William's Hospital Visit

So, I haven't been back to update, because life has been busy, and we've been running around making new friends, seeing old friends and family and preparing for holidays. However, on Thursday, I was reminded just how lucky I am and how important it is to stop and just soak in this time that we get to spend with our little family rather than rushing around and preparing like crazy for the holidays.

We were planning on heading out of town on Friday late evening to go back home for the holidays, and we were planning to be gone about a week and a half; however, William (2.5 months) was just not acting like himself. He's typically a very laid back and relaxed baby, and he was just fussy and inconsolable. I just felt like something was off, so I decided to make him a doctor's appointment before we headed out of town.

We went to the appointment, and his pediatrician said he had some definite congestion and his chest sounded coarse, but he wasn't too concerned. He sent him for a chest x-ray just to be sure, and he wrote us a prescription for breathing treatments and an antibiotic. We did the chest x-ray, and we went home. I honestly thought nothing of it, and I just knew he was fine...then, I got the call. His pediatrician called, and he wanted us to check William into the hospital as soon as possible. He had pneumonia...I had a total breakdown. I was not at all prepared, because I thought he was fine, and it was nothing, so I just started crying. I called Grant, and I told him he needed to come home right away. I ran to pick up Weston, and I broke down at daycare picking him up. I think the director, and his teachers thought I had lost my mind. Anyways, Grant met us at the hospital, and I dropped Weston off with Grant. I went with William, and we checked into the hospital for three long days. I spent most of my time at the hospital from Thursday afternoon until we were released on Sunday morning. It was terrible...

I had to see my baby get breathing treatments every four hours, have an IV in his foot then pull it out and have to get it put in his arm, have multiple attempts at getting the IV in, because he's a chubby baby, and it didn't go in easily, sleeping and laying in a tent as much as possible, so he could get oxygen and more...it was a nightmare. Not only that, but by Friday, I knew that I was sick too. I was achy and feverish, as well as, congested and coughing. It was terrible! I also had a mild case of mastitis, because he wasn't nursing well. It was truly miserable. I thought that Grant and I would be fine to not have anyone come down and help, but after feeling so terrible, I called my mom, and she arrived at 1:00 AM on Saturday morning. Grant came to the hospital first thing on Saturday to relieve me, and I came home to shower and nap. Then, I went back to the hospital and Grant headed home to be with Weston. Grant spent the evening with Weston while my mom and I were at the hospital with William. Then, I went home, and my mom stayed the night with William. I was just exhausted and sick. I REALLY hated to leave him, but I knew that I needed to get some sleep and try to feel better.

William came home on Sunday morning, and we are now back together as a family under the same roof. He has a follow-up visit on Wednesday morning at our pediatrician's office, and we hope that he is well enough to travel for Christmas on Wednesday evening. We were planning lots of visits with friends this week, but we aren't going to be able to follow through, unfortunately; however, I'm just grateful that he's going to be okay, and he's going to be home for Christmas. We are truly blessed and this just reminded me that we need to slow down and just relax and spend this time celebrating our family and not rushing around trying to get things done and do too much.

It's easy to take your babies health for granted...I hope to never take my healthy, happy babies for granted again. There are SO many people who don't have healthy babies, and they'll be spending the holidays in the hospital. Life is good, and William is recovering. I'm getting lots of snuggles and spending more time just relaxing on the couch and playing with my babies instead of constantly running around and feeling stressed!

A lot has changed...

So, I have been SO bad about updating but life has been crazy busy, and I just haven't had much time to get my thoughts together enough to update the blog! But I've gotten a number of emails and comments asking how things are going, so I knew it was time to come back!

As my title suggests, a lot has changed since my last post, so this post will be full of bullets:

- We sold our house in Athens to the company that Grant and I both work for, because no one had bought it before our 60 day offer came to a close, and we closed on a new house in Brunswick in August. We sold our house on August 8th and closed on our new house on August 10th...

- Weston and I moved in with my parents, so I could continue seeing my doctor, stay at work in my office and Weston could keep his sitter in late July.

- We set-up the house in Brunswick, but we have yet to decorate and get everything like I want it; however, we were able to set-up both boy's rooms before I was unable to travel and William arrived.

- William arrived on Tuesday, September 27th at 6:41 PM...birth story to follow. :)

- The boys and I packed up our things from my parents house and moved down to Brunswick on Friday, October 7th.

- We've gotten settled and transitioned to life with two boys in a new town. We've found a new church that we really enjoy where there are a lot of young couples with children. They've invited us to attend gatherings with them, and we are really enjoying spending time and meeting new people in our area.

- We enjoyed a fun Halloween where Weston dressed up as a fisherman and William didn't dress up, because I didn't want to spend money on a Halloween costume for a one month old. We got bit up my sand gnats and mosquitoes.

- Grant got awarded the Distinguished Young Alumnus award for the UGA Warnell School of Forestry this past weekend, and we were invited to a celebration dinner, brunch the following day, two tickets to the Sky Box for the UGA vs. New Mexico State Homecoming game and a two night stay at Hotel Indigo in Athens, GA. William was able to attend with us, and it was a great honor for Grant to receive the award.

Anyways, I've got lots more to update on, and over the next few days, I'll do posts about the following: Williams Birthday, Weston's Allergies, Asthma and Eczema, Halloween and the Boy's Rooms at our new house.

For the moment...I'll just share a photo of our new little guy and his proud big brother, Weston.

Moving

Yup, that's right...our little family is moving! Grant was promoted to Resource Supervisor over our companies Coastal Unit, so we are moving from Athens to Brunswick, GA in the next few months. I'm SO sad about the move, because we will be leaving all of our friends and family, and I've lived here my whole life. But it's a great opportunity for our family, and I'm looking forward to the potential for me to work less hours, so I can spend more time at home with my boys.

The hardest part is that Grant will be moving in the next month or two, but Weston and I will be moving in with my parents while we await the arrival of William in late September/early October. I'm not too thrilled about the idea of finding a new doctor and hospital, so we've decided that it's best for me to stay here with my family and Weston and keep Weston with his awesome daycare provider until William is here.

After William arrives, I plan to stay here for a couple of weeks while things settle with a newborn, and I have some help since my dad works from home, and then the three of us will join Grant in Brunswick. I'm anxious to move forward with the process, so we can find a new house in our new town, and we can get settled in with our things before William is here.

Does anyone live in Brunswick? Or in the surrounding area that reads my blog? I'm guessing probably not, but it's worth a shot...I've started my search for things in the area that we need to find shortly after we arrive, i.e. pediatrician, doctor, gym, etc., and I'd love advice from anyone who is familiar with the area.

It's a...

We had a Gender Reveal Party this past Saturday, April 16th, and we cut into our cupcake to find BLUE! We are having another precious little boy. We are going to name him William Thomas, and we are SO thrilled to be having another boy. We are planning to create a "Big Boy" room for Weston, and William will be moved into Weston's room. We feel so blessed to have two little boys close in age who will play together and have so much fun growing up together!

And it always helps that we have clothes and toys and everything else that is blue and boy! I will post photos from our Gender Reveal party later this week. It was SO much fun, and we feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who share these special occasions with us! :)