Just Another Day in the Life of the Colvins

So, today is just another typical day. I think Kayleah is FINALLY starting to kick her flu. Oh, just to catch you all up, my husband is a CNA in a nursing home. Most of the residents had a flu last week. Since he is an integral part of patient care, that means he brought it home. Fun...that's the second time in 7 months. Kayleah was the last to get it. She got it last Friday which would make today a full week. For the rest of us, this was about a 24 hour thing. Of course, our little sicky couldn't leave it at that. She held on to it for a week. I don't know how much puke we've cleaned up. We finally called her pediatrician yesterday because we were afraid she was getting dehydrated. She gave us some things to try and said if they didn't work we'd have to take her into the hospital for an IV. I really didn't want to do that after all she has been through. Luckily, the suggestions seem to have worked. She has kept everything down today and acts like she finally feels better.

David has worked two 12 hour days in a row. Tonight will be his third. Thank goodness he's off tomorrow. He doesn't always work 12 hours, but when he does it seems like they pile them all together. It stinks for all of us because it seems like he is barely here. Since he works nights, he sleeps most of the day. Then, he gets up, spends a little time with us and it's off to work. Oh well, at least he has a good job and can provide for his family.

Well, I guess I need to go and start making some supper. Not anything fancy. I don't really cook big meals when David is working 12 hours. Since it's just me and the kids, it seems silly. So, tonight, canned chicken and dumplings....very gourmet! :o)

Long Time, No Write

I haven't had the chance to write for a long time. After Kayleah's first surgery, it ended up she had to have a second one, and she was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. Since she got out of the hospital, we've been driving back and forth to St. Louis for appointments. Thank God, she is doing well now, and the appointments are only once a month, so things are finally starting to slow down.

In other news, I have a new niece! Her name is Elizabeth Rose. She was born April 9, 2007. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19 3/4 in. long. I haven't had the privilege of meeting her yet, but I can't wait to see her and hold her! My poor nephew though is surrounded by girls on this side of the family. He has two sisters, and then his two cousins, which are girls. David and I are probably going to have at least one more. Hopefully, we'll even things up a little bit with a boy. That would thrill David to death. He loves his little girls to death, but, like most guys, he wants that little boy to carry on his name. We'll see. I told him he better be careful though. My aunt and uncle had two girls, and my uncle wanted a boy. They tried one more time and got twin girls. :o)

So, anyway, I just thought I would write a new blog to let people know I am still alive. :o) So, there you have it. I'm here. I'll try to keep the blog up a little better now that things are slowing down for us.

God is Awesome!

Well, as we already know, God is awesome. It's just wonderful to see Him prove it over and over. We went to the hospital expecting a 5-7 night stay. We got home Wednesday night at 11:30. She only had to stay one night. (Imagine how overpacked we were!) lol

It turns out, the cyst was not where the surgeon thought it was. He thought it was a bulge on the main bile duct, which would have meant removing it and pulling a loop of the small intestine up and connecting it. It turns out, when he got her in surgery, the cyst was just a branch off of the smaller bile duct leading from the main one to the gallbladder. All he had to do was remove this smaller duct. A surgery we were expecting to last 4 hours lasted an hour and a half. This was the best case scenario discussed at the pre-op visit in his office, but he really thought it was the worst case scenario. It's good it wasn't because that surgery can lead to complications later down the road. The worst thing about this one is that she is without a gallbladder now, which, with our family history is not such a bad thing for her. She probably would have had to have it removed sooner or later.

She made it through the surgery just fine, and by Wednesday afternoon was back to her old self and using only Motrin and Tylenol for the pain. When she started eating and did fine, he told us to go home. We gladly obliged. :o)

It was also a blessing to have a Christian surgeon. David, my husband, asked the surgeon if we could pray with him before the surgery. The surgeon said absolutely, and that that was going to be his next question to us. He always offers to pray for his patients before surgery. Although, he did say David was the first to ask him. I guess he'd never operated on a Baptist preacher's kid before. :o) Anyway, we bowed our heads, and David was all ready to pray, and the surgeon jumped right in before David had a chance and just started praying. Now, of course, we can't judge his heart, but judging from his prayer, his demeanor, and the fact that he was willing to offer made us pretty sure we were dealing with a Christian man. That made us feel better about handing our daughter over to him of course. A physician who looks to the Great Physician for guidance is my kind of doctor. :o)

Anyway, God definitely answered prayers. Kayleah is just fine, better than expected and is back to her old self. She is even flipping over onto her belly, which makes me wince and cringe but doesn't seem to bother her. lol Thank you for all your prayers!

Pray for Kayleah

My youngest daughter, who is almost 7 months old, is going to be having surgery this Tuesday. She has a cyst on her bile duct. They are going to have to remove most of the bile duct and then attach her small intestine to what is left.

Please pray for her for strength and a quick recovery. Also, pray for her surgeon, for wisdom and that God would guide his hands as he is performing this surgery. David and I have a peace about the surgery, a peace that can only come from God because, believe me, having your baby go under the knife is a scary thing, but we know that the Great Physician is in control.

Thanks for all your prayers!

What a Bummer!

Well, it turns out we did get that big snowstorm. We have about, I'd say just as an estimate, maybe 4 inches of snow on the ground. I was so excited. I am used to snow, but we lived in Tennessee for 2 years where we didn't see much, and it hasn't really snowed a whole lot since we've moved back up here.

I was all set to take the girls sledding, and so was David. We were both excited about it, but David still isn't feeling well. There is a nasty cold/flu type thing going around, and they got it really bad at the nursing home. He ended up picking it up from one of the residents. So, he's had it in his chest really bad, but he is on the mend. I am glad because, for a lot of people, it has ended up turning into bronchitis and pneumonia. We were all set to go anyway, since David was feeling a little better, but when we woke up this morning, Isabel had caught it from David. So far, she's just had sinus congestion, a runny nose, a little bit of a cough, and a slight fever. Hopefully, she won't get it very bad either, and we are really hoping the baby doesn't catch it because her surgery is scheduled for the 12 of February. If she gets sick, we will more than likely have to rechedule the surgery, and David has already taken time off of work and everything. Please pray for Isabel and David, and pray that Kayleah stays healthy and strong before her surgery.