Peter has required more patience than usual...I think he can sense that changes are coming. He was easier to deal with this week than last week though. Until Wednesday.

Wednesday morning was so nice. The weather was so mild. Peter had his two year well-check appointment scheduled for 4 p.m. that afternoon, so I woke Peter up early that morning and decided to let him play outside so that he could get tuckered out and go down for his nap more easily and be well-rested for his doctor's appointment.

So, we went outside to play. He wanted to go into the lower half of the backyard which turned out to be really muddy. So, after being outside for only about 20 minutes, we had to go back inside to change our pants and shoes which were too muddy to continue wearing. I wish, wish, wish I had stayed inside after we changed our clothes. But Peter wasn't done playing outside, so out we went again.

Peter decided he wanted to get on the swing. The swing in our backyard isn't a toddler swing...but Peter is really steady on it. He swings on it a lot and always holds on tight. He was swinging for probably 20 minutes or more and was happy as can be. He just wanted to swing higher and higher. I kept catching him and asking him if he wanted to swing some more and the answer was always "Yeah!" I told him to hold on tight and again, he would say "Yeah!" So, I continued to push him in his swing and he was just so happy...but then...even though I couldn't see the front of him, I knew exactly what was going on in his head. It was almost as if he thought "I wonder what will happen if I don't hold on tight and just let go..." So, that's what he did. When he was the farthest away from me on the upside of the swing cycle, he just let go. He flipped through the air once and then landed on the grass flat on his back. It was probably one of the scariest things I have seen in my entire life. I can't tell you how many times I have replayed that in my mind since it happened. It was horrible.

I ran to him as quickly as possible and scooped him up. I ran inside and grabbed his special blanket and cuddled him on the couch. He shook and trembled in my arms and cried for about 30 minutes. I couldn't tell, at that point, if he was hurt anywhere or just scared. I knew he had bitten his tongue because he had blood in his mouth, but that soon stopped. Once he calmed down, he indicated that he was hungry for lunch. I felt very much relieved and left to make him a corn dog...leaving him on the couch. He immediately freaked out again after I left and resumed his crying. Jeremiah came home from work on his lunch break and we tried examining Peter together. At that point, Jeremiah tried to stand Peter up on his feet and he immediately collapsed. We thought that he had sprained his ankle and decided that rather than going to the emergency room, we would just keep our appointment with his pediatrician and see what she thought.

We tried to get Peter down for a nap, but he would only sleep on me...and only on the couch sitting up...and because of my pregnant belly, I couldn't stay in the same position for too long because my ribs started killing me. I tried to shift positions as gently and quietly as possible, but it woke him up anyway. Bless Jeremiah's heart because he took the rest of the day off from work to help me with Peter. Once Peter woke up, we decided to go to the doctor a little early in the hopes that we might be able to get him in to see her early.

We got to the appointment 30 minutes early, but I should have known better. That particular office has NEVER been on time for their appointments. It's so dumb because if you're 20 minutes late, you lose your appointment time, but they have consistently been 20-40 minutes late meeting me for my appointment times. So, they didn't get us back to see the doctor until 30 minutes after his appointment should have started. Yup...that means we had to wait in the waiting room for a full hour before meeting with Peter's doctor.

When we explained the situation and she looked at his foot, she was pretty sure that there was a chance that Peter had broken his foot, ankle, or leg. So, she ordered an X-ray for Peter and put a splint on his little leg. Peter was so sad that I couldn't be there for his X-rays (since I'm pregnant). And, of course, the X-ray confirmed that he had indeed broken his right leg (tibia and fibula).

We didn't hear the results of the X-ray until 7 p.m. that night and our pediatrician said she was worried that Peter might have compartmental syndrome (where the break causes you to bleed into your tissue...which causes more pain and complications than a simple break). So, she instructed us to head up to the emergency room at Primary Children's hospital. So, after already spending about 3 hours at St. Mark's, we headed to Primary Children's. I'm so grateful that my Mom offered to come up to Primary Children's to help us out with Peter. I am really far along in my pregnancy and taking care of Peter under normal conditions can tucker me out...let alone the conditions we were under that night. My Mom's presence helped sooooo much and I was incredibly grateful that she met us up there to keep Peter entertained and occupied while we waited.

We got there at 7:30 p.m. and as soon as we got outside, we discovered that a crazy snowstorm had started. I thought "Oh please, please, please don't let me go into labor on top of all of this!" St. Mark's didn't send the X-rays up to Primary Children's...so we had to get more X-rays done (I wonder how much that will end up costing us). After a lengthy wait, we got the X-rays. After another lengthy wait (and a brief scare), we were assured that Peter didn't have compartmental syndrome and that the break wouldn't require surgery...but that indeed he had broken his leg and would need a better splint put on his leg and then we would need to schedule an appointment...for NEXT WEDNESDAY!...to get a cast put on his leg. Apparently, Primary Children's Hospital only puts casts on every Wednesday. So, we finally returned home at about 10:30 p.m. Yup! 6 hours in two different hospitals on the same day. Thank GOODNESS I didn't go into labor! I would have had a break-down. I already cried enough that day as it was.

We finally got Peter settled down enough to go to bed around 11 p.m. He woke up again around 12:30 a.m. and went to bed again for good at about 1 a.m. He slept soundly until the next morning.

The rest of the week has just been...interesting. I had my weekly pre-natal appointment with my doctor the very next morning. My OBGYN is very sweet and understanding. He assured me that Peter would be alright and it could have been worse--at least he didn't get any neck or head injuries. He also assured me that things would be fine once the baby came. We decided to schedule an induction for one week after my due date. If I come earlier than that, so be it. But I'm not coming earlier than that by my choice, I'll tell you that!

I picked up Peter's prescription immediately after my appointment and bought him some basketball shorts since we can't fit most of his regular pants over his splint. Peter has been alternately very good and sweet and very frustrated and cranky the remainder of the week. We have had to wrestle him down to give him his pain-killers. He is an expert at spitting out all of his medicine. He gets so frustrated that he can't move around as much as he is used to. He has started scooting and crawling again since he can't walk and run with the splint on. He's such a little daredevil, it's scary. I'll run off to fix him his breakfast or lunch really fast and he'll slip off the couch or try to climb on things while I'm gone. It scares me to death. Plus, I think due to his frustrations at being immobile, he has started hitting me and Jeremiah this week. Fun.

It's hard because he can be so sweet and cuddly...but then he can be so demanding and downright mean as an invalid.

It makes me feel really tired and it makes me wonder how in the world I am going to survive the first few weeks once Jonathan joins us.

So, Peter is scheduled to have a cast put on him next Wednesday...my due date (February 23rd). So, everyone, pray that I don't go into labor until after Peter's cast is put on him. It stinks because I was really ready to have Jonathan early...or as soon as he decided to come. And now, I'm hoping that he actually comes a week after my due date so that it will be easier with Peter!

Jeremiah stayed home with Peter today during church and I planned to just go for the third hour to teach Sharing Time. I was kind of looking forward to it because I needed a break from watching Peter! However, there was a huge accident on the freeway. A drive that usually takes me 15 minutes ended up taking an hour and 30 minutes. Yup, I missed Sharing Time completely. Thank goodness for cell phones because I was able to contact the Primary President and let her know that I wasn't going to make it. And thank goodness for our wonderful music leader because she just filled the remainder of the time with Singing Time.

Needless to say, it wasn't the relaxing get-away that I was looking forward to. Especially since once I finally got home, I made lunch for Peter and Jeremiah and Peter had a breakdown and decided to act like a complete spoiled brat for the next hour...in addition to head-butting my forehead with the back of his head when I was trying to cuddle him and get him settled down for a nap. I'm either going to have a bruise or a small goose-egg on my forehead for the next few days.

I sure love my little guy...but he sure is strong-willed and requires a whole lot of patience sometimes. I hope I can make it through Jonathan's first few weeks alright! I'm quickly losing my resolve to even try breast-feeding with Jonathan (after my memories of how hard it was with Peter). I guess we'll just have to see how it goes in the hospital.

Wish me luck you guys! I'm going to need it!