Party Foul

Paxton woke up gagging and coughing right before his 6:00am feeding, however, he didn't vomit at all which was a nice change. Susanne had Paxton in tow with her as she prepped his feeding and medications. Walking around with him always helped him to wake up more. Once he came out of his lazy hazy daze, he always recovered faster and, in turn, settled down. He immediately fell back asleep once she finished hooking him up to his pump. It wasn't until his next feeding that he woke up again. Susanne took advantage of this opportunity to play with the little guy and work on some much needed therapy. She was finding it hard to be consistent with scheduling time to work on his oral motor and motor therapy skills like she used to. All of this traveling and now working again part time, left her with less time than she already had. She would have to figure something out so that this didn't negatively affect Paxton.

He wasn't interested in playing for long at all. The days they spent traveling always took a lot out of him. Usually it would take at least 48 hours before he would fully recover. He was so exhausted from yesterday that he was napping a lot. He slept right up until it was time for his actual therapy session with his occupational therapist. Susanne thought that he would be ready to rock n' roll because he was well rested. Once again, Paxton liked to prove her wrong. He was very lazy during the session. He was not really engaged at all. They tried to get creative with what they were doing with him, but nothing seemed to work. Susanne decided to take this opportunity to discuss her concerns about Paxton. She felt like he had reached a plateau. She did not feel like he had really improved for a long time. She inquired about the need for adding in additional therapy sessions as well as receiving other services from private practices. The therapist thought that this would be a great idea. She was going to try to schedule a consult with a physical therapist to stop by sometime soon to reevaluate Paxton. The information gathered from this visit would determine where the need was for Paxton. Susanne was looking forward to moving ahead. She was currently frustrated that she was doing everything that she could for right now, but it may not be enough. She was willing to do anything at this point to help Paxton advance to the next stage.

Susanne was expecting a package today from UPS that would have all of the party favors, cupcake decorations, and pieces to a game for Paxton's birthday party. After UPS showed up with Paxton's medical supplies, but no party goods, she was concerned. She called the company she had ordered the items from to get an update. They told her that they could still make another delivery today so to hang tight. If she had not received anything by 6:00pm, she should call them back.

Once 6:00pm rolled around, Susanne was back on the phone. She was told that the package had never left Illinois and there would be no way for it to reach her before Monday. She immediately got upset. She had paid extra to ensure that she would receive the items no later than Friday. Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do. She had to think on her feet even though she just wanted to continue to sulk. She decided there was no other option other than to start over. She would have to go to the local stores to see what was available. She called her emergency babysitters, Aunt Leenie and Uncle Loonie, to see if they could watch Paxton while she ran out. They were available and were able to come through like they had so many times in the past. They even brought Susanne dinner knowing that if it weren't for them, she would not have had time to eat.

Susanne's trip was surprisingly a success. She managed to get to five out of the six stores she had planned on going to within just shy of two hours. Now that was impressive. It helped that she had called a lot of stores ahead of time to find out if they had any items that would go along with the theme of Paxton's birthday party. Once she had narrowed down her list to places that actually had a selection of things to choose from, it made her mission seem a little more achievable.

When she arrived home, she noticed that Colleen and Chris had helped to clean up the house. They knew that Susanne's time was limited, especially now that her plans had been changed entirely. Having to rework the entire party was originally not on her to do list tonight. Due to the reworkings of the entire party. She was thankful they were able to take care of Paxton while she tied up loose ends. Paxton's party would definitely not be possible if it wasn't for them.

Susanne's night seemed to keep on going and going. She was thankful when Aunt Bubba arrived at 11:00pm. She showed up ready to work. Aunt Leah, Parker, Gigi, and Scott all arrived around 1:00am. They were visibly exhausted from the drive, but were willing to help where needed. She knew she had a lot left to do before the party tomorrow. She was also realistic that it all could not be completed tonight. They all headed off to bed so they could at least get a little shut eye before Paxton's big day.