6:30AM Alarm is going off and it’s time to wake up. I need to make coffee. I MUST have coffee.
6:45AM While coffee is brewing, I make Samantha’s food for the day. She is fed through a G-Button, so I blend her food every morning.
7AM Brendan’s nurse Amy arrives. She is here early to get him ready to go to the doctor today. My oldest two boys, Logan and Wyatt, are up. I make their breakfast. Logan wants a waffle and Wyatt wants a Toaster Strudel. I give them some vitamins and milk and they are set. I now have to go get dressed!
7:45AM Time for Logan to wait for his carpool ride to school.
8:15AM After Logan is picked up, it’s time for the rest of us to go! We get loaded up in the van and make the drive to Medical City Hospital. As we are leaving, Samantha’s nurse, Misty, arrives. I let her know Samantha is still sleeping and that her food is ready.
9AM Made it to the hospital after battling a bit of traffic. Now I have to register for the X-ray. Brendan gets weekly X-rays of the distraction device that was placed in his jaw last summer.
9:45AM We do the X-ray and get copies to take to the craniofacial surgeon.
10:15AM Sign in to see the surgeon. Our appointment was actually at 9:45, but X-ray ran late!
11:30AM We leave the surgeon’s office. All is good, and we made an appointment for another X-ray and a 3D CT scan for Samantha next week. They have just discovered Samantha does not have a palate, so we need to see what the next step is for her.
12PM On our way back home, we stop for lunch. Brendan is fussy, so Amy and I take turns holding him while we eat. While we eat, I make some phone calls regarding Samantha’s therapy, and about a “Deaf Child” sign for our street.
1PM Finally make it home. Now I have to make a quick grocery list.
1:30PM Make a run to the grocery store and to the pharmacy with my mother.
3:30AM Home from the store and Logan is home from school. He and Wyatt want a snack. So I get them some Combos and Gatorade. Not completely healthy, but it will do.
4PM I am going to sit and relax for just a little bit. Didn’t get much sleep last night and I am exhausted. I keep reminding myself to call the durable medical supply company about Brendan’s and Samantha’s suction machines.
5:30PM My husband Chris makes the boys some corn dogs for dinner while I get Brendan’s food ready. He gets formula, but he is also fed through a G-Button.
6PM Tonight is Chris’s volleyball night, so he leaves to go play. I decide that the kids and I are going to watch a movie. I find Horton Hears a Who on HBO and chill on the couch with the older three. Brendan is in his bouncy seat getting fed from his pump.
6:30PM Samantha is running around the house with Logan … so much for the peaceful movie. The nurses pack up their things and leave for the day.
7:45PM Chris is home and hungry, and for some reason, Logan and Wyatt still are! So I make more corn dogs and we eat.
8PM Time to get Brendan ready for bed. Change diaper, put on his monitor belt and his pajamas. We also have to clean his distraction pins with half-strength peroxide, put on bacitracin and turn the pins. Chris makes his formula and I get his antibiotic, Tylenol and Zantac and put on his mister collar.
8:30PM Brendan is in bed; now it is time for Logan, Wyatt and Samantha to get their pajamas on.
9PM We start Samantha’s food and Logan and Wyatt are begging to camp out in the living room. I cave just because I am too tired to fight!
9:30PM I put Samantha to bed, making sure to put on her monitor belt and mister collar.
10PM Logan, Wyatt, Chris and I are watching cartoons. A little bit of quiet time before bed.
10:30PM I cannot keep my eyes open any longer so I kiss the boys and go to bed. Thankfully, the rest of this week will be less eventful.
