grieving...

Yesterday (Wednesday) during an ultrasound at the hospital, Becky and Steve found out that their baby died. It was hard. Again.

Today was the D&E. Becky is weary, and feeling mostly tired of surgeries and procedures right now. She will remain in the hospital while they troubleshoot some pain in her back.

She is grateful to know that so many care for her, and are inquiring about her well-being.

Thank you for your prayers and offers for support.

Right now the best thing we can do is honor her request for privacy.

~Jenny

Becky's Hospital Visit

Update (from the sister one state over)
She's back. In the hospital, that is.
Possible port infection.
The home nurse came this morning. She comes to change the port every Friday.
This time she took one look and made that "hmmm... that doesn't look good" noise.
Becky's rather indifferent to the change in locale.
When you feel that nauseated constantly, those things just don't matter so much.
She had her regular visit to the doctor yesterday, and her body was showing signs of being in starvation mode. Apparently it's not so much an issue with eating, just an issue with actually keeping things down long enough to digest them. Let's pray that she can get some nutrition from the things she takes in. And keep them in.

I'M SO LUCKY!

To have such wonderful sisters.

A week ago Friday, I went in for my port surgery.

This helps to keep me hydrated during my pregnancy.

I've been through this before...it's no big deal...

Until this time.

Two hours into my recovery,

I woke up in SCREAMING pain.

It felt like I could hardly catch my breath.

It hurt to breath.

It felt like something was wrong with my heart.

I knew something was not right.

I didn't have this pain the last time I had a port surgically placed.

My first thought was a possible blood clot,

we have a family history of these.

After many tests and x-rays, they found it.

A PNEUMOTHORAX.

I had a small puncture in my left lung.

My left lung was collapsed as a result.

The doctor decided they would watch it for a day,

to see if it would get smaller or possibly bigger.

The only thing that made the pain bearable was morphine.

I was admitted.

24 hours later, my pneumothorax had grown.

That meant a chest tube.

They called a surgeon in.

He numbed the area and popped it in.

It wasn't too bad...

Until they hooked me up to the chest tube suction/drain.

Then it felt 10x worse then in the recovery room.

They were suctioning out the air that had escaped.

I could hardly catch my breath again.

It was awful.

The pain never really went away until they took it out.

(two days later)

Thankfully my lungs re-expanded right away.

On top of the pneumothorax,
I caught a stomach bug.
I was SO sick, fever and all.
I also walked away with a UTI.
Lots of lovely gifts from the hospital.
Thankfully I was able to come home 5 days later.

My sister Amy Jo is here from Ohio to take care of me.
I am so blessed. I couldn't do this without her.
I know what a sacrifice it is to be away from some of her family,
and so I am truly grateful for her service and love.

And I am so grateful for Jenny too.
She kept my blog going...(thankyou)
and was by my side in the hospital.
She snuck me contraband,
and entertained me...
even though it was too painful to smile.
I am thankful for her service and love as well.

Thank you dear sisters. ♥

thank you

...but you're not welcome.
(Jenny, still Guest-posting and also feeling in the mood for a little game playing that might yield a give-away for YOU)
That's the message I'm getting.
Becky has been politely cutting me off.
Even the rebel sister is not the medicine she needs.
I feel bad.
For the past two days I have been checking in by phone, and Ms. Becky is not well.
On the up side, her chest is feeling MUCH better. The chest tube was taken out yesterday. Things are healing.
The bummer? She caught a stomach bug and is dealing with the fall-out; pun totally not intended [but kind of punny?] (which, when you're in your home and otherwise healthy and living a normal existence is a drag; but when you're in the hospital and dealing with so many levels of complicated issues, the stomach bug is the LAST thing you want to deal with).
Not fun.
I know she appreciates your comments. Even though she hasn't seen them yet.
Her hospital is a little behind the times, and she doesn't have access to a computer and there is no wireless internet.
Help is on the way. Our other sister, Amy, is on the road even now, and making her way to Ortonville. She cooks, she cleans and she is basically compassion in the flesh.
Amy's planning on spending the summer with Becky and helping in whatever way she can. She is AWESOME like that.
P.S. I cleaned out my purse while I was visiting Becky. Not only did it help me (because I keep my own selfish interests in mind while I'm visiting the infirm) it also provided some decent entertainment value while the patient was in spirits well enough to be entertained. SO. Let's play a game, shall we? It'll be fun. If any of you Orton Family fans can guess how many pens and pencils I had in my purse, plus the correct number of tissue packets, I will NOT send you the pair of dirty socks I found in there, OR the moldy spoon either. I WILL however, give-away a nifty little prize. And it wasn't in my purse that day (or now).

Sunday update

Guest Post
*by Jenny*
I visited Becky's hospital room this afternoon.
(I know, NO VISITORS. This rule remains in effect~I'm a rebel rule-breaker, and I also brainwashed Becky to allow me to come, and bribed her with magic. This will not work generally, and I promise you, if you are not Steve or Ben, she is still not up to being seen or making conversation)

Her husband snuck over after sacrament meeting, and brought Ben with him. Ben said he didn't feel like staying for Sunday School if his mom wasn't there to rub his feet. He's insistent like that. But she did gaze at him lovingly from her bed. He brings happiness wherever he goes; it's his talent. And she fed off that. Which was good. Because she's not feeding off much else of substance. There's this yellow-colored vitamin water bag that's dripping into her tubing. Ben was healthier than vitamin water. It was sweet.
Steve brought his sunshine and good humor. Becky's chest and lung are giving her constant pain, so it hurt to laugh. But I know her soul was happy that he was there. (I did most of the laughing) She's due for more chest x-rays tomorrow. I'm praying that she'll be able to sleep for more than 15 minute stretches without needing to press her pain medication button tonight. On the up-side, she is not feeling nauseated. For now. And that's a HUGE blessing. She asked me to update--clearly she misses her blogging friends. Thanks for your love and support.

Out of Commission

**GUEST POST**
by Becky's sister Jenny

Back in the hospital.
This trip's for Becky.
She's making peace with her new condition...
She thought she'd have a summer.
A summer to play and be an activity planner for her kids.
A summer loaded with sunshine and day trips.
She imagined jogging behind that new stroller with Ben.
She pictured herself in her favorite spot on the beach.
You may (or may not) know how well her body handles pregnancy.
She's about eight weeks along.
Her experiences with not being able to tolerate smells, keep down liquids or stay hydrated have come rushing back. She is taking things one day at a time, but is not ready to talk about it. Please help by respecting her need to adjust.
She's happy!
Really.
Just feeling fragile, and not ready to chat about it.
Not ready for questions.
Not ready for visits; not ready for calls.She came to the hospital Friday to have a porta-cath surgically implanted in her chest. She needs to stay hydrated, and is allergic to pic lines. As a result of the procedure, she got a pneumothorax (her lung was punctured). They watched it for a day, but the hole continued to get bigger. So they had to insert a tube into her chest this afternoon, which allows the leaking air to be evacuated. The device on top is the catheter, the one underneath is the tube. She will be home soon.
And she misses you.

THIS BOY CAN HURDLE!

Who would've THUNK!You see...we grow 'em BIG in my family.

Big and stalky.

Look at their dad for crying out loud.

We're not exactly built for speed.

And I'm okay with that.

Kaleb begs to differ.

And I'm okay with that too.

He's not a big fan of the long distance runs.

(who can blame him?)

So he sticks with the sprints.

This year, he's found his LOVE.

The 100 meter hurdles.

The first time I saw him run...

I held my breath.

He's very competitive.

(I have NO idea where he gets that from.)

He doesn't like to lose.

I have to remind him that he's only a 6th grader.

He ran hard,

and placed first.

He's won every race since.

It's no easy task I tell you...

Just look at his face. :)

MY NEW ROOM

GOOD NEWS!

Did I tell you my bathroom is FINISHED?

(well, almost)

It still needs a few things done

and a good cleaning.

I'm EXCITED!

As a bonus...my husband painted our room.

It's a lighter shade of green.

He painted the ceiling the same color.

I like it better than white.

It came out really nice.

He changed all the brass fixtures to silver.

I LOVE IT!

Ben loves it too.

(thank you Steve)

(I'll post pictures of the bathroom

when it is completely done.)

BUBBY/PUGS

Our Pugs are FUNNY!

When they aren't driving us crazy,

we're LAUGHING at them.

Sue is on the right, Max is on the left.

Sue is like a BIG BABY!

He loves to be held.
Max is FEISTY.

He loves to romp and play.
Kaleb was feeding Max a bone,

and he was loving it.

I decided to get my camera because it was really cute.

I had to laugh when Max became camera shy.

As soon as he figured out what I was doing,

he kept pushing the bone away.

Apparently I was intruding upon his personal space.

My apologies Max!

KAYLA

Anyone who reads my blog knows that my daughter Kayla is a bit on the clumsy side. It makes her all the more loveable. She can't walk out to the mailbox without tripping on the grass. At meal times, she often falls off her stool, hitting the ground HARD. She always pops up with a smile and says "I'm all right!". It's hard not to laugh at her and I'm grateful that she's okay with that.

Yesterday at her track meet Kayla ran the 100m hurdles. First of all, this girl really does not like to run. She is not competitive in the least. Secondly, hurdles and Kayla just don't seem to go together. She's vertically challenged enough on her own, never mind having to get over actual obstacles. This was her first running race of the track season. She usually just participates in the throwing events due to her JRA. The girls line up for the 100m hurdles...and the gun goes off. 3 strides into the race, Kayla goes down...and HARD. What's funny is that she hadn't even reached the first hurdle yet. Being brave, she jumps back up and continues the race. Amazingly she placed second.