I captured this video during Tristan’s birthday party. There’s never a dull moment with my sweet husband (this is very typical behavior for him), and it’s easy to see why our house is filled with laughter and love (and just a little bit of eye rolling).

No, I didn’t really do cartwheels down the hall, but BRENNEN’S HOME!!!! Instead of wasting my time with cartwheels, I just ran him out of there as fast as I could before someone changed their mind. He’s so glad to be home and is feeling good, but week.
He came home just in time to enjoy Tristan’s video game birthday party. Having Brennen home is definitely all of our greatest gift!

We had another great day today… strange how we redefine what constitutes happiness when living through a crisis. Anyway, that’s another conversation for another day when I’m less tired. Our “great” day today consisted of good labs (WBC of 13), Brennen feeling good, eating 3 full meals, and walking all the way to the gift shop which is on the other side of the hospital. Best of all, the doctors are dangling the carat… based on Brennen’s progress, if his WBC count is still decreasing tomorrow, we may be able to go home!!! Tomorrow!!! I informed the nurses I’d likely be doing cartwheels down the hallway tomorrow if we get to go home and not to think I’ve flipped out and gone completely over the edge. One of our favorite nurses didn’t miss a beat and said “No, ‘cause we’ll be doing them with you!”

It was a GREAT day! Brennen’s spirits were high and his appetite has FINALLY started to return! He walked a lot and was not in much pain at all. WBC count continued to fall and he’s down to one antibiotic specific to his bacteria now. I couldn’t ask for more (well, other than for this trend to continue and for him to come home soon!).

I.Am.Tired.
I am emotionally exhausted from seeing my baby in almost constant pain for 10 consecutive days now. After ending last night on such a high note, I hoped to return to the same this morning. Unfortunately Brennen had vomited at 5:00 a.m. and couldn’t eat or drink anything due to another fluid aspiration which was scheduled for this morning. The aspiration ended up not being done until 11:30. They estimated they removed another 20 cc’s today and they left in an uncomfortable drain in his abdomen. The fluid aspirated on Friday is growing Alpha Hemolytic Strep (not sure which species yet). They have him on 3 antibiotics specific to the Strep and will adjust again once they know the species.

There is also another pocket of fluid which can’t be accessed to be drained, so we have to hope and pray that the antibiotics will take care of that smaller pocket…. worst case scenario, they’d have to operate.

Today, after the procedure he mostly slept. I keep praying that he’ll wake up, say “I feel great!” and “I’m hungry,” but that’s just not happening. He woke up in pain from the drain saying he didn’t even want to think about food.

Thankfully, his WBC count dropped again today (16.4) and his blood proteins are up so it wasn’t a completely discouraging day.

I did find my breaking point though… I was strong for almost 9 days. Yesterday (before he perked up) I had to leave Brennen’s room because I broke down in tears and couldn’t stop crying. Today, God cried with me on the way home… it actually rained! While I’m with Baby B though, I will continue to be comforting, silly, and strong. It’s in the job description of being a mom, right? There’s no crying in motherhood. : )

Please, please keep Brennen in your prayers – he had a rough weekend. He spent almost 48 hours in so much pain and so nauseous that all he could do was sit up and try to rock the pain away. He has about a liter of fluid in his abdomen and they drained about 10 oz of the fluid on Friday and sent it off for culture. The culture today is beginning to show infection. They’ve changed his antibiotics and he’ll have another procedure tomorrow morning to try to drain the remaining fluid. His white blood cells continue to hover between 19 and 20 (they were at 20.8 today) when normal is 5-10 (he was at 23 when admitted with the ruptured appendix). Thank the Lord, Brennen is finally out of pain this evening and the nausea has eased. He was able to laugh and show interest in things for the first time in 2 days. It was such a HUGE relief to see his pain and spirits lifted. Seeing him smile and hearing his laugh are such precious gifts!!!
Thank you all so very much for the prayers!

We had a really rough day at the hospital today. Brennen’s WBC count was back up to 20,000 so they ordered a CT scan and drained the fluid from his abdomen (with a needle) around 4:00 pm today. Thankfully the fluid wasn’t infected and they didn’t need to leave in a drain. They removed about 10 oz of fluid! Brennen seemed to feel much better after (duh, right?!?!), in less pain, able to turn on his side, etc., so hopefully this is the fix we need. The doctor said the elevated WBC count could have been from the stress the fluid was placing on the organs and that the fluid could also have caused his intense pain and lack of appetite.

I’m exhausted and praying for a high WBC count and big appetite tomorrow!

Thanks to 2 good friends, I managed to stay sane another day. My great friend, Suzie, picked up Tristan entertained him for the afternoon and fed him dinner. She has been an absolute savior! Another wonderful friend brought a beta fish for each boy to the hospital and a lunch of Chick Fil A. The beta fish really lifted the spirits of both boys!! Tristan is absolutely head over heals in love with his fish and can’t stop looking at and talking about Ruby.

Meanwhile, here at home and in other parts of the country, my amazing family and friends have kept me strong with lots of phones calls, messages, prayers and love.

Thank you all for keeping me out of a straightjacket! : )

We suffered some setbacks this morning, but the rest of the day went well and we are hopeful that tomorrow will turn things back around. Baby B’s white blood cell count went back up to over 16,000 and he vomited the banana he ate for breakfast. His doctor changed his antibiotics and he’s now on 3 different antibiotics that will “knock out anything he even thinks of getting.” Hopefully we’ll see the white blood cell count drop back down tomorrow. The nutritionist thought his higher count today could’ve been a result of the iv nutrition they added. I’m still concerned about the lingering liquid in his abdominal cavity. I hope it’s just residual wash from the surgery and is naturally reabsorbed, but worst case scenario is an infection that could require additional surgery if it proves to be resistant to the antibiotics.

After the vomiting this morning, B spent a lot more time up either in a chair or walking and he ate strawberries and drank Ensure… not much, but still better than nothing! He was in good spirits sitting up when I left. Hopefully tomorrow will bring lower white blood cell count and increased appetite!

In lighter news, we received this package from Grandpa Grupp!! It provided some much-needed laughter therapy. The back story is that a few days before his appendicitis, Brennen signed onto my Facebook account and said that I was starving him and only giving him dog food when I did feed him. So this is what arrived in the mail!!!

Ever since Friday, July 13, 2001, the number 13 has been lucky for us. Today proved no exception as we celebrated Baby T’s 10th birthday and celebrated small victories toward Baby B’s progress toward coming home.

Let’s start with the birthday boy! Where has the time gone??? I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years since I first looked into my Baby Angel’s eyes. Each year as we celebrate his birthday, I think ‘this is my favorite stage of his life.’ And I wish I could keep little pieces of him from each age. I remember the sweet, zen newborn who was still for probably the only time in his life as he laid in my arms as I rocked and he gazed at the world, his home, his family for the first time. I cherish the memories of him as a daredevil toddler, his “O” face, the Color Green; my sweet Captain Destructo. And I am treasuring every moment with this sweet, sensitive “tween” with the huge heart and the desire to make everyone happy. Being Momma, truly is my greatest blessing and I am so grateful for every day with both my babies. Happy 10th Birthday Angel Baby!!!!

Now on to the my older “baby.” Baby B had a good day at the hospital today (I know…. it’s an oxymoron). His white blood cell counts continued to come down. They’re at 12.5 today. 5-10 is normal, he was at 23 when admitted and was at 15 yesterday, so 12.5 is a great number!! He was also afebrile for the last 24 hours! We celebrated Baby T’s birthday at the hospital and although still in a lot of pain, Baby B was awake, engaged, and more like my Boo. He actually ate a cupcake today, and drank some ensure and carnation instant breakfast. We just have to get his appetite back and work on bringing him home! I’ve bribed him with everything I can think of and finally struck on Outback. So we will be going to Outback to celebrate when his appetite returns and he’s released. Thank you all for your continued love, messages, and prayers! They mean the world to us and are definitely helping us as we walk through this difficult time.

I have no idea from whom Brennen gets the musical gene, but I think he’s pretty amazing. Here’s a little clip of him just playing around at a guitar store while he was here at Christmas break.