Happy Father's Day 2010!

I just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to my husband. God knows it's been a long and trying 5 years with many ups and downs, but the best part of us is in a little 3 year old boy. Thank God we were blessed with him. As much as we want a second little one, if it never happened, we would find a happy place and feel more then blessed that we were given one child to enjoy. Archie was really worried when we were diagnosed with infertility (on each of our parts) that he had failed me as a husband and wouldn't be able to give me the one thing I wanted most-a child. Luckily with alot of prayer, and some advanced fertility treatments with a great doc, we had our little boy.

Archie has kept the fort down for the last few months. I've been limited on alot of things I could do physically with one arm and a severe restriction on what I can lift. He's cooked most of the meals (no Mom, not all of them), done alot of the day to day cleaning, helped me garden, made lunches for our son for school the next day, taken over giving Jack's baths, etc. He has been awesome about it (who wouldn't get a little testy from time to time with all those demands).

Jack couldn't have a better dad. Jack is definitely a mama's boy, but he and Archie have a very special bond as well. Jack seeks me for snuggles, loving, and low key playing, and he goes to his dad for rough housing, crazy playing, and the rest of the loving he craves. Archie is a great dad. I'm so glad he's also my husband.

We love you baby. Happy Father's Day!!!

13 Weeks Post Injury-Almost!

Friday will be 13 weeks since I broke my arm. I started with physical therapy this past Friday. It was painful, but my physical therapist is great, and he pushes me to my limit when it comes to him trying to loosen up my wrist, but also gives me leeway to tell him if it's too much. I have yet to voice it and make him stop because I want to push myself to heal as quickly as possible. I've come close to begging for mercy, but I just bite my tongue and tense the rest of my body, LOL.

I spoke with my boss who is going to have me come back and do clerical work as a unit secretary. They also have a few projects in store for me to work on at the same time which is good. I love that I can go back to my unit (I don't have to get to know new people, and I'm comfortable there with the policies, how things work, etc.), and that I will be able to see my coworkers I've really missed over the last 3 months! I will be doing mostly evenings with some nights mixed in. I've enjoyed living life on a "normal" person's schedule the last 3 months, but the nightshift staff is so much more fun and laid back. Evening shift should be interesting, I'll get to work with the dayshift, and then with my favorite people too. The only drawback is living like a gypsy, lol. I'll leave work and probably go sleep at my mom's house (she is the awesome childcare provider when Archie and I both work) so that she doesn't have to get up early for Jack, and if he doesn't have school he isn't forced to get up early. The only thing I don't like about it is that of course, I sleep better in my own bed, and I don't have to worry about a barking dog (or 3) waking up my mom and Jack when I come in at midnight from work.

I should start back either later this week or definitely next week. I will know more in the morning when my boss calls. It's bittersweet. I've enjoyed the normal schedule like I mentioned earlier, but I've also enjoyed being at home with Jack this whole time. It's like a second maternity leave minus the baby, lol. I've loved being able to do what I wanted when I wanted (like doing a day trip to Ocean City this past Monday), and not having to worry about whether I'd have enough energy to do something because of working all night the night before. I've loved having a ton of free time, but I've also found myself extremely addicted to Facebook, the greatest time-suck ever. I've started an online Etsy store where I am selling onesies, burp cloths, kid's shirts that I began hand-embroidering shortly after I broke my arm. It was a creative outlet for my depression I struggled with at times, it helped distract me and relax me. If I could just sell something, that would be great, lol.

Jack had a hard time when he spent the night with my mom last Friday. Archie and I really needed a date night, and we had a great time, but Jack hadn't spent the night at my mom's house since St. Patty's day. I made the mistake of calling to say goodnight before our movie started and he was very upset that I wasn't coming to take him home. It will be hard for me to go back to work and not talk to him at bedtime. I am going to attempt to make my first night back the same routine we had before I broke my arm in the hopes that he just falls back into it. I will call that night to say goodnight and hope that he isn't upset. If he is, we will give it a week or two and try it again when he's back in the routine. After being the one to put him to bed every night with our nightly prayer, chat, and snuggle routine, I think it will be hard to just give that up. I've enjoyed that quiet time where I can get him to focus enough to just tell me what he enjoyed about his day, and hearing what he didn't like about his day. He's growing so much, and as a normal 3 year old, usually too into his toys or running around to carry on much of a conversation. I just like to hear what he thinks, what he enjoys, what he doesn't, what he did in school that day, etc. Usually bedtime is the only time I can get him to focus well enough to extract that info from him. Last night when I put Jack to bed we blew each other kisses, and he told me that the second one he blew to God. How stinking cute is that???? I will miss this.

It will be ok and we will do fine with some tweaking I'm sure.

Please pray for my wrist to continue to heal, and for the pain to lessen. Please pray for us to adjust quickly to my return to work.

Update-11.5 Weeks Post Injury

On the way to my appointment on Monday, I was talking to one of my friends who asked if I was nervous or excited about my appointment. "Excited of course! I'm getting this stupid cast off and then I can go swimming!!!" This Friday will be 12 weeks since I broke my wrist. I went for my appointment on Monday and my radius and ulna are healed. My scaphoid looked like it was in good position with the screw which has not moved. My doctor was happy with both of those things. The cast came off. Yay! right? Not so fast...

During his assessment, we discovered that I have a little (and I mean little) tenderness in my radius area, but it is also near my scaphoid...In assessing my range of motion, I'm a little stiff in my hand as is to be expected, however, I now have a pronation contracture. So if you put both of your arms at your side and bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle and put your palms facing up, that is pronation. Put your palms facing the floor, and that is supination. Basically with my left arm, I can supinate, and I can get my hand turned far enough that my palm faces my right hand, but I cannot (nor can the doctor) push it further than that. My arm being frozen from that point on is this contracture.

So, the new plan (much to my dismay), is to start physical therapy with passive range of motion, biofeedback, etc, to get the movement back in my wrist and hand. I am still not allowed to lift anything heavier than a coffee cup. I am not to start resistive physical therapy or weight bearing until I see him again...my next appointment is in A MONTH !!!! I left crying with my first PT appointment this Friday, and a removable brace on my arm.

Seriously, I've lived without my shift differential for 3 months now, but it's getting harder to keep going financially. I am worried I will run out of my vacation time to supplement my short term disability (which pays 60% of my base pay weekly). We kicked around the idea of taking Jack out of school for the summer if I'm staying at home anyway and probably not going back to work at this point until late-July or early-August. I hate to do it, for all of us. I think it's really important as a change of scenery for Jack, for his socialization, and for what he might be learning (this month they are working on the body, well, he's pretty knowledgeable about what happens with the body and handwashing, etc., so what's he missing). Archie and I were worried his 3 year old lack of listening, and whining would make us want to run away if we had to deal with it 24/7, LOL. At this point I'm thinking of either taking him from 3 days a week to two, or just sending him 3 days a week for morning only (afternoon consists of lunch, nap and a half hour of playtime outside). And let's be honest, I look forward to my 3 days a week of an all day break.

I did call my boss yesterday in tears and left her a message, and she did call me back today. I explained that my doctor was willing to release me for light duty if I wanted it. Until this point I hadn't taken it because everyone, including my supervisors thought I would have to do something during the day. The problem with this is that with no shift differential and working 5 days a week, Jack would have to be in school 5 days a week which would be more expensive, and we'd actually be in more of a bind, so it made sense for me to stay out. If you think about it, probably with physical therapy and all it makes more sense for me to have my days free for those appointments anyway. I explained this to my manager today, and told her that if she could find something for me in the evening or during nightshift, I could absolutely do it and had childcare. So she is checking into it for me. It may not be on my unit or have anything to do with nursing, but it would be a job for me to go back to. I could stop using my vacation time (and save it for if we EVER have another child), stop being so stressed out financially, and I wouldn't be as bored.

In January we put a deposit on a condo in Myrtle Beach for a week in late August. My friend was going to go with us and bring her son (Jack's best friend) and split it with us. This is now in jeopardy if I don't go back to work soon. We don't owe alot on our condo, but between that and spending money, gas, etc., it may have to be nixed. We were all really looking forward to it, and it's not the end of the world if it gets cancelled, but it would be disappointing.

Please pray that my boss finds a position for me in the evening or night, that my pay be the same (not a decrease if I get a position with a lower pay grade), and that my physical therapy helps loosen me up. My next appoinment with my doc is on July 2nd-my 30th birthday. Please pray that that appoinment goes well, because I feel like at least one of the appointments should bring good news, and if it can only be one, it should be on my birthday. LOL