They always talk about those April showers...

We are getting a little bit of rain as I write this.  Jeremiah had just thrown open all of the windows, and now we are letting the breeze air out the house and destroy our, um, neat piles of papers on the table.  Isaac is playing a memory game on his talker, and talking to it with little sleepy squeals as he plays.  We have had an exhausting few days.  After Isaac came down with the stomach flu, his digestion slowed down almost to a point of stopping.  By Tuesday morning, his tummy was still so bloated from the small about of formula and pedialyte that we couldn't hydrate him any more.  So his nurse and I packed up to head to the ER to get Isaac some IV fluids. Jeremiah stayed home with Natalie because she had dance class and we had an electrical inspection scheduled.  I'm so grateful the nurse was able to come along, even though that meant a 14 hour shift for her.

We left for the ER at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon and didn't get home until 10 p.m.  The phones and internet at the hospital were down, so the doctors and nurses and EMTs and respiratory therapists, etc, were all communicating via the scarce walkie talkies.  We had several people stick their heads in our room looking for someone who wasn't there, or to deliver a message to someone who was.  At one point, an EMT left to go find someone to help him place Isaac's IV.  Not long after, two more men arrived to place, one of whom successfully placed the IV by some vein whispering magic (he didn't even look at Isaac's arm while he felt for a vein- it was incredible).  Just as it as placed, the original ENT returned with his friend, not knowing that someone else had arrived on the scene.  Overall, I was impressed with how smoothly everything went despite the lack of telecommunications.  Everything took much longer than it normally would have, but in the end, we brought our exhausted selves home to an exhausted Jeremiah who had an exhausted Natalie who refused to go to sleep without seeing Mommy and Isaac.  She was concerned because I had told her we were taking Isaac to the doctor, and 'you can't sleep at the doctor's office.'  Isaac slept much better that night, but his tummy was still bloated and uncomfortable.  He spent most of Wednesday napping and watching cartoons, with about 15 minutes of energy for his penguin toy and his talker.  As of this evening, his digestion seems to be speeding up enough to at least avoid the hard, bloated belly.  We are still running his food at a very slow rate, and it is 'watered' down with pedialyte.  Tomorrow we will transition to a more normal formula to help him get his energy back.

Through it all, Isaac has been such a trooper.  I didn't realize quite how easy going he is until this past weekend when he felt so awful and wasn't up for his normal routine.  Usually, when we ask him if he wants to do something, he tells us "yeah" in a very happy, excited sounding tone.  This weekend, I asked him if he wanted to go outside, and his response was a tired groan. He laughed a few things today, and played some games with his talker, including his new "hide and seek" page.  We took a short walk over to the co-op in town to see the chicks and ducklings, and Natalie got to hold a chick for Isaac to pet.  He was interested in it, but still not quite his usual self. He went to sleep so early and easily tonight, and I hope that bodes well for the rest of the the night!

In other news, a friend of ours has come up with a way to help us financially.  It's basically an online grocery store (think center aisles, not produce or refrigerated), and whenever people shop we will receive a percentage of the sale.  She is doing an overview of how it works next weekend, Saturday April 23rd, in Longmont.  If anyone is interested in some more details for that day, please call, email, or send me a Facebook message.  If you somehow don't have any of that contact information, just comment here on the blog!  

Please continue to pray for Isaac, Natalie, and for us.  And please pray for my friend Renee's father, he received some scary health news this week.  I also want to thank everyone who continues to support us through prayers, meals (Nancy and Dave!!), friendship, and financially.  We are sometimes staggered by your generosity!

Until next time, keep on roaring!