Wow, I can't believe its been nearly a whole year since I last posted. So much has gone on in the last 10 months I don't even know where to begin.
Alex had tubes put in his ears back in August. He had had 8 ear infections since the previous Christmas. They have worked great and we've not had a single ear infection since! Praise the Lord!
Right before Alex's procedure we found out we were expecting again. We welcomed Chloe Adale on April 13th. She weighed a healthy 8 lbs 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She had some trouble breathing at first and some issues with bloodwork indicating a possible infection. She spent the first 5 days of her life in the NICU but praise God once again, she was fine. Her levels normalized and she had no symptoms of any infection or serious illness.
This was a far more difficult pregnancy than with Alex. I have Schleroderma and Fibromyalgia and had lots of joint stiffness and pain this time. Towards the end I made regular visits to the chiropractor. And though we attempted a VBAC (Alex was breech and was a scheduled Csection), we ended up with an emergency Csection once again. I went into labor on my own, my water broke on its own, but after 24 hours of labor and contractions nearly off the charts in strength, I wasn't dialating past 5 cm. We didn't want to risk infection or further complications so we did the c. Turns out, even though she was head down, she was face up.
Six weeks before Chloe was born, we lost my Dad to a sudden illness. He was 83 and had Parkinson's and Diabetes and his body was too worn down and weak to fight. It was a terribly difficult time for us all and bittersweet to hold the granddaughter he never got to meet. But I could feel his spirit with us in the NICU. I knew he was looking out for our little angel. Its funny too, how much she resembles her Grandaddy. Her smile, her feet, little things that no one would really notice besides my mom or myself.
My mom has been our God-send, our angel. I don't even know where to begin to convey to her how much her love and kindness and help has meant to us. She and my sister kept Alex the 6 days we were in the hospital, they let us stay with them for the first week after we got home, until I was feeling better and Alex adjusted to us being home. Then she came over and helped or we went over to her house every day while my husband was at work. Not being able to lift your child for 6 weeks is torture. Hearing him cry after you, not understanding why you won't pick him up. And then, watching as he stops coming to you at all.
On April 27th, our town was hit by several devastating tornadoes. Several people lost their lives, hundreds lost homes or had so much damage they cannot live in them. We were so blessed that God kept his protective hand around us. The storms came all around us but all we had was a tree down. It was hard, with a 2 year old and a 2 week old in the hallway of my mom's, with 2 dogs. We had our hands full! It was scary but has brought the town closer together. We are still picking up the pieces and slowly putting our community back together.
Things are better now, slowly getting to what I hope is our new "normal", if life is ever normal. Chloe is growing and changing so fast, Alex acts like a little man. My husband is gearing up for his second semester back at college and I'm getting the hang of running a household with 2 little ones and 1 very spoiled furry child. Some days are harder than others. As we speak I am missing my dad so much my heart feels like its breaking in two. I'm hoping as time goes by I'll be able to accept his death completely and stop feeling the angry and hurt I feel.
