Nathan's Magical Wish Trip- Pre-trip report

[Khalana]

That was really touching! That is so important, to celebrate every day!! I'm really looking forward to seeing some pictures.

 

[jessica52877]

What a touching story! I am so glad Nathan won!

I will be saying a prayer for Sam too! I actually happen to fall upon that thread months back and just couldn't believe it! What a tragic accident!

 

[bex271]

I loved the fact that Nathan got his trophy and had such a good time,
I'll keep Sam in my thoughts as he see about his legs. Hope he's able to play basketball.

becca

 

[teresajoy]

Oh Carol! You do know how to make a person turn into a sobbing little baby!!! Your boys are just so wonderful!!! I am so glad I've got a chance to get to "know" you and your boys!

I hate trampolines, they are so dangerous! I hope Sam is healing well, and the doctor gives him the go ahead to do the sports he wants.

But, if he doesn't, he could always take up fishing!

 

[oklamomof4boys]

Oh Carol! You do know how to make a person turn into a sobbing little baby!!! Your boys are just so wonderful!!! I am so glad I've got a chance to get to "know" you and your boys!

I hate trampolines, they are so dangerous! I hope Sam is healing well, and the doctor gives him the go ahead to do the sports he wants.

But, if he doesn't, he could always take up fishing!

I also hate trampolines. I resisted getting one for a very long time. We have always been looking for ways to keep Nathan fit. The doctor says he can never be over weight ( too hard on his heart) but since he can't play sports, we look for other forms of exercise. Somebody recommended a trampoline and his doctor said it would be fine. I am one of those " over protective" parents- my kids have never been in a moving vehicle without being buckled, etc. The trampoline made me nervous. We had all the safety rules in place- we had the enclosure, only one on at a time, no flips,etc. It was our second trampoline-the boys wore out the first one and the bed seemed to have too much give. Some friends with several kids asked for it. I just knew one of them would get hurt on our old one-they all 7 jumped at a time, no enclosure, jumping off of ladders onto it, etc. But no- my son lands wrong on his ankle in the middle of the trampoline and nearly loses his foot! It made me so mad. It seemed so unfair. The trampoline now makes a nifty pool toy holder!

Anyway, Sam had a great appointment! Well, except that we had to wait 2 hours! He was released for all activities-even football! He doesn't have to go back for a year. They still want to keep an eye on the growth plate. It looks good right now but they want to make sure they grow evenly. Sam was so excited. He's been jumping, hopping and running ever since!

Thank yo everybody for the prayers and good thoughts.

 

[kimmylaj]

that is just about the sweetest thing, i am so glad he won that trophy, and even better that he got to talk about it at assembly

 

[jessica52877]

That is such great news for Sam! I am so glad! I bet it was one hard year (or longer?) for him!

 

[oklamomof4boys]

I finally got my pictures on photobucket. Now let's see if I can remember how to post pictures!

This is Nathan, David and Brad ( who used to play for the Seattle Mariners)

Nathan and his winning fish-along with James Boone-the sponsor of the tournament

This is the entire group ( except for the one child who left early). I hate that it turned out so blurry. At least you can see how big their trophies are.

Nathan and Brad after the tournament

 

[oklamomof4boys]

Now that I finally figured out again how to post pictures ( and I think I did it a completely different way than I did before) I'll try posting pictures from his birthday.

Nathan wanted a pumpkin cake, so I made him a pumpkin cake!

This is the kids getting ready to play Laser Quest

They gave the kids these plastic tickets to show they were registered for the next game. The kids decided they needed to take pictures of everyone with rabbit ears-ah...10 year old humor

William and Sam are just so silly

We gave Nathan a sketch pad to draw his favorite thing-can you tell what it is?

 

[oklamomof4boys]

While I am in a picture posting mood-here are a couple more pictures I thought I'd share.

I walked by my bedroom one day and saw William and Tucker comparing muscles-so a went and grabbed a camera and snapped a picture. I thought it was hilarious but they would die if they knew I was sharing it.

Here's the boys with Denver from Denver and the Mile High Orchestra- a Christian band that we have become very close with.

One morning, William and Nathan crawled into our bed. When I went in to check on them, this is what I found.

This is them on the first day of school this year

I don't know what it is they have with acting like they are pointing at something.

 

[mom2lilnick]

I LOVE the pics! LOL at the pointing.. not showing my kids because they will start doing it too! Hehehe.

 

[oklamomof4boys]

I read about others having a pre-trip party and I'm fairly sure that our chapter isn't throwing us one, so I just decided we would plan a fun day for the family the day before we depart!

Our airport is 90 miles away in OKC. We leave at 9:00 am and I convinced my husband that it would be much better to go over the night before and stay in a hotel so we were more rested in the morning. I found a brand new Hyatt Place close to the airport with a special rate of $80 that day-that is for 2Q beds and an extra large sofa bed ( we stayed at a new Hyatt place a year and a half ago and loved it!). Tucker has All-State Jazz band tryouts the day before we leave in OKC, so we'll just stay the entire day there. There are a couple of fun restaurants in OKC that the boys have been wanting to try. One is kind of a touristy place-Pop's. It is a casual place but it has over 400 different kinds of soda! The other is a barbeque place they saw on Food Network as one of the best barbeque restaurants in the country. So we have our lunch and dinner plans! Then when we were at Laser Quest for Nathan's birthday this weekend, they gave him a coupon for a free game of laser tag and the rest of us coupons for buy one get one free. So I think we will go to Laser Quest and play a couple of games. Top all that off with a stay in a nice hotel and we have a great entire day of pre-trip fun!

David took the 3 older boys to OU homecoming today. David has gone and marched with the alumni band every year ( 25) since he graduated. My water broke with Nathan 2 days after homecoming 10 years ago. He is very lucky it didn't break any earlier. I would have been furious if he left me to go to the game! Nathan doesn't really care to go to the game-he likes going to our local HS games, but the OU game is an entire day event, so we don't bother spending the money on tickets for him. Since I graduated from OSU, I am more than happy to stay home with him! Nathan is still asleep- he is recovering from the lack of sleep during his slumber party, but then we get the day to ourselves! I'm going to get the house recleaned after his party and then we are going to have some quality time together. It is rare that I get much one on one time with the kids. We are going to carve a pumpkin- I got a Mickey Mouse pattern, so we will see how that turns out.

 

[macntosh]

I read about others having a pre-trip party and I'm fairly sure that our chapter isn't throwing us one, so I just decided we would plan a fun day for the family the day before we depart!

Our airport is 90 miles away in OKC. We leave at 9:00 am and I convinced my husband that it would be much better to go over the night before and stay in a hotel so we were more rested in the morning. I found a brand new Hyatt Place close to the airport with a special rate of $80 that day-that is for 2Q beds and an extra large sofa bed ( we stayed at a new Hyatt place a year and a half ago and loved it!). Tucker has All-State Jazz band tryouts the day before we leave in OKC, so we'll just stay the entire day there. There are a couple of fun restaurants in OKC that the boys have been wanting to try. One is kind of a touristy place-Pop's. It is a casual place but it has over 400 different kinds of soda! The other is a barbeque place they saw on Food Network as one of the best barbeque restaurants in the country. So we have our lunch and dinner plans! Then when we were at Laser Quest for Nathan's birthday this weekend, they gave him a coupon for a free game of laser tag and the rest of us coupons for buy one get one free. So I think we will go to Laser Quest and play a couple of games. Top all that off with a stay in a nice hotel and we have a great entire day of pre-trip fun!

David took the 3 older boys to OU homecoming today. David has gone and marched with the alumni band every year ( 25) since he graduated. My water broke with Nathan 2 days after homecoming 10 years ago. He is very lucky it didn't break any earlier. I would have been furious if he left me to go to the game! Nathan doesn't really care to go to the game-he likes going to our local HS games, but the OU game is an entire day event, so we don't bother spending the money on tickets for him. Since I graduated from OSU, I am more than happy to stay home with him! Nathan is still asleep- he is recovering from the lack of sleep during his slumber party, but then we get the day to ourselves! I'm going to get the house recleaned after his party and then we are going to have some quality time together. It is rare that I get much one on one time with the kids. We are going to carve a pumpkin- I got a Mickey Mouse pattern, so we will see how that turns out.

That Hyatt Place is nice, I stay there on business when I come to town. What is the BBQ place? I would like to check it out on my next trip.

 

[mom2lilnick]

Post pics of the pumpkin, that sounds really cute!

 

[teresajoy]

I also hate trampolines. I resisted getting one for a very long time. We have always been looking for ways to keep Nathan fit. The doctor says he can never be over weight ( too hard on his heart) but since he can't play sports, we look for other forms of exercise. Somebody recommended a trampoline and his doctor said it would be fine. I am one of those " over protective" parents- my kids have never been in a moving vehicle without being buckled, etc. The trampoline made me nervous. We had all the safety rules in place- we had the enclosure, only one on at a time, no flips,etc. It was our second trampoline-the boys wore out the first one and the bed seemed to have too much give. Some friends with several kids asked for it. I just knew one of them would get hurt on our old one-they all 7 jumped at a time, no enclosure, jumping off of ladders onto it, etc. But no- my son lands wrong on his ankle in the middle of the trampoline and nearly loses his foot! It made me so mad. It seemed so unfair. The trampoline now makes a nifty pool toy holder!

Anyway, Sam had a great appointment! Well, except that we had to wait 2 hours! He was released for all activities-even football! He doesn't have to go back for a year. They still want to keep an eye on the growth plate. It looks good right now but they want to make sure they grow evenly. Sam was so excited. He's been jumping, hopping and running ever since!

Thank yo everybody for the prayers and good thoughts.

We had a friend who severely broke her foot on a trampoline just jumping too (her bone punctured a whole in the trampoline). I think it happens a lot more than people realize. Most people think I am a very overprotective type parent. I won't let them get on a trampoline and Arminda still rides in a 5 point harness carseat.

That is FANTASTIC news about Sam!!!!!!! I am so happy for him!!!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Hi!! I'm in Norman and was at homecoming today, too!

So, what's the BBQ place?

Excited to read more of your report!!

 

[oklamomof4boys]

Hi!! I'm in Norman and was at homecoming today, too!

So, what's the BBQ place?

Excited to read more of your report!!

I'm glad the Sooners won. I had cranky people at my house last week when they lost!

The BBQ place is Leo's on 36th and Kelly. Hopefully it is as good as they were saying it was on the Food Network.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I'm glad the Sooners won. I had cranky people at my house last week when they lost!

The BBQ place is Leo's on 36th and Kelly. Hopefully it is as good as they were saying it was on the Food Network.

Uhhh, yeah!

Never tried it, but we love love love Oklahoma Station BBQ!!!

 

[oklamomof4boys]

Okay, this is more reminiscing on the events that brought us to Nathan qualifying for a wish trip. Once again, feel free to skip this-as it will most likely be long and rambling.

Nathan had been out of the hospital for 2 days. He spent 6 days there from being 7 weeks premature. The only reason he had to stay there that long was to do a round of antibiotics since my water had been broken for a week before he was born. But he was doing great- all the tests came back normal, he was nursing, we were the last visit on the doctors rounds. It was good to be home.

Since Nathan was premature, I was worried about him getting enough nutrition, so I was pumping and giving him my breast milk from a bottle. I would nurse him first and then give him the bottle. I also was waking him up every 4 hours to feed him. It was Sunday night/Monday morning and he just was so sleepy. I couldn't get him to wake up to eat. I thought I would just try the bottle since it took less effort for him. I tried all the "tricks" to get him to wake up- undressed him, ,changed his diaper, gave him a bath, etc. He would wake up briefly, look up at me and roll his eyes back in his head and go back to sleep. I did all my speech pathologist things trying to get him to eat- I squirted a little bit in his cheek and stroked his neck until he swallowed. I stayed up all night doing this. I was scared- but you know everything seems worse in the middle of the night. I was sure once the sun came up, things would seem better. But they didn't. David was pretty calm but I was still nervous. Our pediatrician was out of town but the NICU had said I could call at any time. So I called. The nurse I talked to told me later that when I called she put me on hold and said, " I'm talking to baby Davis' mother. She's worried that he isn't eating. Who took care of him? Am I talking to a nervous new mother or do we think there is a problem?" Luckily one of the nurses remembered me and said I seemed like a calm, competent mother of 4- if I said there was a problem, there might be a problem. So they let me talk to the doctor. He took me seriously, but his only symptoms were that he was very sleepy and wouldn't eat. This is fairly common for a premie. They gave me some suggestions and told me to call if things didn't get better. This went on all day. David was at work and he had taken the older 3 to grandma's. I kept Nathan in our bathroom under the heat lamp when I wasn't trying to feed him- I kept checking his temp and it was normal. The doctor had told me to give it 24 hours and if he wasn't better, to bring him back to the NICU. I just had a feeling that would be too late. I sat on the bathroom floor and prayed, " Please God, let me know what I need to do for my baby." I instantly knew I needed to get him to the hospital. I also noticed something else, his circumcision was still bleeding. I knew form my older boys that this wasn't normal. I called the NICU...AGAIN. I talked to the doctor and told him about the circumcision. He said maybe he was a little anemic-did I want to bring him in? Yes, I did. It was about 2:00pm, my parents had just driven out from OKC to help me with the kids and I asked them if they would take me and Nathan back to the NICU. We still didn't know how serious it was. David didn't even go with us. He had already missed quite a bit of work and it was a difficult time for him to be gone. Bless David's heart, I'm not sure if he has forgiven himself yet for not going to the hospital with us.

It was a very long 90 mile drive to OKC. I sat in the back seat with my hand on my sleeping baby. I could feel his temperature dropping. Evidently, the heat lamp had been keeping his temp up at home. By the time we reached the NICU, his temp was 95, his arms and legs were gray. He was in heart failure but we didn't know why. I still was oblivious to how serious it was until they said, " Your husband needs to get here." The rest of the day was a blur. But still, before you have experienced anything like this, you think there is no way something "really bad" could happen to one of your children. We figured our "trial" was just being extended but eventually we would have a good ending. That night we prepared to go to my parent's house to sleep. The doctor made sure we weren't going to our home 90 miles away. He said we needed to stay close by. When we were walking out of Nathan's little isolation room, there was something about the look on the nurse's face. I said incredulously to the nurse, " Do you think he is going to die?" Her answer was not very reassuring- " We are going to do everything we can."

Fast forward to today. Nathan was baptised at church today. It is a glorious day.

 

[llurgy]

I'm on board to read this pre-trip and hopefully the trip report afterwards.
You have a wonderful loving family. It sounds very hectic and very, very busy at times but your love for each other seems to shine through in everything you write.
You have been through such a lot with Nathen, and then Sam having the trampoline accident (trampolines really scare me, and Pinata's they both seem so dangerous, but that may be because we watch a lot of America's funniest videos)
Glad to hear that Sam is fully healed and Nathen is so very obviously holding his own and doing things he really loves to do.

Mandy