ER visit...for Tanner

Last night after we just finished up doing Caydence's bath and trach tie change, we were getting things put away and cleaning up when Tanner came running into the living room and tripped and smacked his head on the coffee table. As soon as Eric saw it he started yelling that we needed to leave and go to the hospital. At first I was like ok, calm down, can't be that bad, I grabbed a rag and put it on Tanner's head to stop the bleeding as Eric ran off to get shoes on to leave, as soon as I moved that rag to actually look at how bad it was, I think I just screamed. It looked like he had a huge chunk missing from right between his eyebrows. I couldn't believe how bad it actually was. You could see all the tissue inside and it just wasn't a pretty sight. As soon as we got shoes on we jumped in the car and headed to the hospital. They got us right in and said he would need stitches. They first put some kind of numbing cream on it and wrapped his head up which really helped. They asked if we wanted to sedate him for the stitches which we said yes and it was a good thing that we did because poor kid ended up getting 5 stitches on the inside and 10 stitches on the outside. He was a champ the whole time. They put an IV in and gave him cetamine for sedation. The doctor did a really good job stitching it up and getting the line really straight. We had to wait and hour after it was done just to make sure he came out of the sedation ok. He did really well and we were out of there. I couldn't believe how well he did with everything from the time it happened. He hardly cried at all. Tough boy! I hope he will listen to us next time we tell him no running in the house. We thought we had our hands full with Caydence, never thought we would end up spending time in the ER with Tanner. 

Finding the fun in every situation!

After getting his IV

He said he looked like a transformer.

Right after they gave the cetamine. (can you tell?)

Getting ready to start stitching.

(This picture doesn't do justice for what the hole really looked like)

Finally home in bed sleeping. I don't think he's going to feel too hot when he wakes up.

Exhausting life!

We have been so extremely busy over this last month that I just haven't had the time or really the energy to post anything. This crazy life we are living is really starting to catch up with us! I feel like we never have a moment to just relax or do anything anymore. Our whole world right now revolves around Caydence, she requires all our attention all the time. She has some sort of appointment just about every week ranging from appointments up at Stanford (which is a 3 hour drive), appointments at home (PT/OT, speech therapy, developmental teaching, ect.), and normal pediatrician appointments for immunizations. We also are constantly dealing with our nursing situation which really sucks. We haven't been able to keep more than one nurse at a time (if even that) since we've been home (we should have a total of 3 nurses, 1 full time night shift, 1 full time day shift, and 1 part time weekend). We have gone through probably 4 different nurses since we have been home from the hospital. I'm sure those of you that know us from the hospital are probably thinking "you guys are just difficult, there's no wonder you can't keep a nurse for long", but I assure you that it really isn't our fault :) It has been so hard on us lately because we are both working and not getting any sleep. I feel like my days run together like one super long day that never ends. I don't know what we would do if we didn't have Eric's mom here with us because she has been a big help by taking on part of the night shifts when we have no nurse and giving us breaks during the day to collect ourselves so we don't go crazy. His brothers and sister have been great too by helping keep Tanner occupied during the days. I feel so bad for Tanner because he has really been put on the back burner which is horrible. He went from it being all about him to it being all about Caydence. We try to make time for him and make him feel special but it's just really hard. He has been acting out so much lately which I really can't blame him, but it makes it even harder. I feel like I am constantly yelling at him for something. We never really thought that this would be this hard. I keep telling myself that once we get good nursing in place everything will kinda pan out and get better but I honestly don't think that's going to happen. We are doing the best we can do with the situation we are in but the honest truth is...this sucks! Caydence has been pretty sick over the last few weeks which has made things worse. She is finally starting to get over it with the help of antibiotics and extra breathing treatments but I can tell it's still lingering around. On a more positive note... Caydence has actually been progressing very well developmentally. She is catching up pretty fast. She is such a happy baby for the most part. We taught her how to give high-fives which is super cute! I love Caydence so much but I just wish she didn't have to go through all this and I wish we didn't have to go through it either. We are taking one day at a time as always and just hoping that this won't be forever.

This is what it looks like when I take the night shift with Caydence.

Tanner always wants to sleep on the couch and party with us.

Thanks for the hat Christina!! It fits her perfectly.

She looks like a little doll!

Tanner loves hanging out watching TV with his sister. He really is a great big brother!