Worst 4 days of my life...

On Tuesday January 31st both of my kids woke up with low grade fevers. Nothing that unusual this time of year, just a cold or possibly teething for both of them. They both soon had runny noses and Titan (my 4 month old) was more irritable than normal. By Tuesday evening Titan had progressively gotten worse. He sounded congested and sounded like his throat was sore and swollen. All through the night I kept a close listen on him and he slept on me in the recliner for most of the night. We kept debating whether or not to go to the ER. By Wednesday morning his breathing was labored and he sounded horrible. We all loaded up and went to the Stafford ER at 8am. They gave him 2 bronchiodialators (albuterol) and a dose of steriods but he really wasn't improving. They decided to transfer us to Mary Washington Hospital around noon. Peter took Matias home to take a nap and I rode in the ambulance with Titan.

Ambulance ride. Please excuse the bad photography. Obviously I didn't have my camera so I was just using my phone.

When we arrived at Mary Washington the doctors seemed very concerned. More concerned than they were at the ER. Thus causing me to become more concerned. It was so hard to watch him breathe. His chest would retract so much just trying to take in air. At this point, I was starting to get very nervous and I was praying so hard! The thought of losing Titan entered my mind and I just could not handle it. But I knew I had to be strong and get my child the care he needed. They gave him an IV port just in case he needed it. Praise the Lord the nurse told them that he sucks his right thumb so they put the IV on his foot. I am so thankful that the nurse told them that! It was so comforting for him to suck his thumb. I can't imagine what it would have been like if he couldn't suck his thumb! They gave him another breathing treatment but this time it was a different kind, not albuterol. He responded well to the treatment but it wore off in less than 2 hours and they didn't want to give it to him but every 4 hours.

My poor sick boy!

They were worried he was going to get worse and they could not provide the care he needed so they transferred us again. This time to VCU in Richmond. They sent a respiratory nurse and doctor in an ambulance from VCU to come pick us up. The team that arrived to pick us up was amazing! They were so sweet to Titan and helped to calm my nerves. They knew what they were doing!

We arrived at VCU around 9 pm. The doctors and nurses were there waiting on us to arrive and had everything ready for us. They were very reassuring that they deal with this kind of thing all of the time and that Titan was going to be just fine. It was amazing how quickly they put me at ease just by telling me that! I knew that God had sent us to the right place and provided this amazing team of doctors and nurses! Throughout the night Titan had multiple breathing treatments and deep suctioning. The doctors said it was just a virus and we just had to let it run its course. All they could do was treat his symptoms and help him to breathe until his body fought this virus off. By Thursday afternoon he was working extremely hard to breathe. His chest would retract a lot when he took in air. He was doing a great job of keeping up his vitals (O2, heart rate, BP) but he was working his body too hard to achieve those levels. The doctors were afraid he was going to where himself out. By Thursday afternoon the breathing treatments would only help him for about 45 minutes before they would where off. The doctors recommended that we move him to the ICU. Praise the Lord that Peter was with me at this time! I needed him!

Comforted by his thumb!

The ICU docs came to look at him and thought that he was still doing good and just needed to relax. So they gave him a sedative to calm him. After this his symptoms began to change. It started sounding more like croup. They began giving him cold breathing treatments and we saw a huge turn around! He responded so well to the cold treatments it was a miracle! By Thursday night he no longer needed breathing treatments. He just needed cold air! It truly was a miracle!

Feeling much better! And taking a bottle! He has refused to take a bottle since we have been home!

That's my little man!

They even made a name tag for him!

Thursday afternoon we thought he was headed to the ICU and going to be intubated. By Thursday night he didn't need breathing treatments and they planned on moving us to the floor and out of the higher care unit he was in. God was answering prayers! On Friday night they got the results back from his culture and they said he had a bacterial infection. He started taking antibiotics, we moved to the "floor" Friday night and by Saturday afternoon we were home! The doctors told us that day 4 and 5 of this sickness would be his worst days. I'm thankful that they prepared me for that possibility. However, I had faith that God was going to heal Titan much faster than expected and God showed us His awesome power by healing Titan and allowing us to go home by day 4! Praise God for His faithfulness! Thank you to everyone who prayed so hard for our little fighter!

Christmas Memories

We drove home to Illinois for Christmas to visit family and friends. We love being at home with our family that we do not get to see very often. However, we HATE the 14 hour drive to Illinois and then the 14 hour drive back to Virginia. But we do it every year because we love our family so much! On the way to Illinois we decided to drive through the night so that both kids (1 year old and 3 month old) would sleep... and hopefully we would not feel the need to sleep! Well that plan totally failed! Matias (1) is now forward facing and his car seat does not lean back very much. Therefore, he did not sleep well. He maybe slept 5 hours! Peter and I were exhausted and all we wanted to do was sleep. So on the way back to Virginia we decided to drive during the day and put some stuff behind Matias's car seat so he could lean back and sleep a little. This made everyone much happier...

well until Matias started projectile vomiting all over the back seat about 2 hours into our 14 hour drive! He does get car sick occasionally.

 So this was our first clothes change on our drive home to Virginia. As you can see Matias didn't really mind. I was in the back seat cleaning up the vomit the best I could. I just kept thinking we have 12 more hours to go and it is going to start stinking really bad if I don't get this cleaned up good! Thankfully, it was not too bad! Further into hour drive, I would say about half way, we stopped to eat. While I was nursing Titan, Matias and Peter ran around the restaurant just trying to let Matias use up some energy. Well Peter soon realized that Matias had filled his pants. Of course there was no changing table at that restaurant because that would have been too easy. So Peter took Matias to the car to change him. I soon get a text from Peter saying it was a bad one! Once I finish feeding Titan I go out to the car and Matias is naked again! He had poop on every piece of clothing except for one sock! Needless to say I was just happy that I did not have to change that diaper!

All in all we had a great trip! We just made some unforgettable memories along the way! The rest of our visit was less eventful. Below are some pictures!

Daddy killed a deer!

Not the best photo... but this was our live nativity. Matias was the shepherd and Titan was baby Jesus.

Getting sleepy at the Christmas Party.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So I have spent almost all day in the kitchen and I could not be any happier! The boys were perfect angels today and allowed me to cook and bake to my hearts content! So I wanted to share my two Thanksgiving Desserts with you! Hope you enjoy them! One is an old favorite and the other is a new recipe for me! Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekly Recipe

This is a great meal to make and freeze! I did this before I had Titan and have them waiting in the freezer for an easy meal later! We are all looking forward to eating it! Hope you enjoy my Southwestern Eggrolls!

Introducing... Titan Eli Prikazsky!

Titan Eli Prikazsky arrived at 2:40pm on September 26, 2011 weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21.9 inches long! The whole labor and delivery process was truly a miracle! Titan's due date was actually October 2, 2011. But at 38 weeks I was already dilated 3 cm so the doctors thought he could come any day. However, I didn't believe them. I had a scheduled induction for Friday September 30th which I was sure would happen. So when I went into labor on Monday September 26, 2011 at 7am I was very surprised!

I was induced with my first son so I had never really experienced "going into labor" on my own. I woke up at 7 am and felt what could be contractions but not really sure. I called labor & deliver at Fort Belvoir to tell them what I was experiencing. They suspected I was in early labor. They said to wait to come in until my contractions were 5 minutes apart for 2 hours. Well... my contractions started out at 5 minutes apart! There was no 10 or 15 minutes apart... no build up! Also, for those of you who don't know, Fort Belvoir hospital is 45 minutes north of us... NORTH... on a Monday morning at 8am driving on 95 North (towards DC) in rush hour traffic! On a good day it would take about 40-45 minutes. On a bad day with 1 or maybe even 2 car accidents somewhere along the way it could take 2 hours. So we had to decide... do we try to make it to Fort Belvoir or do we just go to the Stafford Hospital. Well we decided to attempt to go to Fort Belvoir.

We first had to get a hold of our dear friend Michela so that she could come over and watch Matias. (I say dear friend because she knows I love her, but that morning I was not loving her... you will see why) We tried calling Michela multiple times. We could not get a hold of her! (added stress) After trying for about 15 minutes we just decided we were going to have to drive over to Michela's house (I in Peter's truck and Peter and Matias in my SUV). Remember, I am having contractions 3 minutes apart at this time. I prayed the entire way there (which is only 5 minutes) that she would be home. Otherwise, Matias was going with us to the hospital! Praise the Lord, Michela was home. She had just forgotten to charge her phone and it was dead!!! REALLY! Anyway, it all worked out and Matias had a great time with Michela and her dog, Roxy while we were in the hospital for 2 days.  Ok, so Peter dropped off Matias with Michela and got in the truck with me and we began the crazy drive up to Fort Belvoir. The whole way I kept thinking... "We aren't going to make it! We aren't going to make it!". I don't know how... well actually I do, only by God's divine intervention we made it to Fort Belvoir hospital in 30 minutes during rush hour traffic on a Monday morning. It was TRULY a miracle! By the time I got there I was 6 cm and ready for an epidural! They quickly rushed me through and I soon had my epidural. I had to have antibiotics due to the Group B strep and they wanted the antibiotics to be in my system for 4 hours before I had Titan.... so we waited. Which was fine because I had my epidural and was feeling good! Finally at 2:20 they broke my water and after about 8 minutes of pushing Titan arrived at 2:40pm!  

God had answered all of my prayers! I had prayed I would go into labor on my own, that we would make it to Fort Belvoir, that Matias would be good when we left him and that I would have a quick & healthy delivery! And I have to say recovery from a 7 hour labor compared to recovery from a 36 hour labor is so much better! The recovery has been amazing! I am feeling great and enjoying every minute with my boys!  

Matias loves his little brother and has adjusted very well! He loves giving him kisses and started saying the word "baby" the day we brought Titan home! Praise the Lord for so many blessings and so many answered prayers!

Kitchen Remodel

It is finally finished... well besides some window treatments (still need to find some fabric for that). I have been meaning to post this for a while. The counter tops were installed on August 31st! About 8 weeks longer than it was supposed to be! The counter top color that we initially chose is still on back order! We actually ended up choosing a different color just so the kitchen would be finished. The color is one shade lighter than my original, but I actually really like it! I am very pleased with the outcome! Thank you to my parents, Peter's Dad and Peter for all of the hard work!

BEFORE...

Demolition...

It got really noisy!

Just making sure they are sturdy.

AFTER...

Our newest addition to the kitchen... the Keurig! Love it!

Weekly Recipe

Ok, so I haven't been cooking as much because I am just WAY too pregnant to be spending that much time in the kitchen. However, I did make Peter a special Birthday dessert recently. Hope you enjoy this decadent dessert! Check out my Lemony White Chocolate Cheesecake!