What a long, strange trip it's been

So... in an effort to explain my blogging hiatus (you know, other than having a infant and a toddler to take care of and then going back to work full-time!), let me give you the down low on the insane events that have dominated our lives over the last few weeks.  I'm up nursing a 6-weeks-old Hannah around 1:30 am on Wednesday, August 11 (also known as the First Day of School) and Andrew starts complaining about having a sharp pain in his chest.  He'd been suffering from a bad stomach bug for a few days, so we assumed it was heartburn/indigestion and he took some Pepto and went back to bed.  Cut to a few hours later when the pain got really intense and he left to go to the emergency room.  Cut to a few more hours later -- our neighbor came over to sit with Lucy while she slept so I could go to the hospital and check on my husband, only to find him scared he was having a heart attack and doubled over in pain.  He was admitted to the hospital for a few days while they ran a battery of cardio tests and although no definitive diagnosis ever came our way. The doctors think he had a virus related to the stomach bug that caused the muscles in his back and chest to become inflamed.  He was released on Friday morning with some medications and told to go home and rest.

Andrew returned to work the following Tuesday only to be sent home around noon by the school nurse and assistant principal because he looked so pale and puny.  He was complaining of severe stomach pain this time around and went to see our family doctor who did a CAT scan, the results of which caused him to be re-admitted to the hospital the next morning.  He underwent an additional scan, an ultrasound test, a colonoscopy (ouch!) and endoscopy exam and the final result was... we still don't really know!  Once again we were unable to get a concrete diagnosis, but they think he had a staph infection caused by the heart catheter test he underwent the first time he was in the hospital.  He was treated with high-dose antibiotics and hospitalized until Saturday this time around.  And of course, in between dropping Lucy off at daycare, trying to take care of Hannah and the house, coordinating family members who came down to help, and running back and forth to the hospital, I developed not only a nasty stomach bug myself but also a raging case of mastitis that landed me in bed with aches, chills, and a 102.5 fever.  Not a situation I would recommend to anyone that is already up all night with a newborn.  I truly believe that God doesn't give you more than you can handle, but it felt like we were getting awfully close.

This has NOT an awesome time for the Powers family.  Andrew's illnesses had him down for the count for the better part of two weeks, and it hit me really hard just how much I rely on him to help me around the house and with the girls and just to be there for me emotionally.  It was really a time of struggle for us trying to figure out how to be there for each other and to still provide the best quality of care for our children.  We're still struggling a few weeks later -- Andrew missed the first few weeks of school and is having a difficult time rallying his band into fighting form, and I had to return to work just a couple of days after he came home from the hospital after not sleeping for what felt like infinity (and still kind of does). 

My transition back to work has not been smooth -- the commute is awful, I miss my baby, packing up/cleaning breast pump supplies every day and finding time to squeeze it in between projects and meetings sucks (there's really no more eloquent way to say it), and... Hannah screams relentlessly in the car on the way to and from daycare every day.  BUT (yes, there is a but), Hannah is finally sleeping 6-8 hour stretches in a row at night, has learned to take a bottle, and is being very well cared for during the day, Andrew's feeling enormously better, and Lucy is truly thriving in her new big girl class at "school".  And most importantly, the stress of this whole ordeal has brought into crystal clear focus that the most important things in life are: our physical health, our spiritual health, and the health of our family unit.  All of which have been a little battered recently, but are on the mend.  And all of which could use your prayers, if you're so inclined.  More than ever, we've realized our desire to forge a stronger relationship bond and to be healthy enough to watch our babies grow up together.

Almost a month later, I'm finally feeling a bit of normalcy return to our household so I'm happy to report the resurrection of The Powers That Be.  Stay tuned for some (hopefully much more upbeat) updates coming very soon!

So glad to have Daddy home again!