UPDATE

Just an update for those of you who read my last post, Kaelyn's CT scan was moved to tomorrow, the 24th.  She seems to be in much better spirits today and handling her pain better. Hasn't lost an ounce of sass.

The C Word

It's time to turn over a new leaf and keep my family and friends updated, especially now that I have something to update about!

Today was quite the eventful day.  See below:

Today we had a planned recheck with Kaelyn's primary doctor.  I took her in a couple of weeks ago because she had a prolonged fever and suspicious cough.  We left with the answer that it was a virus, so there wasn't really anything we could do.  The doctor did, however, find a suspicious mass on her left side.  In order to rule out stool causing the lump, he asked that we follow up in 2 weeks.

Here we are, 2 weeks later.  The last few days Kaelyn has had fevers, again, this time associated with pain in her left side, just below her ribs.  When we took her in for her recheck, the doc asked us to go to the ER because of her acute pain in the abdomen.  Of course it was a nice long 4 hour visit in the ER!  After some tests, Kaelyn's doctor decided the pain was being caused by a bladder infection and was sending us home with an antibiotic, and would have us check up with the primary doc the next day.  Brock and I were not satisfied with this answer!  We both had gut feelings that this was something more, and me, Mrs. NOT-assertive, asked the doctor to do an ultrasound because we weren't comfortable leaving (proud moment for me:)).  He obliged, and we found out about 15 minutes later that she has a tumor in her kidney.  More specifically, a Wilm's tumor.  I don't think the news hit me until the doctor used the infamous term "cancer."  Whaaaa??  At the same time though, I have felt this coming.  I knew some big bad thing was coming to get us, I'm just glad it's finally here and I don't have to worry about what the mystery is.  We can start working on getting through it now, one day at a time of course.

We head for Primary Children's early tomorrow morning so we can get there in time for a CAT scan.  I was surprised how fast things were getting started, but I'm also so happy I don't have to wait around for them to start.  I am kind of surprised how blessed I've felt through this whole day, as opposed to a doom and gloom feeling.  Oddly enough it's almost seemed to be a positive day.  Granted, tears were shed and sad thoughts were thunk!  But I have just felt an increased measure of love for my family, my Savior, the gospel, friends, and all the little things in life.

We would be so grateful for all prayers in Kaelyn's behalf.  I will do my best to change my ways and become an avid blogger for those of you who care.  I love you friends and family.  Until next time,

Parenting 101

Just kidding! I can't give any advice on parenting. But I have learned a lot about parenting (though not nearly enough!). Things like, 1) it's hard, and 2) you shouldn't judge that mom in the grocery store whose child has no shirt on outside in the middle of winter. Some children are just uncontrollable and they have to learn their lesson! (i.e. Kaelyn). Anyway, I have been thinking lately about one of the hard things about being a parent. One of those things is not laughing at inappropriate behavior. A couple of Kaelyn's latest ignoring-mom techniques can be interpreted as funny or naughty. Any time Kaelyn has done something she shouldn't and I ask her about it, or any time I ask her to do something (pick up her toys), she becomes mute. She pretends her lips are glued together and she's trying really hard to talk, with her cheeks puffed out and her hands in the air, but unable to help. An alternative to becoming mute is narcolepsy. The moment

she is to be reprimanded, she hits the floor and begins snoring. It's amazing. How did our parents do it?

Can you even imagine any sass from this face?

I want to hear some stories about your kids, because then I can laugh and not feel like its bad parenting. Thanks.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

Kaelyn, Isaac and I just got back from visiting my family in Utah for a week and a half. I love being able to visit my family, but I also love coming back home. What I don't love is the 10 hour drive it takes to get there and back!

One thing I love about coming home is seeing how home has changed when I return! Brock loves to do some redecorating and surprise me when I get home. He had plenty of projects to work on while I was gone. This kind of behavior dates back to our courtship days. When I left school for a weekend for a vacation with my family, I came back to my apartment to find a fashionable homemade quilt on my bed and a completely redecorated and organized room. He does a good job. Here are some of the new additions I came home too.

This is just a fun "sign" he made from scrap pieces of wood and paint.

I saw these framed sayings up in a nursery online and begged Brock to make some for us. They look just like I wanted! These are hanging just outside Isaac's nursery and are some important words of wisdom for him to abide by.

Isaac's room. Completely changed. New-old metal framed crib that Brock painted, a refinished-retro dresser for a changing table, and a halved and painted night stand. Also, the "I" from a neon sign that serves as a nightlight. It's a good thing we have similar taste and I can just trust Brock to do these things without me!

Brock was looking for an old locker for a nightstand, but he didn't have any success while I was gone. He did find a matching nightstand at a local rescue mission and he cut it in half for a fun look.

He finally got new pedestals built for the laundry room. Hooray!

And he redecorated our bathrooms. My favorite part about this is he made all the wall decor.

And a new rug! We have rugs in almost every room in this house we are renting, mostly because the carpet is so stained. The rugs make a big difference.

And THIS was my favorite addition! We had talked a little bit about throwing in a big word somewhere in our house, but I was reluctant and unsure how we were going to do this. I think Brock did a perfect job, and I love the word he came up with.

And last, but not least, a new kitchen table and chairs. (Keep in mind that when I say "new" I only mean new to us. Most of the purchases were from either Craigslist or secondhand stores and repainted/reupholstered.) I love the pedestal and the fun details on the chair frames.

The table still needs to be painted, but I wanted to include it anyway. :)

I feel so lucky to be married to an awesome guy with great taste and ambition!

Latest Updo's

Since I don't get to see most of my family and friends very often, I thought I would post a little bit of what our temporary home looks like right now. Just the decor, really. Most of this is Brock's handiwork, but I hate that all his hard work is usually just seen by me, unless we have some rare visitors. :)

This is the latest TV stand. We were finally able to find one that we could make work for the electronics and keep the kids out at the same time!

Brock built a few pieces of furniture using the same wood that was used to build his great grandparent's home. He's a sentimental guy, so I'm glad he was able to find a way to incorporate some of his sentiments in a trendy way. Haha!

This is the little stand he built. He also recovered these chairs.

We had originally kept some DVD's and our DVD player in this. It has faux drawers, but it's actually a door that swings out on a hinge, closing with a magnet. It only kept Kaelyn out for approximately 2 weeks.

And finally, here is the matching console table.

Brock likes to copy almost all things Pottery Barn. So he and I cut this tree out of cardboard, then he covered it in fabric. It's pretty cute.

And here's the one thing I've contributed! Thanks to Gail and Diane for the idea. Each of these is from an actual photo taken of Kaelyn. I love them because they show her personality and are a fun way to brighten her room!

And that's all folks!

First Laugh

My mom has been requesting that I record Isaac because he's been laughing lately. Cute stuff. Anyway, The video isn't so great because I started filming before the camera focused, but you'll get the picture.

Newest Caskey

He's here! Isaac Nevin Caskey joined the family on April 25th and we're so happy to have him here. He is so sweet, and he reminds us a lot of Kaelyn. So far, he hasn't really cried, just whimpers when he's hungry. Kaelyn did the same thing, but of course now she's making up for that lost time with high-pitched squealing. Luckily it doesn't even phase Isaac! Also, he rolled over for his first time when he was 3 days old, and has continued to roll over since then. Kaelyn first rolled over at 10 days, so he has her beat.

7 lbs 4 oz - 20 inches

Isaac has been an angel, which definitely makes up for the labor experience! Here's how the story goes... (I tried to shorten it, but it's still really long!)

Because I had Kaelyn so fast, I was worried about how fast Isaac would come, and so was my doctor. With Kaelyn, I didn't head to the hospital until my contractions were unbearable and about 2 minutes apart, so I had her about 40 minutes after getting to the hospital. Just enough time to get an epidural and start pushing. Perfect! Anyway, my doctor had been warning me all along that I would go fast when the time came, and I did not want to have a baby in the car. Also, I did not want to have a baby without an epidural! I'm a wimp like that. So, the doctor advised to me head straight to the hospital as soon as my contractions got painful. At 4:30 on Monday morning, they started getting painful and were regular. I did the warm bath/Tylenol thing to see if the would slow or the pain would lessen, but they didn't. At this point they were about 6 minutes apart and not getting any closer together, so I waited until 6:30 to head to the hospital. An awesome ward member and friend came over to stay with Kaelyn while we were gone. At 6:45 I checked into the Billing Birthing Center. I felt little silly because I wasn't in a lot of pain, but I'd rather be there early than late! I got all checked in and found out I was dilated to a 5, which I had been for several days. While lying in the hospital bed with the contraction trackers, I checked out my nifty hospital wristband. This is what it read:

So they were a little off! Little did I know, though, that this minor error was going to be pretty telling of the rest of my day! The nurse, Jerry, (please request to not have Jerry if you are in Billings) quickly traded my bracelet for the correct one. After I had been there for a couple of hours, she checked me again only to discover I had not dilated any more even though the contraction had become more painful and had remained consistent. The doctor had told me the Friday before that I was dilated to a 5, as did the nurse I had before Jerry. Jerry told me that even though my physician and the previous nurse had said I was a five, I was only a 4 (Her fingers were quite large. I think that explains this.) The hospital kept me a little longer because they were concerned about my blood pressure being high. I was convinced they would keep me with the history of my last labor, but around 10:30 my nurse came back in the triage room and told me I would have to go home because there was no progression. I was devastated and so scared. The nurse was telling me to leave now that my contractions were 3 minutes apart and even more painful than before. If I was feeling this way now, at what point was I supposed to come back? The contractions were already very painful and scaring me! I told the nurse about my concerns, but that didn't change her mind. I told her there was a lot of pain, so she sent me home with some Percocet. Before we left, Brock tried to let her know how worried we were, that it would take 15 minutes to get back to the hospital and we didn't know if that would be enough time. The nurse acted offended and just repeated herself. So, we left as directed.

I puked the whole way home. I don't know if it was nerves, the Percocet, or the labor. By the time we got home I couldn't walk very well because the Percocet was doing it's job! Brock took me upstairs. I was told to lay down on my left side (because the baby was on my right. I'm not sure why I couldn't do that in the hospital though!). After about 30 minutes of laying down, the really painful contractions started. I only had 2 contractions before I asked Brock for a blessing. Right after, I called the nurse back to tell her that although my contractions were 10 minutes apart, they really were unbearable, even with the Percocet. She said to do whatever I felt comfortable with, even though they would probably send me back again. I knew that this pain was too much to be nothing, though.

By the time we got to the car and on the road (about 3 minutes after the phone call), my contractions were 1 minute part and I could feel that baby trying to get out! When we got to the hospital, I was cursing the nurses name, shaking uncontrollably and just trying to hold the baby in until I was on a hospital bed. We reached the hospital at 2:00, and I delivered Isaac after 1 push at 2:09. I asked after the delivery if I could still have an epidural, but they said no! Haha! See, I am a wimp! I endured the birth and still thought it hurt to be stitched up!

Part of me was very grateful for the way things went because I ended up having an excellent doctor, who I trusted more than my actual doc, deliver Isaac who just happened to be available. She came in handy later that day also.

The rest of the evening went well. Brock was there with me, so that was very nice. That night was a different story though! At about 10 p.m. I had finished feeding Isaac and stood up to change his diaper. After standing for few minutes, I felt huge amount of blood rushing down my legs. Immediately there were pools of blood around both of my feet that were growing very fast. I pushed the button to call my nurse and figured I better leave Isaac on the bed in case I got dizzy. I won't go in to all the details, but basically there were such large clots still in my uterus that the nurse pushed as many as she could out by pushing on my lower abdomen. I was so bruised after that! Then they called the doctor back in who delivered Isaac to get the rest of the clots out by hand. I was so grateful that they put me on Fentanyl for that because I still felt like I was going to pass out from pain while in a euphoric state!! I can definitely see how someone would get addicted to that drug! The worst part of the whole experience was that I was at the hospital alone. I was scared and there were so many people in my room rushing around I got a little worried. I wasn't allowed to get back up for the rest of the night. It was a long, lonely night but I'm so glad that is over with! I should also add that the reason I had such large clots was because I didn't get to the hospital in time to have and IV with Pitocin. I did get an injection of Pit later, but apparently it didn't work as well!

Now, things are great and I'm so happy to be done with that hospital. One last thing, though, the next day a nurse came in and asked if I would switch rooms. I was quite surprised they were asking me this after what they'd put me through! Of course I couldn't say no, though, and I hated the room and bed they moved me to! They did make up for it somewhat, though, with a $50 gift card to Walmart for moving rooms. Brock thought it should be a gift card toward the next child, but we didn't end up so lucky!

We're so grateful for the little family that we have. We are SO blessed. I have several friends who are trying to get pregnant, and who are awesome parents. I always pray that they will soon be able to experience the joy of a newborn again. I sometimes hesitate to share the joy for that reason, but I'll just shout it out this once! Thanks to everyone for the support you've given us. We are happy and healthy and grateful. :-)

Kaelyn loves being a big sister. She is so sweet with Isaac and is always kissing him or putting her cheek softly against his or rubbing is soft head. So far they are the best of friends. We'll see how long that lasts ;)