Celebrate the Little Victories

Paxton slept like a rock. This was good since he had such a rough time the night before. Susanne managed to get about five hours of sleep before she had to start the day. Paxton had an appointment at the hospital to get a blood sample taken to evaluate his electrolytes and organ function. This was important because he was on a diuretic medication that had potential side effects.

Susanne and Paxton left the house around 7:30 am. They were hoping that the appointment would be quick and painless. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Susanne signed in around 8:00 am and they didn't get called back until 10:00 am. Susanne took the opportunity to do some therapy with Paxton while they waited. For the first time, Paxton actually recognized his own hands and appeared to be really intrigued by them. He would extend them out in front of him and stare at his fingers. At one point, it looked like he was counting his fingers. He loved the book about trucks that Susanne read to him. He was fixated on the variety of colors that he could see. Susanne could tell that he was going to be a genius one day.

After watching another child run around the waiting room for two hours, it was finally Paxton's turn. He was so brave while his blood was being taken. He was talking to the nurse the whole time. The actual blood draw took less than five minutes. This was very frustrating that they had to wait as long as they did for something that took no time at all. It just didn't make sense.

They got back on the road to try to make it back in time for Paxton's therapy session. Susanne had to set up Paxton's NG feeding during the car ride home. Susanne was concerned that Paxton may not do well for his therapy session because he would not be hungry and he would be tired. Both of those things do not work in his favor when the purpose of today's session would be on oral feedings.
Paxton actually surprised everyone and exceeded their expectations. He was receptive to the facial touching and gum massage. He even allowed Susanne to squirt small amounts of milk in his mouth without gagging. The most impressive part of the session was the amount of swallowing Paxton was doing on his own. He seemed to have finally figured out how to manipulate his tongue and secretions on his own. He still had a long way to go, but this was a step in the right direction.

Today was Paxton's original occupational therapist's last day. She got a little emotional because she was sad to be leaving, but also from Paxton showing so much improvement. It was a very bittersweet moment. Susanne and Paxton would be forever grateful for the assistance she provided to the both of them. She played a critical role in getting this whole process started and encouraging Susanne and Paxton to keep on fighting. Marianne will be missed.

Susanne was so exhausted by the afternoon that she could not keep her eyes open. She decided to try to take a nap when Paxton went down for his. The second she closed her eyes, the phone rang. When she attempted to fall asleep for a second time, Paxton started to cry because he had a wet diaper. Susanne's third and final try was a success for about twenty minutes until the phone rang again. Didn't they all know it was siesta time.

Susanne cooked a dairy free, soy free chicken pot pie for dinner. It definitely hit the spot. Moppy arrived for the evening duty. Shortly thereafter, Susanne headed off to bed to prepare for a full day of work tomorrow.

Hair Therapy, STAT!

So...........that didn't work out so well. Paxton slept for maybe an hour. Susanne had already decided to postpone Paxton's midnight feeding by about an hour just in case his stomach was too full from the previous feeding. Things were going well until right after the feeding was finished. He started coughing, then gagging, and then dry heaving. Susanne spent a long time holding him and trying to comfort him. She tried some gastric massage, singing, rocking, and rubbing his back. Nothing seemed to settle him down. She was sure that he was just experiencing some discomfort from gas because his belly felt bloated. If only she had emergency Mylicon on hand. What a rookie mistake. Susanne decided that she was going to move Paxton to her bed to see if that would help the situation. He had a travel bed that fit perfectly. She had only ever done this one time before when he had a rough night after his vaccinations. Susanne continued to try to comfort him. It was probably around 3:30 am that he finally had a bowel movement and then he quickly settled down. They ended up falling asleep hand in hand. Today was going to be a long day for the two of them.

Paxton had a therapy session later that morning. For working off of a few hours of sleep, Paxton did extremely well. He was progressing so well. The therapist was impressed with his ability to lift his hands towards his midline and up in the air against gravity without the assistance of any support. He loved to reach for his links and fun toys. He even tried batting his toys around so they would make noise. He even lifted his head up during tummy time without assistance. He was engaged the entire session and continued to show daily improvements.

After the therapy session, Paxton was able to take a quick nap. Out of nowhere, a major thunderstorm developed. There was a torrential downpour followed by thunder and lightening, but it only lasted a short time. Susanne was shocked to see that the power went out, but thankfully that didn't last long. It ended up being the perfect storm because it was just enough to water the grass, but stop just in time for Susanne and Paxton to leave the house again.

The next item on their agenda was for Susanne to get a haircut. She could not believe that it had been over seven months since her last appointment. She had been so busy that time just flew by. Hopefully, it would not be that long between appointments again since everything had kind of settled down for the moment.

Ever since Scott and Susanne moved to Loudoun County, Susanne had been getting her hair done by one of Scott's childhood friends, Michael. Scott didn't even know that she was still around until he was hired as a massage therapist at Solace Day Spa and realized she worked there too. She was well known in the area and she was always booked up. She was really good at what she did and well worth the wait. Susanne trusted her opinions always. Michael, as well as everyone else that worked there, was ecstatic to finally get to meet Paxton. One of the employee's held Paxton almost the entire time while Susanne was getting pampered. Paxton did an incredible job. He was so patient. He was always so social and never complained when meeting new people. Susanne was so pleased with her haircut and she couldn't believe how much healthier her hair felt. It was like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders...literally.

By the time she got out of there, it was time for Paxton to eat again. Once he was all set up, Susanne figured out something for herself to eat. The only thing left to do for the night was to watch "The Bachelorette" and go to bed. Hallelujah!

Let's Go Shopping!

Susanne and Paxton had a fun morning together. She was able to make him smile with ease. This always brightened her day. They were able to work on some therapy before he went back down for his first nap.

Moppy volunteered to come over today to babysit the little guy while Susanne went out to run some errands. Susanne was excited to be able to get some things done that had been on her checklist for a long time as well as not to have to stress Paxton out by having to take him with her.

Susanne knew she would have to move quickly because most stores closed at 6:00 pm because it was Sunday. Shopping was taking much longer than Susanne had expected. She was only in the second store when it turned 6:00 pm. This store that she was in had a broken air conditioner which made it almost unbearable to try on clothes. She knew her time was running out when some of the overhead lights were turned off. If people didn't get the hint after this happened, then they had a serious problem. Susanne was relieved that some of the other places that she needed to go to closed at a later time. She was able to go everywhere she needed to go with the exception of two places. That was pretty impressive especially with the amount of stuff that she accomplished in such a short time.

Susanne arrived home close to 10:00 pm. She brought Moppy dinner as a thank you for watching Paxton. She was tending to Paxton when Susanne walked in the door. She had mentioned that he had a rough day. He had multiple episodes of spit up and seemed overall uncomfortable. He had a lot of difficulty getting settled and falling asleep. After Moppy left, Susanne decided to give Paxton a bath. She applied a calming lotion in hopes that it may help. He seemed to fall right asleep shortly after she was finished. Let's see how long that lasts.

Urine Trouble Now

Moppy came over this morning to watch Paxton for the day while Susanne was at work. She was becoming quite comfortable with Paxton's routine and his idiosyncrasies.

When Susanne arrived at work this morning, she was informed that there was eight veterinarians on the schedule with only three technicians available to assist. Susanne was a little apprehensive about how her day was going to play out because they were so understaffed. She was certain everyone would pull together as a team because they had been presented with this type of challenge before.

Susanne noticed how nice it was to have music playing in the treatment room area. One of the technicians had recently been setting up her phone in an ipod dock. It was set on Pandora where you could type in the title of a song and it would play music that was similar to that sound. It was amazing how just having music playing in the background could decrease the stress level instantaneously. Susanne was caught off guard when she heard the song "It's Alright" by Huey Lewis and The News. This was the very song that Scott was singing when Susanne fell in love with him the first time. He was part of a fraternity in college and one of the yearly events that they did was have a sing off between all of the fraternities on campus. They would sing an a cappella version of any song of their choice and compete against each other. Susanne knew the moment she heard Scott sing that she was in love. From that day on, their relationship started developing and they finally started dating a couple months later. Susanne had always loved hearing Scott sing and play his guitar. He continued to win her heart throughout the beginning of their relationship by writing a song for her. Also, they spent many of evenings sitting on their special bridge overlooking a lake singing together as he strummed his guitar. Scott even played his guitar and sang to Susanne on their wedding day. He was so talented.

Susanne quickly realized that she had continued to follow the trend of breezing through her morning appointments, but somehow attracting multiple critical patients in the afternoon. Susanne enjoyed the more challenging cases, but she wished that the order in which she saw them was different. One of her last appointments of the day was a male cat that was blocked. Basically, this meant that he could not urinate because there was an obstruction of some sort in his urethra. Most commonly this tended to be stones that were trying to pass. Susanne knew this was an emergency situation the minute that she palpated the cat's large, firm bladder. She was unsuccessful with trying to express his bladder so she knew that she would have to anesthetize the cat and pass a urinary catheter. Luckily, things went smoothly. It was amazing to see the difference in the cat's demeanor after the procedure was over. He was definitely relieved.

Another late night for Susanne, but the second she saw her baby's face things were all better.

Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion, Upset Stomach, Diarrhea

Even though Susanne and Colleen didn't have to wake up to feed Paxton at 3:00 am, Paxton decided he wanted to spend time with them anyway. Susanne woke up to him crying incessantly. This was not a common thing for him at all. It seemed that he could not get comfortable and that his stomach was upset. Susanne changed his diaper and performed a little gastric massage. Colleen sat with Susanne for moral support. After a short time, he appeared to be feeling much better. The girls finally got to go back to bed.

When Susanne got up to take care of Paxton later that morning, she saw the remnants of what was causing him issues all night. He was much happier and greeted Susanne with a smile. It was moments like these that were priceless.

The rest of the day was spent going through their normal routine...NG feeding, therapy, playtime, nap. Rewind. Repeat. Susanne was able to complete some more items on her to do list, but was unable to finish it.

Susanne got creative with dinner and made a homemade sauce to go over some linguine. It turned out to be pretty tasty. It always made Susanne laugh when all of the animals would come out of the woodwork when she was eating.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Paxton had an occupational therapy appointment this morning. His original therapist came along with the new therapist to help with the transition process. Today was supposed to be focused on oral feeding, but from the start of the appointment, he was struggling. For some reason, he was breathing rapidly and was very averse to anything going in or around his mouth. This was completely opposite of what Susanne had been experiencing with him over the last week. At the end of the session, the therapist placed Paxton in his crib to work on some craniosacral therapy. The theory behind this technique was to help release tension and restrictions in the craniosacral system by using a gentle, hands-on approach. It was amazing to see how this calmed him down almost immediately.

Paxton slept the rest of the day. He was exhausted from all of the excitement. Susanne took this opportunity to try to clean up the house a little bit before her friends came over.

Cory, Ann, and Colleen all arrived around the same time that evening. The original plan was to eat dinner and watch the movie "Sex and The City 1" so that everyone would be prepared to go and watch the sequel in the movie theater. They had the best of intentions to do this, but they didn't stop talking enough to fit that into their schedule. They did manage, however, to squeeze in some time for cute, baby Paxton. Susanne tried extra hard to get Paxton to laugh for the girls, but she was unsuccessful.

Cory and Ann left later than they had originally planned, but they didn't seem to mind because they all seemed to have had such an awesome time. There was never a dull moment when they all got together. Colleen ended up staying the night because it was "Pajama Party Thursday". It was nice to finally catch up with her especially since they had missed out on spending time together the last couple of Thursdays. Susanne and Colleen continued talking for a while and then had to force themselves to go to bed. Colleen was pleased to find out that Paxton no longer had to be set up to eat at 3:00 am. This made a huge difference!

Saying goodbye

Moppy came over around 9:00 am this morning to take care of Paxton. She usually stayed the night before Susanne had to go to work to help with Paxton's overnight feedings, but her flight back from the conference she was at was delayed. She didn't end up getting home until after midnight.

Today was a slow day at work. Susanne's schedule was not completely full. She was pleased to see that one of her patients that she had been treating was responding to the medication she had prescribed. This was awesome news for her and of course the owners.

Susanne ended her day on a sad note. She had to help a family that had been long time clients of hers through a difficult decision to put their pet to sleep. This was never an easy decision and no one was ever ready to let go. It was so hard for Susanne to watch the people that she cared about go through something so agonizing. Susanne was continually amazed at the loving nature of a dog. Even though they could be suffering on the inside, they could still manage to wag their tail and give you kisses. This always made it so much tougher to say goodbye. Susanne knew exactly what they were going through. Even though it had been well over a month since she had to say farewell to Maverick, it still hurt so deeply.

Susanne's night immediately improved when she got home to find that Scott came home for the evening. He decided to surprise her which was so very sweet. He brought her dinner that they shared over conversation about their day. It felt nice to have a loving husband to come home to.

They both snuggled with Paxton for a short time before they headed off to bed.

What's The Buzz All About?

Susanne and Scott had always prided themselves on trying to save animals' lives whether big or small, scaly or furry, icky or cuddly. They had both spent a lot of summers pulling over on the side of the road to help turtles and even snakes cross the road in times of need. They had always tried to safely place insects that had entered their home back out into their natural environment. They had rescued too many animals to count between the two of them. If they couldn't keep them, they found an alternative home for them. Recently, Susanne had noticed that there was a wasp's nest in the newspaper compartment of the mailbox. A few weeks ago, she only noticed one wasp taking up residence in the nest. Shortly thereafter, that one wasp multiplied into two, then three, and now six. When Scott was home this weekend, he tried to safely move the nest to another location. This didn't go as well as originally planned, but he thought that now that the nest was no longer in the mailbox, they would move somewhere else. Obviously, this was not the case. Susanne went to get the mail this morning and realized that she still had a few visitors. She quickly tried to open the mailbox without disturbing the peace. She was not as slick as she thought because almost immediately a couple of wasps chased her away. She made the executive decision that she would have to kill them because they weren't budging. Stubborn, little wasps! Luckily, they would have a few days to say their goodbyes. It would probably take Susanne that long to be able to go out to the store and by some spray.

Speaking of spray....Susanne's aunt recently sent her an e-mail stating that wasp spray was a great alternative to pepper spray to help ward of an attacker. Research showed that it allowed the victim to maintain his or her distance and give them an upperhand in the situation by causing the attacker temporary blindness, giving the victim enough time to run away.

Lesson of the day: You should always have wasp spray on hand!

A Change Would Do You Good!

Paxton had an occupational therapy session this morning, but it was with a new person. The therapist that was supposed to be working with him on a regular basis just informed Susanne last week that she would be moving in July. She was also going to be going on vacation for two weeks sometime between now and then. Even though she had only worked with Paxton a total of three times, it was still difficult to accept change. Susanne was glad that it was happening this early on because it would just make it that much harder to make the transition the longer they worked with the original therapist.

Paxton was showing signs of improvement. He was consciously reaching for toys and being successful at grabbing them as well. He was also showing some improvement with his head control. Susanne was comforted by the fact that all of her hardwork was paying off. The new therapist gave Susanne a couple more techniques to try with Paxton during the times she was working with him. Susanne loved learning new tricks because it gave her a lot to work with. She was so proud of her little man. He was such a strong, determined guy.

When Susanne was playing with Paxton today, he actually frowned for the first time. It did not seem to be associated with anything in particular and luckily it did not progress into a cry. He looked so pitiful with that expression on his face. She definitely liked when he smiled or laughed much more.

Boys Will Be Boys!

The day could not have started off any better. Scott stayed in bed extra long this morning while Susanne prepared him breakfast. During this time, Scott got some extra snuggle time with Paxton. After a delicious breakfast in bed, they decided to get up and prepare for a great day. The only pressing thing on their agenda was to go to the pool for the afternoon with Aunt Leenie and Uncle Loonie.

After Paxton was all lathered up with sunscreen, Scott put on his swimming trunks and he was ready to go. He only needed one more thing to complete his look....sunglasses. Susanne was finally able to find a pair that he could wear. Now, Paxton looked even more like his father. Like father, like son for sure.

Scott decided to play bartender for the afternoon and make some nice, refreshing watermelon margaritas for the poolside. Once he was finished, they loaded up the cooler and headed out for some fun in the sun. It was definitely a scorcher, reaching up to the mid-nineties. This was a perfect day to go swimming.

For the first few hours, everyone sipped on their cocktails, soaked in some rays, and enjoyed each other's company. Once it got too hot to handle, everyone went for a dip in the pool. Paxton couldn't stay too long in the water because he was due for his next NG feeding. Susanne decided to hang out with the little guy while Uncle Loonie and Scott shot some water hoops. Susanne and Paxton finally joined everyone after Paxton woke up from a much needed nap. He seemed to really like the water this time. He seemed quite content to hang out in the pool as long as the sun wasn't in his face. They stayed in the water so long that they all turned into prunes. Even though it was hard to go, they decided to leave when Paxton was due for his next feeding. Everyone had a great time and they had the sunburn to prove it.

Scott couldn't even get Paxton through the front door before Paxton was fast asleep. They decided to put him straight to bed and bathe him after he woke up. In the meantime, Susanne made Scott a nice dinner before he had to head back to PA. Sadly, he had to open his Father's Day gifts without Paxton because he was still sleeping. Paxton got his daddy a card and a special book for just the two of them to read together. Susanne framed a picture of Paxton for Scott to take with him so that he would have something to constantly brighten his day whenever he needed a pick me up. It was going to look perfect in his office at work.

Paxton must have been exhausted because he did not wake up at all. Susanne waited and waited for him to open his little eyes, but it never happened. She ended up waking him up a short time after he finished his nine o'clock feeding just so that she could bathe him. She couldn't fathom letting him sleep through the entire night without a bath after having sunscreen on him and being in the pool. It just did not seem sanitary or safe. He was actually very content with having a bath even though it was really late at night. Baths had come to be one of his favorite things. He especially liked his hair to be washed. Now he was ready for bed. He had fresh new blankets and he was squeaky clean. Susanne had no trouble at all putting him back down for the evening. One book later and he was out for the count. He always seemed so peaceful when he slept.

By this time, Scott was on the road back to Pennsylvania. Susanne was so thankful that he was able to come home this weekend. It was such a special first Father's Day for the whole family to be together. We love you daddy!

All Work and No Play

Susanne was hoping that her work day would fly by so that she could spend as much time as possible with her husband and son. Scott got up early to take care of Paxton so that Susanne could finish getting ready for work. She left him special instructions so that he would remember what Paxton would need at different times of the day. Scott's goal was to work on his dissertation during the times that Paxton was taking a nap. He made it easy on himself by transporting all of the equipment needed for his feedings downstairs along with Paxton's play gym and toys. Scott set up a one stop shop for all of Paxton's needs. He was able to feed him, play with him, change him, and do therapy sessions all in the same spot. Paxton also found it comfortable enough to take his multiple naps that he needed during the day.

Colleen decided to come over this morning to be a source of moral support and a cheerleader for Scott while he was working on the final phases of his dissertation. She had been in this situation not too long ago and easily remembered how difficult the whole process was. It was all so fresh in her memory how much patience and stamina was needed to make it through. Her presence alone made Scott's day that much more manageable. Paxton was so delighted to see his Aunt Leenie this morning. It was a nice surprise to see a familiar face. He had missed her the last couple of Thursdays.

Susanne had to take James into work woth her to recheck an ECG of his heart. He had a congenital heart defect just like Paxton, but for totally different reasons. James was on medication to help his heart have a more normal rate and rhythm. Susanne wanted to make sure that things looked stable enough for him to potentially go under anesthesia for a dental cleaning in the next few weeks. Susanne was anxious about bringing him in because he was usually a hyper ball of energy when she took him out in public. He was so easily overstimulated that it made it difficult for him to function and even more difficult for Susanne to handle him. Everything was exciting and he wanted to be involved in it all. Surprisingly, James was well behaved this time. He actually listened to Susanne despite being faced with so many new sources of stimulation. Susanne was beside herself with excitement because he was finally able to act somewhat normal in public. The only downside was that this might be a sign that he was getting older and more mature. She would take it either way. She just wished that people could see what a quiet, relaxed dog he was when he was at home with her. No one ever believed that he had that side to him.

Susanne was cruising through her day. She only had three appointments left when everything took a turn for the worse. The last few appointments were all very involved and somewhat challenging cases. She didn't mind this type of appointment, she just wished that she had seen them in the morning instead of at the end of her day. She definitely enjoyed veterinary medicine and the process of figuring out what was wrong with her patients. The one thing she did not like about her profession was the unpredictability of her schedule. Not even an hour before she would have been able to leave after her last appointment. Now she would be there well into the evening. She ended up hospitalizing one of the animals which was the best thing for the pet.

Susanne did not end up leaving work until almost five hours after her shift had ended. She still had to stop by Moppy's house to take care of her cat. Susanne was going to scoop the litter and refill Bailey's gravity feeders if need be. When Susanne opened the door to Moppy's house, she was caught off guard by how hot it was in the house. Moppy had been trying to deal with a broken air conditioning unit for well over a month and no one had been out to fix it yet. She kept getting the run around from the insurance company and the company that was supposed to fix the unit. No matter how many calls she had made, it never seemed to change the outcome. Luckily, Bailey was doing well. He seemed to be in good spirits despite the circumstances. After giving Bailey some well deserved attention, Susanne was back on the road.

Susanne had to make one last stop before going home. She needed to go to Petsmart to pick up some things for her own pets. She decided to load up on everything she could think of since it was difficult for her to get out with the baby. By the time all was said and done, she had a full cart. She always wondered what the employee's must think because she always had a variety of stuff for all sorts of animals. It was true....she had a small zoo.

Susanne finally got home around 10:00 pm. At the last minute, they decided to order out. This was the best decision they had made all day. Once the food got there, Susanne could hardly finish before she fell asleep on the couch. She was so bummed that she didn't get to spend much time at all with her husband. It really took a toll on her especially since he wasn't coming home every weekend anymore. She could not wait until August.

Paxton + Margaritas = :)

Everyone slept in just a little bit because it was much needed. Brandy got to spend some quality time with Paxton and Susanne before she had to get on the road. Even though she was only able to stay one night, Susanne really felt like she got some good quality time with her. It was so nice to catch up with an old friend.

Scott came home later in the day. Susanne showed him some of the new things that she had learned over the last two therapy sessions. Scott wasted no time and jumped right in. He immediately started working with Paxton, eager to see the progress he had made since the last time he had seen him. Scott could not believe how big Paxton looked. He was excited about the weight gain that had occurred over the last few weeks. He was starting to look all grown up.

Due to a long week and a long drive, Scott really wanted to get out of the house and have a family night. They decided that it was important to start teaching Paxton early about his heritage and getting him exposed to Mexican food as much as possible. This was important since it would be such a prominent part of his life. Paxton seemed to take a liking to the chips and salsa right away. He also wanted a sip of his daddy's margarita, but they had to tell him he was too young for that. His tequila training would have to come much later.

After a nice dinner out, Scott and Susanne decided to give Paxton a bath before his bedtime. This always seemed to relax Paxton, which was the perfect set up for going to bed. It was so nice to finally have Scott there to help out. Paxton liked it too.

Old Friend, Good Time.

One of Susanne's closest friends from high school was coming up to visit with her this afternoon. She was in the Outer Banks for the week visiting her sister and decided to make a special trip up to meet Paxton. Brandy was a long time friend that Susanne was so excited to see. She currently lived in Georgia which made it difficult for them to visit with each other as much as they would like. Susanne and Brandy went way back. They were first introduced through cheerleading which was one of their mutual passions throughout middle school and high school. Susanne loved it so much that she would have continued it in college if the schedule did not conflict with her pre-veterinary course work. Susanne and Brandy were also involved in cheerleading gymnastics together, which was where they learned to tumble and do cool tricks. Susanne wondered if either of them could still do any of that. They went to cheerleading camps and cheerleading competitions together. They went to countless football and basketball games together. They even performed in a few half time shows with the band because of their sought after skills. During the spring, they ran track and field. They spent many days running "The Hill" together. Torture. Susanne even remembered how they danced the night away at prom. They had such a great time that they were the last to leave. It seemed like no matter what time of year it was, they were somehow connected. Even with being so busy, they managed to spend a lot of their free time hanging out and being kids. They shared a lot of wonderful memories together that they would remember forever. It was nice to know that they had always been there for each other. It was definitely a friendship that was built to last a lifetime.

Susanne tried to get up early enough so that she could straighten up the house a little before Brandy arrived. It was always so difficult to find a sufficient amount of time to do everyday chores because she was always getting interrupted by one thing or another.

Brandy arrived just in time for them to leave for Paxton's pediatrician's appointment. Somewhere between when Susanne went downstairs to answer the door and when Brandy got to meet Paxton, he had pulled out his NG tube. Susanne would typically be frustrated at the site of this, but she was actually glad he had done it this time. The only reason for this was that Paxton's skin was irritated and ulcerated underneath where the tube was laying and Susanne would not have known this otherwise. She had run out of the adhesive that she was using that went under the tube and protected his skin. The only option she had for securing the tube was what the medical supply company had provided her. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient because Paxton's poor skin suffered. The problem that Susanne was running into was that when he drooled or got a bath, the moisture would loosen the adhesive backing to the tape that was being used. This would in turn cause the tube to now be secure. If Paxton got a hold of his NG tube at the right spot, he could easily just pull it out because nothing was keeping it in place. She felt horrible that his skin had become so irritated. She was sure it was uncomfortable, but he couldn't tell her that it hurt. For now, she wasn't going to replace the tube until after Paxton's pediatrician could assess the situation. She was going to have to find an alternative for securing the tube because what she did the last time was not acceptable.

The pediatrician was so excited to see Paxton. She was specifically impressed with his weight gain over the last few weeks. He weighed in at 11 lbs 9 oz and that was post dirty diaper. She could not believe how different he looked compared to the last time that she had examined him. He appeared more comfortable and less stressed in the office setting. His physical exam looked good and she felt like he was stable. Since he was doing so well she decided to go ahead and give him some of his four month old vaccinations. Susanne liked the idea of splitting the vaccines up into two separate appointments to avoid overloading his system, especially since he had such a difficult time with the first round. Paxton was a champ for his vaccination. He didn't even cry. Paxton was braver for his vaccine than his mother had been in the past.

Before they left, Paxton's pediatrician calculated the amount of food that Paxton should be eating at this time. She was able to work it out so that Susanne could continue feeding him every three hours, but be able to skip the 3:00 am feeding. This was music to her ears. This would change Susanne's world so much. She would probably be a new woman after a few days of getting five consistent hours of sleep. What awesome news!!!

Brandy and Susanne talked non-stop for hours and hours. Somewhere between all of the catching up, Susanne cooked dinner and made cookies for the two of them. They were having such a great time together. It was so easy to pick up where they had left off the last time they saw each other. Finally, they ended up forcing themselves to go to bed around 1:00 am because they knew if they didn't they would regret it. After realizing how late it was, it was nice to know that Susanne wouldn't have to wake up in two hours to feed Paxton. Yippy!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Susanne spent her morning showing Moppy the things that she had learned during Paxton's therapy sessions. She wanted Moppy to feel comfortable enough to be able to practice with Paxton throughout the day. She was a quick learner and Susanne thought that she would do an excellent job.

Susanne brought Ashley the kitty into work today. There was finally a space available for her in the adoption program. Susanne was going to examine her today, update her vaccinations, give her a dewormer, test for FeLV/FIV, and check a stool sample for parasites. She was getting the works. Hopefully, someone would think she was irrestible and adopt her.

Susanne's day was going well. It got even better when she got to see one of her favorite longtime clients. This client was one of Susanne's biggest fans. They met early on when Susanne was first starting out at the clinic. They had an instant connection because they were both huge fans of Boxers. They each had two boxers at the time along with guinea pigs, which just sealed the deal. They loved swapping stories about their pets and were shocked with the similarities between their dogs' personalities. This owner had a white version of Maverick and a white version of James. Susanne got along so well with her. It felt more like a friendship than a typical relationship with a client. She was so happy to see her and be able to update her on Paxton. She had been keeping up with everything through Susanne's close friend, Julie. Susanne couldn't wait for her to see pictures of the little guy. She was so encouraging to Susanne and really helped her to keep things in perspective. Unfortunately for her, she brought one of her dogs for a wellness exam and she ended up being really sick. Hopefully, with the right medications she will be feeling better in no time.

It must have been Susanne's lucky day because she got to see another one of her favorite patients. This was a Welsh Corgi that had so much personality. He absolutely loved Susanne. Anytime he would see her it was almost instantly that he would roll over on his back for a belly rub. The funny thing was that he only wanted to be loved on by Susanne, but did not want anything else from her. Whenever she had to do any procedures or even just look in his ears, he would try to nip and be sassy. It was very comical and entertaining, but he always had to wear a muzzle for that stuff for safety precautions.

One of Susanne's appointments during the day was a beautiful, new kitten. He was just as sweet as pie. The owner had recently purchased him through a breeder that ran a cattery a few states away. The kitten looked healthy overall, but Susanne needed to run a couple of tests to make sure he was free of parasites, feline leukemia, and FIV. Susanne called the owner before she left for the night to go over the test results. The kitten ended up having a parasite that needed to be treated. The owner was concerned because the kitten started having loose stool once they got home from the appointment. The owner was convinced that Susanne had done something to the cat that caused this to occur. Susanne understood how it seemed like a coincidence, but the fact that the kitten had parasites explained the true reason behind the diarrhea. Susanne also tried to tell the owner that the stress from the recent travel, new environment, and now going to the veterinary office could also exacerbate the problem. Unfortunately, the owner wasn't interested in Susanne's thoughts on the matter. The owner was instructed to bring the kitten in if she was concerned and she did. Susanne just happened to be there when she arrived. She took a look at the kitten to reassess how it was doing. Other than evidence of diarrhea, the kitten look the same. The emergency doctor also examined the kitten so that there would be a second set of eyes evaluating the kitten. His assessment was the same as Susanne's. The owner was not satisfied and still believed that it was trauma that was causing the loose stool. The owner left angry and Susanne left frustrated.

Susanne did not pack a dinner because she had high hopes of being home at a reasonable hour. She realized that this was not the case when she arrived home around midnight. She felt horrible because Moppy still had to drive home and then be up early to catch a flight to Orlando in the morning for a conference she would be at for a week. Susanne wished she could predict her schedule a little bit better, but that has never been the case. This factor alone made it unbelievably difficult to find adequate child care. No one wanted to work if they didn't really know what time their shift would end.

Can't We All Just Get Along

Susanne was finally glad to see that her cats were getting along again. She thought that it was the weirdest thing that just taking one of them out of the home environment to the veterinary office for a dental cleaning could erase their memory of the other one ever existing. Susanne knew that the smells from the hospital were the main source of contention, but they acted like they had never even met. Figaro paraded around the first few days, stalking Chloe like she was prey. He would growl, hiss, swat, and attack if she got too close. Instead of just leaving her alone and isolating himself, he would seek her out just to be mean. This was not okay with Susanne. Luckily, it only lasted a few days this time. Last time when Susanne had to take Figaro into the hospital with her, the cats did not get along for well over a week. It was very unnerving and concerning. Susanne vowed that the next time they needed a teeth cleaning, she would take them both in whether they liked it or not. They could both smell funny and be groggy together.

Paxton had an appointment with the occupational therapist again today. This time it was to work on his oral feedings. After evaluating Paxton with the non-nutritive sucking, she quickly realized that he was having trouble just trying to figure out how to swallow. This issue with the oral phase of swallowing was supportive of the results from the swallow study. She was convinced that if she could improve his head control and teach him how to handle his normal secretions, then he would pick up on oral feedings a lot quicker. Susanne was feeling really positive about this new plan. She was shown a couple of different techniques to use to encourage him to swallow. He had already shown so much improvement from the therapy session yesterday, that it seemed possible that he could pick up on other things as well. It was so nice to finally have some direction and guidance. This was all that Susanne had been looking for over the last couple of months.

At the end of the session, the occupational therapist mentioned that she would be out of town the next week and that she would be moving at the end of July. The dates that she was available left Paxton without therapy for over a week. Susanne tried to hold it together, but failed miserably. She got upset because it had taken her so long to finally find someone that could help them and now that was falling apart too. Susanne felt strongly that there should not be any lapse between his therapy sessions. She was advised to have him seen at least two to three times a week for therapy until otherwise directed. If this new service couldn't find any replacements, she would have to look elsewhere for supplemental therapy. She was overly concerned about wasting anymore time. Paxton had already been put on the back burner for way too long. Luckily, the therapist thought of someone that may be able to fill in for her for the next few sessions that she would be away. This new therapist may even be a potential candidate to replace her long term. Susanne remained hopeful and would anxiously await her call with the news.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making phone calls. This was by far Susanne's least favorite thing to do. Susanne first contacted her health insurace to try and resolve a problem that she had been trying to address since Paxton was born. She kept getting the run around and she was tired of it. After speaking with numerous people over the last few months, she was finally connected with someone from their critical case management team. She had spoken with someone from this team a couple of weeks ago and they were supposed to be able to get all of Susanne's questions answered. Unfortunately, when they spoke today, the answers she had come up with were not what Susanne wanted to hear. Susanne was on an individual plan before Paxton was born. She had met the deductible well before the day of delivery because she had so much prenatal work up and care. The rules stated that once she met the deductible, then 100% of the labor and delivery costs would be covered. Susanne thought that once Paxton was physically born, then the individual plan would switch over to a family plan with a higher deductible. This was not the case. The problem that Susanne was having was that she continued to receive bills from the day of delivery for things that occurred prior to Paxton being born such as the IV catheter and epidural to name a few. The critical case team member told Susanne that after investigating her question she found out that the policy stated that if she were to have had a "normal" child that went home from the hospital the same time that she did, then there would have been full coverage for labor and delivery. Since Paxton was not "normal" and he had to stay in the hospital, then the plan automatically switched to a family plan the day he was born. This meant that anything that occurred that entire day would be under that new family plan with the higher deductible. This made no sense to Susanne and she was very angry. She didn't understand how it took over five people to find the answer to this question because this had to happen all of the time. Right? Why did it seem that she was the only one that had this concern and didn't think it was fair?

After hanging up with the primary insurance company, Susanne had to contact the other supplemental insurance companies to address some of her other concerns. After probing around, one of the companies informed her that she had been filling out the wrong paperwork the entire time that she had submitted with her claims. They would not have let her know this unless she had asked. She had only thought to inquire about this because she was not getting any sort of response from them after she had faxed over fifty different bills to them over the course of a few weeks. Susanne was infuriated by this point because the form she was filling out was the form that THEY kept providing her. Unbeknownst to Susanne, the actual form that needed to be submitted with the paperwork was online somewhere and it needed to be filled out by Paxton's pediatrician. Since all of the bills that she had submitted were attached to the wrong form, she would have to start from scratch. This would not be an easy task.

The day seemed to fly by. Before Susanne knew it, Moppy arrived. Moppy was so kind and had gone to the grocery store for Susanne to get a few things. In order to make room for some of the frozen items, Susanne had to rearrange her entire freezer. Moppy sat back and watched in awe. Moppy wasn't sure that Susanne would make it all fit, but she did. What talent. After everything was finally put away, Susanne realized that she had not had any dinner. There was nothing like having dinner after 9:00 pm. Unfortunately, this was becoming a trend. Her choice for the evening was a bag of popcorn with no butter of course. This was surprisingly filling and satisfying. Then it was of to bed to get a goodnight's rest before work in the morning.

Count Your Blessings

Susanne made sure to be prepared and set to go for the occupational therapy appointment this morning. She was so excited that the day had finally come for Paxton to receive services. She was hoping to get a lot out of the appointment so that she could continue to work with Paxton and help him improve.

Susanne started off the day with a nice, hot shower. She got dressed and ready for the day. Once she was finished, she decided to wake Paxton up so that he would have a little bit of an adjustment period before he would be asked to work. Susanne put Paxton in a brand new outfit and he was looking mighty cute. As she was carrying him down the stairs two minutes before the therapist was supposed to arrive, he had an episode of projectile spit up. It got all over the two of them and the floor. Susanne had to frantically run around trying to change both of their outfits and clean up the floor before the therapist arrived. Luckily, she was running a little behind.

The therapy session went really well. Susanne learned a lot of new techniques to try with Paxton. He was showing interest in anything they tried to throw his way. He was such a good baby. He was always so cooperative and very social. It was hard not to fall in love with him each new day.

Paxton slept for most of the afternoon. He was all tuckered out from the therapy session in the morning. Susanne had come to realize that he did best when he determined how often and how long he would like to sleep. His cues were pretty obvious as well. He would let you know when he was ready to be put down for a nap. Susanne could not have asked for a better child. He was such a joy to have in her life. He constantly reminded Susanne how lucky she was and how to keep things in perspective. She could not wait for Scott to return home from his internship in August to be able to share in this wonderful journey with them. Family was so important to Susanne. She could only think of one other thing in her life that was more important...God.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Day By Day

"You should never expect the easy way, for if you do you are certainly destined for disappointment. Any person who knows the Bible knows that the Christian life is likened to an athletic contest or to warfare, and neither one is easy. Jesus warned His followers to count carefully the cost, and that certainly does not speak of an easy way. But there is no good thing that comes without cost. The Christian life is the most satisfying, but only when we actually go all out and all the way. It is the Christian who tries to compromise who finds life miserable, for he has all the problems, without the fellowship that comes through surrender. For every trial and test, Christ supplies an abundance of grace with which to bear it, and in our weakness we are made strong."

Prayer for the day:

Let me never look for the easy way when You, Lord Jesus, gave everything for me.

By: Billy Graham

Everybody's Working For the Weekend

Susanne decided to take one of her cats, Chloe, in to work today for a dental cleaning. Chloe was Susanne's little princess. She was the only other female in the house besides Susanne so they shared a special bond. She was rescued as a kitten by one of Susanne's sisters, Kerry. She was part of a litter of feral kittens that were living under their parents' porch. Susanne made a deal with Kerry that if she could capture a gray, female kitten for her, she would keep it. By golly, within the half hour Susanne was a new mother. It was an instant connection. Chloe was the tiniest thing Susanne had ever seen. She was hoping that her other new kitten, Figaro, would like her. Figaro was only a few weeks old at the time as well. He was actually a recent gift from her roommate and long time friend, Jill, for college graduation. Thus far, it had been the best present she had ever received. Luckily, the kittens got along and have been best friends ever since. Chloe was always such a shy girl. She hid behind Susanne's bed for at least the first month of living with her. Susanne remembers taking her to a friend's house so they could meet and Chloe ended up hiding the whole time. She hid herself so well that Susanne had to go home without her. Her friend, Lauren, found her squeezed up behind a dresser in the space between the drawer and back panel later that evening. To this day, they still do not know how she accomplished that. Even though she was shy, she really took a liking to Susanne. She had the sweetest disposition. She could, however, be demanding when it came to food. She became a very bold and confident cat if she thought she could get something from your plate. If she didn't come down for dinnertime, something was definitely wrong. Her obsession with food was what made today even more difficult. Before going under anesthesia, an animal must fast for at least eight to twelve hours to help decrease the chance of aspiration if the patient vomits in response to the drugs. She was fit to be tied. She was so upset that she ended up defecating in her carrier on the way to the clinic, which was not like her at all.

Susanne managed to get through her day without any complications. Chloe did as well. She was so cute when she was groggy. Luckily, she did not have any cavities and had minimal periodontal disease. Susanne was hoping this was a reflection of her excellent care.

Susanne got home at a reasonable hour. Moppy informed her that Paxton had a good day. Susanne purposefully separated Chloe from the rest of the gang because she was still a little sedated from the anesthesia.

Ha! Ha! That's Funny.

Susanne forced herself to stay awake until the 3:00 am feeding. She knew that if she did not do this, she would not wake up.

Paxton slept a lot more than he usually did, but that was probably because it took him so long to settle down last night. Susanne just let him dictate to her what he needed and she followed orders.

Susanne was in the middle of pumping when she heard the people that take care of her lawn show up. They were supposed to come on Friday mornings like they had been for the last few weeks. It wouldn't be such a big deal if she did not have a dog that she needed to clean up after. The company was asked to please call before they came so that Susanne could make sure that James was not outside and that she had time to pick up his stool from the yard. She had to stop what she was doing and rush outside to try to beat them before they got to the backyard. She was successful.

Susanne was running on empty. Even with seven hours of sleep on Tuesday night, it was not enough to make up for all of the countless days of limited sleep. Also, Susanne was bummed to find out that Colleen would not be coming over for "Pajama Party Thursdays", but she understood because she had a concert to go to. Susanne tried to remember the days when she could just leave the house to go live it up. Hopefully, Colleen would have a drink in honor of Susanne. Susanne was all mopey until Scott surprised her by coming home. He must have been running on empty too. They were able to fill each other's tanks immediately after just being able to embrace each other. It felt good to be in each other's arms again. Two weeks was definitely way too long to go without seeing one another.

Paxton's daddy got to play with him quite a bit before it was time for him to go down for the night. Scott was able to see all of the great progress that Paxton was showing. Scott could tell that Paxton was attempting to roll over on his own. After minutes of being super silly, Scott was able to get Paxton to laugh for the first time. He has one funny daddy. Of course, his laugh was in response to monkey noises just like what Susanne had done to get him to smile. The best part was that they were able to capture it on the video camera. It was awesome that they would be able to relive that moment forever.

When it came time to put Paxton to bed, Susanne played him a CD that she got earlier that day from her cousin, Kendall, and her family. Paxton loved listening to music before falling asleep and he was excited to have some new tunes.

After Paxton was in a deep slumber, Scott assembled a mobile that they had purchased for him. He loved to stare at objects especially if they were in motion. Hopefully, this would help to strengthen his motor skills.

Scott and Susanne were in heaven. They were able to cuddle on the couch and watch some TV before heading off to bed. It was amazing that just seeing each other for the short time that they had, recharged them to be able to get through another week. Love was such a powerful thing.

I Feel Good

Susanne got seven full hours of sleep last night and it felt great. She decided to forego pumping overnight so that she would be able to get a few more hours of sleep. She felt that it was well worth it despite the discomfort she felt in the morning. This was the most sleep she had had since before Paxton was born. This would be much needed for her to get through today.

Moppy watched Paxton at the house today since it went so well last week. This helped take a lot of pressure off of Susanne because she was able to just focus on herself getting ready and out of the door. This made it a lot easier.

When Susanne got to work, she was happy to see that her friend, Cory, was back from her trip to Paris. Susanne was excited to hear all of the details. Susanne was also glad to see her confidant, Julie. She was eager to give her a hug and offer her condolences for having to put her cat, Herb, to sleep. Susanne knew that feeling all to well. It was never easy losing a companion.

Susanne had a challenging case today that kept her at work longer than she had hoped. She ended up getting home just in time for Paxton's midnight feeding. Moppy was concerned because Paxton had been acting uncomfortable and having difficulty getting settled over the last few hours. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing seemed to soothe him. He was not much of a crier, but it was easy to tell when he wasn't feeling well. Usually he would talk to himself, rub his face a lot, and have difficulty falling asleep. This was exactly what Moppy had been observing all evening.

Susanne was so excited to see him. She had missed him so much. He always brightened up her day no matter how awful it was. She must have brightened up his day too because he smiled the second he saw her. He seemed to respond well to her. She was able to get him settled and off to bed in no time. Moppy and Susanne thought that it would be so much easier if he could just talk and let you know what was wrong with him. This wasn't too foreign to Susanne, however, because she was used to this. Her own patients could not talk and let her know what was wrong with them either. Woof! Woof! Meow!

Forgetful Jones

Susanne was TIRED!!!!!! This was the fifth night in a row that she had been up every three hours to take care of Paxton's feedings. She was used to having this schedule for usually about three days in a row and then she would have some sort of relief. Unfortunately, that was not the case this week. She couldn't wait for Moppy to come over this evening.

Susanne was having difficulty getting up this morning, that was until one of her cats vomited up a hairball on the bed. She could not believe that she would have to wash her comforter once again. Her comforter had been washed more in the last month than she cared to remember. Her bed was getting used to being naked.

Paxton had a cardiology appointment today. He weighed 11 lbs, which was impressive. The cardiologist thought he looked stable so there was no changes to his current treatment plan for the moment. The next step would be to start taking him off of some of his medications once he began to outgrow the BT shunt. Once his oxygen saturation levels reached the danger zone, then it would be time to move forward with his reconstructive heart surgery. This scared Susanne too much to think about. She was okay with living in her little bubble for now.

Susanne got home with enough time to put Paxton down for a nap before his first occupational therapy session or at least that was what she thought. She listened to her voice mail messages on the home phone. Come to find out, she had one from the OT stating she was outside of the house for the therapy session and it didn't look like anyone was home. She mentioned that she left a message on Susanne's cell phone too. Susanne quickly checked her cell phone and realized that the battery had died sometime that morning. She immediately called the therapist to discuss what had happened. Susanne had thought the appointment was for 2:00 pm, but that was actually the time that the therapist came by the week prior to do the paperwork. The appointment was actually for 11:30 am, which Susanne was clearly unavailable for. Susanne felt horrible. She made sure to let the therapist know that her time was valuable to her and this was very unlike her to miss an appointment. Susanne often prided herself on how organized she was especially when it came to Paxton's care. Even though she knew that it was an innocent mistake, she was very hard on herself so much so that she got upset. The reason she was so mad at herself was that she had tried so hard over the last two months to get anyone to help her with therapy for Paxton. It had been a long, frustrating road to even find someone that was willing to take him on as a patient. Finally, when the first appointment day arrived, she messed up the time it was scheduled. Unfortunately, this prolonged the time for Paxton to receive services until the following week.

Paxton had a little bit of a rough day today. He had a lot of episodes of gagging and dry heaving especially prior to each feeding. Susanne could only gather that it was from a lot of secretions in his mouth that he was having trouble swallowing. Therefore, he would choke on his own saliva. It was difficult to watch because most of the time it would seem like he would panic. This resulted in him holding his breath and having the appearance of drowning in his own spit. Other than suctioning him, Susanne did not know what to do.

Moppy finally came over later in the evening. Now Susanne could rest.

In Loving Memory

Overall, today was uneventful. Susanne made sure to incorporate a lot of therapy sessions for Paxton throughout the day. She even got bold and worked on oral feedings. Paxton was continuing to improve with his motor skills even though he was still significantly delayed. The oral feedings were less successful, but it was great news that he was at least receptive to Susanne putting the bottle in his mouth.

Susanne could not get enough of him. It really warmed her heart that he would smile everytime she was in his presence. His little face would light up when he realized it was her. He was the most precious thing in the whole world.

Later in the day, Susanne received a package. She was taken aback when she opened it. Susanne's sister, Kerry, and her brother-in-law, Nick, got her and Scott a blanket with pictures of Maverick on it for their birthdays. It was a way for them to always have him close. What a lovely way to remember the best dog ever. It was still a very delicate subject for all. Susanne immediately started to cry when she saw his handsome face. Her tears were not only because she missed him so much, but also because the gift was so thoughtful. She and Scott would cherish it always.

Susanne was excited it was Monday. She could not wait to watch the next episode of "The Bachelorette". She knew that it was trash TV, but she didn't care. It was actually very therapeutic for her.

Diaz Out

Susanne made a big farewell breakfast for Aixa including pancakes and a variety of fresh fruit. They could not believe how quickly time had flown by. Susanne and Paxton were very sad that Aixa was leaving today. Paxton decided to get dressed up for Aixa's departure and wore a special onesie with a tie. Granted it was a little small for him, which was surprising because this had never happened. I guess Paxton had officially graduated out of his newborn clothes. Way to go big guy.

Aixa got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Susanne and Paxton really wished that she lived closer than Florida. They would have to make sure to visit her especially when Paxton was old enough to enjoy Disney World.

Susanne made sure to spend some time with Ashley the cat today so that she did not feel neglected. She was definitely craving attention and could not get enough. It was always so difficult for Susanne to leave her by her lonesome in the bedroom downstairs. She knew it was for the best though because she was overdue on her vaccines, her stool had not yet been checked for parasites, and her FeLV/FIV status was unknown. It was too risky to let her commingle with Susanne's other cats and dog. Once Ashley would enter the adoption program, all of that would be updated. Susanne hoped that she would be accepted into the program soon. She was really a sweet cat that deserved a good home.

Susanne spent the evening cooking a few meals to last her the next few days. While the food was in the oven, she decided to pump. Paxton was down for a nap so she thought it would be perfect timing. For some reason, whenever Susanne sat down to pump she would always get interrupted. Usually it was the phone or the door bell, but this time Paxton started crying, James needed to go out, and the oven started beeping. It would not be so bad if it was easier to stop and start the process. What's a girl to do?

The Problem With Pesto

Once Paxton was in bed, Aixa and Susanne spent the rest of the evening catching up. Neither of them even thought to take a breath the entire time. They had to force themselves to go to bed when the clock struck 2:00 am, that was until Susanne realized that she needed to try to stay awake a little longer for Paxton's next NG feeding at 3:00 am. Bummer.

The morning came too early, but having Aixa there made it that much easier to get up. The plan was to go to the pool today, but it was overcast. Instead, they hung out at the house and got alot of playtime in with Paxton. Aixa was a big help. She made Susanne breakfast, which included scrambled eggs, bacon, and bagels. She also watched Paxton while Susanne got in the shower.

The day flew by even though they didn't do much of anything. They were able to muster up enough energy to go to the grocery store. Susanne wanted to try out a new recipe that she had found. She was hoping that it would be tasty.

Aixa started on dinner while Susanne got Paxton situated for the evening. Everything was going well until it was time to make the pesto. Aixa quickly found out that the blender was not the best choice to mix the ingredients for the pesto. Everything was sticking together and not mixing as well as they would have liked. Susanne decided to see if the Magic Bullet was the better choice. As they were trying to switch the pesto over to the new container, the spoon got stuck on the blade of the blender. They both struggled to try to get the spoon free, but they were finally successful. The next challenge came when they tried to unscrew the bottom of the blender to get the remainder of the pesto out of there. It took them at least five minutes with alternating between each other to finally be successful. The Magic Bullet completed the job and they were ready to rock and roll. The much anticipated dinner was well worth the wait. It was delicioso!

Even though it was late, they decided to watch a movie. They stayed awake just long enough to eat some yummy cookies for dessert and then it was all over from there.

Breaking News...Aixa's Coming!

It was nice to know that James did not have any issues after his little Marley moment the other day. He acted no differently than before the incident, which was such a relief. When Susanne was cleaning up after him in the yard today, she noticed it had a lot of character. There was a variety of tin foil wrappers from the chocolate he ate. This just proved that he was a successful scavenger.

Susanne tried to find time to clean up the house before one of her best friends from college flew into town. Paxton was finally going to meet Aixa. Susanne met Aixa her freshman year of college. She was one of Susanne's suitemates that first year. Ever since the first day that they met, they were the best of friends. They enjoyed each others company a lot. They loved to sing, dance, and pretty much be goofy anytime, anywhere...it didn't matter. They always managed to get into some sort of trouble when they were together. They had a lot of similar interests and very supportive families, but what really tied them together was their core set of beliefs. Their faith was what got them through anything thrown their way. One of the most rewarding things that they did together was to go on a mission trip together every year throughout college. Most of the time it was through Appalachia Service Project. They had done everything from building a retaining wall, to building a porch, to something more impressive like building a house from scratch. They were masters of the hammer and the nail. Once during college, they even went to Matamoros, Mexico to do mission work at an orphanage. They spent a lot of their time building closets and bunk beds for the orphans. Their favorite part of that whole trip was the connection that they made with all of the children. They made sure to dedicate time to getting to know them and reach out to them. They learned so much from those children. It was on that trip that they learned what the true definition of wealthy meant. These children were rich in love and kindness. They were some of the happiest human beings they had ever met. This was amazing coming from kids who didn't have toys, underwear, or even parents. It was amazing what Susanne and Aixa had taken for granted.
They both had a passion for traveling. It was only logical for them to study abroad together. The destination that they chose was Madrid, Spain. They were there for about a month and managed to travel throughout the country on the weekends. One of the most memorable moments of the trip was definitely the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Ole'! Through thick and thin they had been there for each other, whether it was through break-ups with boyfriends, the loss of a family member, graduation or some other momentous occassion. Susanne felt so blessed that Aixa had been with her through it all. She had always been present during the most important times in Susanne's life like when she got into veterinary school, when she got married, throughout her pregnancy, and now with her first child. Susanne could not wait for Paxton to meet one of the most important, influential people in his mom's life.

Aixa fell in love the moment she set eyes on Paxton. She was so eager to get to know him that she sat in the back seat during the ride back to the house. He couldn't quite figure out what to make of her. He stared at her the entire ride home, but didn't change his facial expression no matter what she said or did...and she can be pretty silly.

Shortly after getting home, they headed back out to meet up with some of Susanne's other friends for dinner. Susanne decided that she wanted to go to a new Mexican restaurant up the road called Margarita's. She had recently had take out from there and liked the food so much that she thought it would be the perfect place to have a late birthday celebration with her friends. Paxton was excited to see all of his favorite people including Aunt Leenie, Uncle Loonie, and Aunt Julie. Susanne was excited for Aixa to finally meet Colleen and Chris. Aixa had heard so much about them, but had not yet met them in person. She had, however, met Julie before. It was nice for them to get reacquainted.

The best news of the night was that Julie told everyone the she was pregnant. Of course, Susanne already knew this information, but she was excited for her to share the wonderful news with everyone else. Other than Julie's husband, Susanne had been the first to know. It was so difficult for them to keep secrets from each other because they told each other everything. Susanne had done a good job of keeping quiet even though it took everything she had not to tell. It was hard not to mention it everytime they saw each other. To keep that kind of excitement to yourself was unbearable. Now that the news was out, Susanne felt free. She was so excited to get to share this experience with her close friend. Being pregnant was such a memorable time for Susanne that she wouldn't trade it for the world. Now she would get to relive the experience with Julie and hopefully give sound advice along the way. To top it off, at the end of it all Paxton was either going to have a best friend for life or...you got it, a girl friend.

They decided to head home in time to start Paxton's next NG feeding. It had been such a wonderful feeling for Susanne to have some of her closest friends all together. Overall, Susanne thought that the food was great, the company was even better, but having Paxton right next to her made it just perfect.

So Far, So Good...

So far, so good. Moppy was able to take Susanne to pick up her car before she needed to be at work. This way Moppy had a source of transportation and more importantly she had access to a car seat for Paxton.

Luckily, Susanne's day was pretty straightforward and she got home at a decent hour. When she arrived, she noticed that Colleen was already there for "Pajama Party Thursdays". It was so nice to see her lovely face. Moppy and Susanne did a switcheroo of the cars before she headed home. This way Susanne would now have access to the car seat if needed.

After two days of having Paxton at home while Susanne was at work, Susanne realized how much easier it was on everybody to do it this way. Most importantly, Susanne did not have to uproot Paxton and all of his multiple accessories that are needed for him to get through the day. She did not have to worry about bringing enough supply of milk, medications, diapers, wipes, and receiving blankets. She could leave all of the components needed for his NG feedings set up at home instead of having to break it all down for transport. There was more space for Moppy to work with Paxton on his motor skills. She was able to implement more productive therapy sessions. She could incorporate time to try oral feedings. Paxton was able to have a change of scenery. He was always calmer in his home environment. He tended to stress out a little whenever he had to go anywhere. It was also a given that he would spit up, dirty up a diaper, or a combination of both when placed in his car seat. His feeding schedule tended to be disrupted as well when he had to leave the house. James was happy too. This meant that he would not have to be in his crate all day until they arrived home. He had the freedom to roam the house and take a nap anywhere he pleased. Susanne found that it was also less stress for her. She could just worry about herself in the morning and when she was ready she could get in the car and go. This also applied at night when she was finished. Usually when she finished work, she would have to pump before getting on the road. It would also take her and Moppy sometimes up to an hour to get everything packed and ready to go. In addition to this, Paxton was usually due for his next NG feeding. Susanne would have to set this up before heading home. Once at home, Susanne was by herself. This left her to worry about getting Paxton inside and in the bed. She would have to unpack the entire car by herself and put everything in its place. Then she would have to take care of all of the animals and make sure they were squared away. Lastly, she would have to think of something she could have for dinner, which most of the time it was whatever was the quickest option. All of this added a lot of time to her evening when all she would really want to do at that point was get in the bed. Somehow this whole situation, that at first seemed to be an inconvenience, was acutally a blessing in disguise. God sure knows what he's doing.

Change In Plans

Susanne got a phone call this morning from the mother of the child that shares the nursery with Paxton during the week. She informed Susanne that her son had recently had a stomach virus, which had now spread to her and their nanny. Her son had been in the nursery over the last week and she just wanted to forewarn Susanne of the potential for Paxton to get sick. Susanne was very thankful that she had called, she just wished that it had been earlier than the day of needing the nursery. Susanne made the executive decision to leave Paxton at home. The only thing that made her worry was that between her and Moppy, they only had one car. Susanne was going to have to take the car to work. This would leave Moppy with no source of transportation and no way to get Paxton to a facility to receive medical intervention if that was needed. The plan was for Moppy to call 911 if anything should happen.

Susanne got home at a relatively decent hour. She was pleased that the day had gone so well for all. They were planning on doing the same thing tomorrow except this time, Moppy would have a car. Susanne's car was finally ready...again. Hopefully, the third time was the charm. For now, the plan was for Moppy and Susanne to pick up the car tomorrow before Susanne had to head into work. Let's hope that this plan would work out.

At The Car Wash...Yeah!

Susanne started off her day with a nice, relaxing shower. She was going to try to clean the house, with the emphasis on "try". She decided to pump before getting started. Unfortunately, one of the bags that collects the milk broke and spilled all over her bed. This was not what she was hoping to have to clean up today.

Susanne was proving to be very productive, which was not always the case since she had a baby. She did a lot of laundry, vacuumed, swept, and mopped. Lastly, she cleaned the litter box. Usually, after Susanne cleaned the litter box, it was almost a given that Figaro would immediately go in and mark his territory. He's always had to beat Chloe to the punch. It was not until after Figaro was finished this time that Susanne realized that she should have dried the floor before putting the litter box back in its place. Due to the fact that Susanne used clumping litter, Figaro's wet feet attracted the litter and tracked it all over the freshly mopped laundry room floor.

The occupational therapist from Early Intervention stopped by around 2:00pm. Susanne had to fill out a bunch of paperwork to complete the process for Paxton to receive service. During their meeting, Paxton woke up from his nap. Susanne decided to hold him through the rest of the meeting. Paxton decided to be a show off by showing the OT that he could smile a lot and that he had good head control. Susanne was so proud.

Susanne had to pick up Moppy from the Metro today since her car was still in the shop. Susanne left the house around 4:00pm, which was right after the OT left. She decided not to take anything to be able to feed Paxton in the car because she thought she would definitely be back before 6:30 pm. She was sadly mistaken.

Scott's car needed an oil change like nobody's business, which Scott had been reminding Susanne to take care of for months. Susanne finally had time to get this done before Moppy would be ready to pick up. Whenever Susanne gets her oil changed, she gets a complimentary car wash. She decided to go ahead and get this done as well because it was much needed. Susanne was excited because this would be Paxton's first time going through the car wash and he LOVED it!!! He watched everything very intently. He followed the water as it rinsed the car, he looked at the soap being squirted on the car, and his ultimate favorite was when he watched the big sponges wash the car. He was entertained to say the least.

Susanne knew she would have plenty of time to pick up Paxton's medications from the pharmacy before they closed at 6:00 pm. She decided to do this before going to the Metro because Moppy was running a little behind schedule. Shockingly, it took Susanne over an hour to get to where she needed to be. She knew that traffic would be bad, but not this bad. She made it by the skin of her teeth. She had less than two minutes to spare when she stumbled in the door. Luckily, she caught herself and Paxton was okay. Thankfully, she was able to pick up the medication. That would have really ruined her day.

Susanne was now less than 5 miles from the Metro. Once again, due to traffic it took her another 20 minutes to get there. She followed the sign that said Metro and had an arrow on it. Unfortunately, this was all for the park and ride. She must have past three separate entrances on this road alone and not one of them was what she needed. She had to turn around and figure out where the appropriate entrance was for the kiss and ride. Finally, she saw Moppy. Thank the Lord.

The traffic was still horrible when they left and they were getting nowhere quickly. It took about an hour and a half for them to get back to Susanne's house. By this time, Paxton was way off of his schedule. Susanne felt horrible because her prediction for how long the whole process would take was way off. If this wasn't frustrating enough, when they walked inside, they found the house in disarray. Susanne had left James out thinking that she would only be gone a short while. She thought that she had put everything away that he could potentially get into as well as closed off all of the rooms so he would have to stay in the main area of the house. When she saw the state that the house was in, she realized that she forgot to close one important door...the pantry. They found tupperware, cupcake liners, different canned food items, remnants of the plastic bag that contained a loaf of bread, and candy all strewn about. Worst of all, he had opened up a bag of flour all over the floor. He made quite the mess. After talking with Scott, Susanne realized that the candy that was left over was only a small portion of what had been in the bag. James apparantly has good taste because he ate all of the chocolate pieces and left no trace that they ever existed. This can be toxic to dogs. Thankfully, most of it was white chocolate which is less toxic than the other types of chocolate. Susanne would have induced vomiting to see if she could clear his system, but since she was gone so long it was hard to know when he ate the chocolate. She decided she was going to just monitor him closely and bring him into to work if he showed any ill effects from his escapade.

After getting Paxton situated, Susanne spent some time with the rescue cat, Ashley. Then it was dinner and off to bed. She was going to rest well this evening.