To Get You Caught Up...And Prayers For Jodi

To Get You Caught Up...And Prayers For Jodi

I know, I know, I know…You’ve been waiting to hear what happened to Zachary. I’m sorry. Things got crazy. What a surprise.
To get you caught up, after my last post, Zachary got much worse. His temperature continued to climb and he became very lethargic. He didn’t even want to play. He just wanted to lay in my lap while the other two played. The following evening, he woke up SCREAMING and burning up. Per doctor’s orders, I had been giving him Tylenol and then Motrin, alternating every 4 & 6 hours. His fever would cut but then climb back up. His fever got as high as 102.5 which made me nervous since the pediatrician said to go to emergency if it went higher than 103. When I tended to Zachary that second night, Jackson started wailing as well. I checked on him and he was burning up as well. Two screaming babies with fevers, one crib covered in vomit….I had to wake Brian up to help me. Mind you, this was about 3:30AM and he had to be at work the next day. Brian helped me and we took their temps, gave them pedialyte and Tylenol, I changed the sheets and cleaned up the puke…we ended up putting them back down after 4-something. My poor babies were miserable and I was exhausted. Still recovering from the flu myself, I didn’t know how the heck I was going to make it alone with three babies – two of whom were sick - with basically no sleep. Somehow, I managed. I was stressing though, because I had a 4th of July party planned at our house within a couple of days and I was thinking I would have to cancel. Thankfully though, the boys seemed fine by Friday so we kept Saturday’s party on. Good thing because I had already bought 20lbs of tri-tip!
Everything seemed fine on Saturday. The party was great, the babies had so much fun! The next morning, however, was bizarre. When we woke up Sunday morning, we went to get the babies for breakfast and Zachary was unable to walk. His knee was swollen and he couldn’t put any weight on it. He only scooted on his butt around the playroom floor. We watched him to see if it would get any better and by the time he woke up from nap we knew we had to take him to the emergency room. Of course these things happen on Sundays when the doctor’s office and urgent care are closed!
My parents and my sister came over to watch Alexis and Jackson while we took Zack to the emergency room. It was so weird, the two of us with just one baby! We waited forever, had x-rays done and then were finally seen by a nurse practitioner. The x-rays came back fine. There were many possible explanations – long story short though…he is completely fine now. Bizarre and stressful but I am grateful that the babies are OK. We had their 18-month appointment (even though they are almost 19-months old now) today and everyone was fine. The shots were hell but its over and I am so glad. Taking three wriggly toddlers to the pediatrician’s office is no easy task and I am exhausted! I’ll have to do another post with details and their stats.
We’ve got yet another appointment tomorrow for all three of them to see the opthalmologist. After this week, I am DONE with doctor’s appointments.

Bla bla bla – lame update I know. I just needed to type it up to share it with you but I have to tell you honestly that my heart is heavy and I have been so upset the past couple of days. I found out yesterday that my dear blog-friend and fellow multiples mama lost her precious baby on Sunday. Brian came home with a strange look on his face and red eyes. He told me and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This devastating news has shook me to my core and neither Brian nor I have been able to stop thinking about Jodi and her family. This has brought both of us to tears. I am so overcome with sadness for this beautiful family. I have spent the last two days in and out of tears. Their precious baby boy, named Matteo, was just shy of 18 months old.
I can’t think of anything worse than losing a child. I would rather die a thousand deaths than have to bury one of my children. Just the thought of it makes my eyes burn with tears.
Jodi is such an amazing woman and had become such a positive force in my life. The internet has provided me with such a wonderful support system of beautiful and intelligent moms whom I have grown to love as surrogate family members – friends “IN the computer”, so to speak. Jodi has always been such a supportive and positive voice for me. Even in her facebook statuses – never negative, nasty or gossipy – such a positive woman. Not that anyone deserves it, but why her??? I don’t understand why these things happen. I cannot imagine what she and her husband are going through right now. I have been praying. That is all I can do. Platitudes never help. There are no words that can provide any comfort. I am sure all that she wants is her baby back.
Jodi wrote a gut-wrenching and beautifully written post about her experience here. She wrote about holding her dead baby and has shared so honestly about the grief that has overcome her family.
Would you please pray for Jodi and her family? I am praying for Jodi to somehow find the strength to get through this, for the love that they have for Matteo and for each other to keep them close and hold them up. I am praying for Matteo’s siblings who may not understand now what has happened to their precious brother. I am praying so many prayers - she is heavy on my heart. Please lay your praying hands on the Martino's as they grieve this unthinkable loss.
http://martinomadness.blogspot.com/