Trying to keep the hands "dry" AGAIN

All day yesterday, Braxton was begging me to let him in the shower or take a bath. I was trying to avoid "bath time" as long as possible because of the bath experience we had last week. Don't get me wrong, I keep my child very clean and wash him, but the overall bath I didn't want to go there again until the dressings came off. Brax has missed sitting in the bath and playing, so since he asked me over a 100 times and I couldn't say no to his precious face...I gave in! I had to think of a new plan to keep the dressings dry. I put zip lock bags over his hands and taped the bags tight to his skin. I was thinking there is no way water was getting near his hands!!!!

Anyways, Brax had a blast in the bathtub, and did not want to get out. I thought the zip lock bags were working, but apparently they didn't, because they were full of water! Oh no....I knew I would have to re-tape his hands and uh well, there was no one there to help me. I had to act fast....I got the wet gauze off there and starting re-taping his hands and guess what-MOMMY DIDN'T FAINT!!!! I was so proud of myself.

No Nurse career for Mommy!!!!!!!

Last night was quite an experience for me......

Remember the doctors wanting me to keep the dressings "dry" on a 2-year old?!?! Well, I decided to try and give Braxton a bath last night. Thank god our good friend, Natalie was there to help us out or it would have not been good. Braxton's Nana gave us some dish gloves to put over his dressings to keep them dry while giving a bath. We wrapped them with a pony tail holder thinking no water was going to get in the gloves....well once again I was wrong! The dressings were soaking wet! All I could think about was what the doctors note said...."KEEP DRESSINGS DRY"!!! So, I was all paranoid and Natalie told me to run and get some more gauze and we can re-wrap them. After speeding as fast as I could (hopefully no cops are reading this), run into Wal-Mart, get the gauze and hurry home because all I could think about was something bad was going to happen since the bandages were wet. Ok so here we are...we have Brax up on the counter and Natalie is holding him trying to keep him entertained....and I start cutting the bandages off. All of the sudden I start feeling light headed, turning green, and I could see my hands turning white as a ghost. Then a feeling I have never had before, I started sweating in my cheeks and chin...I told Natalie that I am going to faint and I headed to the bathroom. Well needless to say MOMMY FAINTED!!!!! So after that experience, I went back to help Natalie change the other hand. I started cutting the dressings again, feeling ok by this point (not for long), I got all the dressings off and then headed back to the bathroom. MOMMY FAINTED AGAIN!!!!!!!! I thank god that Natalie was there to help me or I don't know what would have happened! Next time if there is a dressing change...I think someone else is going to have to do it...lol!

Needless to say Brax is doing better everyday!!!!!!!!

Braxton's surgery went GREAT!

Sorry for just now updating on Braxton's surgery. I took the day off yesterday to be with Brax and I am trying to catch up on my work here at the office. I am just now getting a so- called break.

Braxton's surgery went really well yesterday...he was such a big boy! The hardest part was watching your child be wheeled back to surgery and knowing that it is out of your hands. Sitting in the waiting room makes a lot of things run through your head. Something that was on our minds a lot was thinking about the families that have to go through this everyday with their child. Thinking about the children at St. Jude's....it really hit home and it showed us again how blessed we are with a healthy child!!!!!

The doc finally came out and said that Braxton did great during surgery and he has straight thumbs!!!!! Remembering me saying something about the "knots" in his hands, well the doc said those were cysts from the inflamation...whatever that means. Anyways, this will never occur again and Braxton is good to go. He has to wear these so called boxing gloves for a week, and they have to stay dry! Ha...are you kidding me...like that is going to be easy! A 2 year old that wants to play with play dough, loves bath time, loves to wash his hands, loves to play in a puddle of water......yeah this is going to be a walk in the park lol!!!!

Despite the upset stomach he had yesterday from being put to sleep, and feeling groggy, he was still the same ole Braxton!!!!!! Here are some pics from yesterday after the puking wars we had! There was a surprise at the front door from his cousins Tristan and Trinity. He absolutely loved them and they made his day. Braxton loves horsies "Bank (thank) you Bubba and Triny"

Here he is turning back to himself and feeling a lot better! This was last night. A little surgery is not keeping him from playing "putball (football)"

He was so excited to hear that Papa was coming by to visit. All he wanted to do was sit in his Papa's lap, watch some football and see Lightning McQueen go fast!!!!

I wanted to thank you all for the special prayers, phone calls, texts, and gifts. All of you are so special to us and we thank you so much for everything!!!! Braxton is sooo loved and cared for and I am one Thankful Mother!!!!!!!!!!!

Trigger Thumbs

Countdown to Braxton's surgery. I am not looking forward to this at all in the morning. I am a nervous wreck, which what mother wouldn't be. I am hoping I will be able to sleep tonight, but the way my mind is working I don't think that is going to happen. I am going to worry about everything! We have to be there at 6am!!!!! So glad hospitals do surgeries in the early morning for babies! They like to get them in early when they are sleepy and get em out!

Every Mother's Worst Nightmare-Surgery

A couple of months ago, Braxton came up to me and said "Momma my fingers hurt". I was thinking ok, well he just wants me to kiss his boo-boo and everything will be better. Well, he kept complaining and crying that his fingers hurt. He couldn't even pick up a toy. Being the over paranoid mother I am...I checked his fingers out again. He was mostly complaining about his thumbs. As I was checking them out, they looked fine, and then I felt this huge knot that was on the palm of his hand, under his thumb. My heart was pounding and I was shaking all over....everything wrong was running through my head. I looked at the his other thumb and it was the same way. His thumbs were straight, but they had knots on them. I role-played in my mind everyday of what he did, what he played with, and he never got hurt. We went to the Lake over Thanksgiving and rode 4-wheelers, but he never got hurt and I remember his fingers being straight. A couple of hours had passed and he wasn't complaining about them anymore. He was so tired and ready for bed. The next morning, I check his fingers out and the knots were gone! But something else didn't look right. I was watching him eat his breakfast and noticed that he couldn't straighten his thumbs. I tried pressing on them and they would not budge. Brax was like "Momma no, that hurts". So, I immediately called the doctor.

After being on hold for more than hour, because of the flu season, I was finally able to talk with Dr. Chesier. He said he probably dislocated his thumbs and take him to the emergency room now or to Pro-Med. Let me tell you...Brax did great at the doctor! I was so proud of him. He let the doctor look at his fingers (bribbing him with a sucker of course) and he said we needed to take some x-rays. Oh wow...here we go! This was not going to be fun. All I could think in my head is crying, screaming, holding him down for an x-ray...etc. Well, low and behold Brax proved me wrong. He held the nurses hand into the x-ray room and sat up on the table and held out his thumbs. He was such a big boy. The nurses were loving him and said "you need to come back more often and see us". After about 30 mins of x-rays, he got down and said "Mommy, I did it...I got x-weighed...and a ducker (sucker)!" He was loving the doctors office.

Finally the results........the doctor said that he is too young to pop the fingers back into place (thank god I was thinking to myself) and he needs to go see an orthopedic doctor.
So, here we were again....waiting...waiting...waiting! They even did more x-rays on Brax and once again he did great. The doctor said he has "TRIGGER THUMBS"! Ok, I am sitting there thinking what in the world is that? He said that he could have fallen months ago and all of the sudden now it inflamed. We have tendons in our fingers and they are suppose to go trough a barrell. Well Braxton's had flared up and the tendon can't make it through, that is what is making his thumbs into a trigger. Wow...it sure is amazing on what you learn on a daily basis being a parent.

Well, Wednesday morning Braxton has to have surgery on his thumbs. Surgery, I cringe hearing that word and thinking my baby is going through that. I have been worried about this every since the doctor said "surgery"!!!!! I have to say if this is the only surgery he has to go through in his life, I will be very happy and blessed!!!!
Please say a prayer for Braxton. I know he is going to be in good hands, but I am still so worried. Ahhh the joys of being a mother!

P.S. I will post some pics of the "Trigger fingers" tonight. I don't have my camera with me.

"Happy Plate"

Braxton was so happy to show off his "HAPPY PLATE" he made this morning! Please excuse the outfit....he wanted to pick his pajamas out. We are starting to have a lil drama with what to wear. He could wear a Razorback shirt or a football shirt everyday if I let him. Everyone thinks they only have drama with girls..ha! So, since we weren't going anywhere I decided to let it fly...lol!

Precious Moments

New Years Day Brax was taking a nap before we met the fam for lunch. He looked so sweet and comfy. I did not want to wake him up. He has to sleep with his horse, doggy, and duck now. Isn't this sweet!