Up until now

The fun things my kids have said and done up until now, from oldest to newest:

"A perfect idea just came up to my brain!" -Bridger

"Thank you for waking me up to go potty. I don't want to pee in my new sheets." -Bridger

"What rhymes with pancake? Mancake!" -Bridger (I'll take one of those)

Natalynn was eating one of my mismashed casserole dinners where I just put random foods together. She picked up a piece of food with her fork and said, "what's this? Oh well, it's in here so it must be an ingredient." She has such trust in me and my scary cooking.

"it's called a run jump" -Bridger, when explaining what leap year is, he remembered the term a little differently.

Bridger calls maroon Ramoon

"I love you more than anyone has ever loved their mom" -Natalynn

Natalynn really enjoys her piano lessons. She earns prizes from her teacher for practicing. She almost always gets something for her brother too, although I've never asked her to.

Bridger wanted to learn to jump rope so she decided to give him lessons every Tuesday and after his first lesson she gave him a prize. They have since forgotten to do this.

Bridger loves to style his hair. He gets it wet and does lots of interesting hair styles. One day he comes to me all excited and says, "it's like a cupcake with frosting on top!" Indeed, it was like swirly frosting.

"Oh! My nose is itchy. Maybe some germs were biting it." -Bridger

3 Weeks

A couple of days ago I thought this was the longest couple of weeks of my life. But now I'm starting to settle in to this lazy mode. I worry I may never come out of it. I've forgotten how to work. We might have to hire a house keeper/nanny.

Frustration

Does forgetting for a split second ruin a week's worth of healing? I let the dog out, open the sliding door, pull too hard, too fast, and now I'm back to square one. Well, not quite, but it just feels like I'm not healing as fast as I should be.  I'm no good at being a cripple. I feel like I'm wasting the efforts of my family and friends who do so much for us.

Two weeks!

I'm so happy to be done with my first two weeks. The shifting of bone against bone is gone. Pain is under control. Everything is great! In two weeks I'll be able to lift a whopping 10 pounds! That's pretty much anything in the kitchen and laundry. I'm excited to not be a burden.

I'm actually feeling good today. I've had some bad days, but today was great. I went to my first cardiac rehab appointment. It felt so good to exercise again! Although they made me go slow and only work my legs. It still felt good

I want to give a big thanks to everyone who has helped us. This time of year is so busy for everyone, but especially for Brigham. His workload at UPS during the holidays is crazy and he's had deadlines at his architectural job too. Thank you for everything!!!

What I Wish I'd Known Before Heart Surgery

Excruciating pain this morning.

1. Do not go off pain killers just because you feel good. Because:
a) You have to sleep on your back in a reclined position and cannot adjust yourself. This gets painful. You do not sleep. Your muscles tighten into horrible knots. You wake in intense pain. Stay on drugs.
b) Strong pain killers take away the need for a good morning stretch. You know the kind that is involuntary and usually feels so good. These stretches are bad for broken sternums. I'd gotten the shifting of bone against bone to stop. Now it's back. A week's worth of healing down the tube.
c) Pain pills make you tired. Sleep makes you heal.

2. Realize that the doctor is going to wrap your sternum with wire. This is permanent. If you have a sensitivity to nickel tell your doctor. There is nothing worse than being allergic to something that will never go away. I'm not sure if this is my problem yet. All I know is I was miserable this morning. Took pain pills and an allergy pill just in case.

3. I should have been holding my heart pillow during all movements to speed healing. I should have been informed of this upon discharge.