Surgery and Post Surgery

Today was not a very fun day - I knew it wouldn't be fun of course - and I'm glad it's over.

I woke up around 5 am and was worried that maybe I had read the surgery notice wrong and it wasn't in Chilliwack Hospital and maybe I got the time wrong? So me being me, I got out of bed and double checked the notice and it was definitely in Chilliwack and we were to check in at 6:45. So I went back to bed but of course didn't sleep. Kaitlyn woke up on her own around 6:15 and was just quietly sitting in her crib with her doll in her lap, her blankie in hand and had turned on her Aquarium and was watching the fishies. As soon as she saw me she gave me a huge smile and said "hi" and I felt so bad because I knew she wasn't going to have a nice day.

We arrived at the hospital pretty much on time and waited in the waiting room. Ryan went to have his ultrasound done while I had Kaitlyn prepped for surgery. Kaitlyn was not allowed to have any food or drink after midnight the night before and was rather upset that she couldn't have a bottle or juice and was pretty upset by the time we had to prep for surgery. She completely lost it when the nurse put her id bracelet on her ankle as well as the numbing cream on her hands. She kept on trying to take off her tiny little hospital gown and already I was getting upset about the whole thing and just wanted it to end. I was escorted into the surgery room finally with Kaitlyn in my arms and I was supposed to hold her hand while she drifted off but instead she was sobbing so hard and fighting everyone and all I could do was hold her arms down so she wouldn't attack the anasthesiologist. I have never heard her cry that hard before and hope to never again.

After the surgery the nurse called for me and let me in. Kaitlyn was still sobbing and waking up from the sedation (she was only under for about 20 minutes). She continued to sob for about 1-1/2 hours, even after we got home. She is on a prescription ear drop and lots of Tylenol and her ear is still draining a pinkish discharge which the nurse said would happen for the next 48 hours or so. The dr seems happy with the results and said there was so much fluid and her hearing difference will probably be like night and day. We have a followup appointment in 3 weeks where we can have her fitted for plugs for water exposure but until then we cannot get water in her ears.

Now she is back to her same old self and is being super affectionate. Besides the pink fluid draining, you can't even tell anything happened to her today which is a blessing! Oh, and I did take the camera with me today to the hospital but couldn't bear to take any pictures of my child in so much misery.

Ryan's ultrasound also seems to have gone well. The dr was called in at the end who told Ryan there was nothing to worry about and the results would be sent to our family dr. Hopefully we'll get some answers for his discomfort soon!

Well, there's the update from today as promised! Hopefully I get better at this blogger thing now that some stress seems to have been alleviated from our household. Hope to post again soon.

Kaitlyn Is Getting Tubes

Kaitlyn finally saw the ear-nose-throat specialist this week and she definitely needs tubes. Her surgery is scheduled for October 25 and of course I'm much more concerned than she is ;) They will be putting her under which is the scariest part of all of it. And I have no idea what this means as far as care. I was going to schedule her for mom-tots swimming lessons but now I don't know if she's even allowed in the water.

We'll be at the hospital most of the day as Kaitlyn's surgery is at 6:45 and Ryan's ultrasound to confirm or not confirm his probable gallstones is later in the day at the hospital. Should be a long day.

Anyways, here are a couple pictures of our princess - the first at the hockey game and the next showing she does have hair that can support clips (finally!). Please excuse the runny nose - another condition which will hopefully be fixed by the tubes.



We're Number One!!!



Yes, I know I'm cute.

I am Now Full-Time!

It is official starting today! I am a full-time court clerk and am ecstatic. We had a courthouse meeting (I was given the heads up before hand) and due to some staffing changes, I am now full-time permanent! It has been a frustrating last few months but I am so relieved to know I don't have to worry about being sent home at noon anymore or seeing that dreaded FTE sheet being dragged out every week anymore. Plus I'm now being trained in Supreme Court which is very interesting as well. Where my career is headed? I still have no clue. Right now I'm just happy to have a guaranteed paycheque and hopefully we can start having date nights again.

Kaitlyn went to her first Canucks game last week and had a blast. Too bad she didn't last the entire game - she was happy just to run the corridors and have everyone compliment her on her jersey. It was too cute though when she decided to wave at the players as they skated by our seats. We were given tickets to a Chilliwack Bruins game in a few weeks but I think we'll be leaving Kaitlyn with a sitter that night and enjoy a night out on our own.

Anyways, it is getting late but I hope to post some new pics sometime this week including Kaitlyn's first Canucks game! Stay tuned...

Check this out

I absolutely am in love with this! My friend, Sara, who I met online through babycenter.com when we were pregnant and now both have babies born in May 2006, designed this for me. I just love how it captures Kaitlyn's great big blue eyes. I just had to share!

September 11, 2007

We will never forget ...

On September 10th as I was setting the date stamps in courtroom 205 for the next day, it suddenly hit me that tomorrow was September 11th. We will never forget - where we were, what was going through our minds when we heard the news. And the lives lost. Truly, unbelievable and unforgettable. All the wives, husbands, children, never to hold their loved ones again. And all the brave individuals who have fought and lost their lives for the cause since that day.

We were getting up that morning for a regular day when the usual clock radio (JRFM radio station) was non-stop with news and after hitting snooze a few times, Ryan said something to the effect that there is something serious happening and we need to turn on our tv. Unbelievable what we saw when we did turn on our tv...

Today, this song just hits a cord, thinking about all the spouses that never were able to see their loved ones again and the ones who make that sacrifice every day out in the Middle East and all over the world - THANK YOU!

My Typing Test

Well, I had my typing test today for the full-time position I applied for about a month ago. This is the job I applied for which is exactly what I'm doing now at the same place, only guaranteeing me full-time hours. I really wasn't sure I should even apply for it since I am up against 2 other court clerks which have been court clerking in Chilliwack for a number of years already but have never been able to secure full-time status. My manager kept on telling me to apply anyways since you never know what will happen. So I took my typing test and was disappointed to only get 67 words per minute. We were allowed 3 tries and I asked if I could do it again. My manager said it wouldn't matter since I already passed and it was only a pass/fail test and didn't matter what your overall score was. So I left it. At the end of the day, I found out that the other 2 girls failed the typing test as well as another former court clerk who works in the Registry. I have no idea what this means for the next step of the competition since typing 50 words per minute is a minimum requirement for applying... I will definitely keep you posted!

My Daredevil

Yes, Kaitlyn is quite the daredevil. She will climb up and onto everything. Ryan was surprised the other day when he was in the kitchen, turned around and Kaitlyn was right there looking at him at eye level. She had moved a chair into the kitchen and climbed on top of it. She is constantly climbing on top of the coffee table and since we don't keep anything on it, we find the easiest solution is to just flip it over most of the time. She also likes to climb up on the couches and either jump up and down or hide behind the cushions. Her newest thing which really scares me is climbing onto the baby gate - on the other side of the baby gate is a very steep, very long flight of stairs so we have to be really careful with keeping an eye on her at all times. She hasn't figured out climbing out of the crib yet but I give her a month. According to Ryan's mom, Ryan was a real climber as well at Kaitlyn's age so apparently it's hereditary. I think Mom said Ryan was crawling out of his crib at 18 months already?

Here are some pics of our daredevil daughter. She would go down the waterslide on her own if I let her (not that I would).