Eli's Newborn Pictures (Part 2)

 

Sean's Shoulder Update

It's been 13 weeks since Sean dislocated his shoulder.
And 5 weeks since Sean's surgery.

And 1 weeks since Sean start physical therapy.

And he is doing so much better than expected!

He's no longer wearing a sling, is driving, doing his exercises and stretches several times a day and is able to doing most things around the house again.

I went to part of his physical therapy appointment today and 

I just have to say that Sean is a great guy!

He was so friendly with all the staff and cheerfully did all of the exercises without complaining.

He's an ideal patient.

And I'm so happy with his recovery and glad that we decided to do the surgery.

Sean is already able to do some movements that he couldn't do before with his injured shoulder.

It will be so great for him to have full function of his shoulder again.

Sean's Surgery and Begining the Recovery Process

 Just over a week ago, on Wednesday September 5th, Sean had his shoulder surgery

 that I mentioned in a previous blog post.

He went in at 8:30 am and left the Out Patient Center at 2:30.

The girls and I stayed with him while he got into this hospital gown and got his IV.

Lexi was really scared of the IV.

We tried to teach her about veins and give her a little anatomy lesson.

We left right before Sean got a nerve block.

They did an ultrasound on his shoulder and then "blocked" the nerves so he wouldn't feel as much pain.

It basically was like an epidural for his shoulder.

His surgery took about an hour and a half.

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While he was in surgery we went home.
We live just a few blocks from the hospital.

And we made Sean a big poster.

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When we saw him after he was in a lot of pain.
We think that his nerve block didn't take until after the surgery.

Sean was also really tired and out of it.

See for yourself...

 The nurses were really great with the girls.
They gave them gloves and snacks.

Avery insisted that I take her picture too.

The nurses told Sean that he needed to wear these "stockings" on his legs 

for three weeks to help prevent blood clots.

He also had three different prescriptions that I needed to keep track of.

And he had to stay hooked up to this "Cold Therapy Machine" continuously.

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When Sean first came home he was exhausted.

He just laid on the couch and slept a ton.

I just had to share this picture of Avery playing in our bed.

She was so excited to lay in Sean's spot since he was on the couch.

Sean is a great patient. He is pretty easy going and isn't a wimp or a whiner.

And he is a great sport and let me take pictures of him and then blog about him.

A few times I left Sean to go run some errands. I would leave Lexi home with him so he wasn't a lone.

I told Lexi that she was babysitting him and she was really excited to do that.

In these pictures Lexi is reading to Sean 

 and keeping an eye on him while I tried to get some stuff done around the house.

Sean was given a really nice sling to wear 

as long with the gray shoulder pad that hooks up to his "Ice Machine."

We had to purchase the gray shoulder pad for $40 and we are just renting the machine for $10 a week. 

I had no idea how much work this system would be for me.

About every four hours I have to dump out all the cold water in the cooler 

and fill it with about seven pounds of ice. 

So that means that we were going through about 40 lbs of ice a day!

After just one day I realized that I couldn't fit that much ice in our freezer 

and I couldn't run to the store several times a day so  we ended up buying a small chest freezer. 

And to date I've bought 260 lbs of ice! Which is about $50.

$50 was our copay amount for the surgery!

Sean enjoyed watching lots and lots of football while recovering.

Some of the highlights were the BYU  vs. Weber State game and the Utah vs. Utah State game.

 

The Sunday after Sean's surgery I sent the girls to church with a friend so Sean and I could nap 

(mainly, me because Sean could nap whenever he wanted).

Here's a picture of the girls kissing Sean goodbye.

And I just had to share these pictures of our two little cuties all dresses up for church...

Four days after the surgery, Sean got to take his first shower and I got to change his bandaging. 

You can see the two spots they went in and did the surgery.

I'm wondering what all those markings are all about.

This week Sean slowly started working again.

Just from home and just for a few hours a day until today when he worked a full 8 hours.

And just because he's so cute, here's another picture of Sean sleeping...

I just thought I'd add this picture of Avery napping in our bed the other day.

 

Yesterday, Sean had his post-op appointment. 

He got his stitches removed. 

Lexi was scared but the nurse let Lexi help put bandages over the  incisions 

and even gave her pink latex gloves to wear.

Sean shoulder is looking great, he has no swelling or bruising 

and he's slowly reducing his pain medication at a good schedule.

Sean was giving two different exercises to do until he starts physical therapy in three weeks.

And since yesterday, Sean has been doing the exercises several times a day and is already improving!

We were also told that he doesn't need to use his ice machine 24/7 anymore

 just as need for about another week.

And he doesn't have to wear those horrible thigh high nylons anymore either! Thank goodness.

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On another note, we got a statement this afternoon from the hospital (that didn't take them long)

and the total so far was $15,361.53! Are you kidding me? That's crazy!

I want to call the hospital and ask them what "SUPPLY/IMPLANTS" are

 because they are charging $5,611 for it!

I'm just glad that we have great insurance, but still, this seems ridiculous to me.

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Anyway, I'm happy to say that Sean is finally on the road to recovery and I'm so proud of him.

He's been a great sport through all of this and kept his sense of humor and still been his cheery old self.

Sean's Shoulder and Surgery

Last month on Friday the 13th we went to the pool in Kearns.

Sean decided to jump off of the platform.

The one he jumped off was about 30 feet above the water (at least that's my guess).

My sister-in-law took these pictures of Sean on his first jump...

His third time jumping I recorded this video of him..

 

Little did I know when I was recording that upon hitting the water his left should popped out of place.

Although, it didn't take me long to realize it was out of place when I saw him!

My mother-in-law, who is an RN, tried to see if she could get it to pop back in.

Then the EMT's at the pool tried several times.

Insta-Care said they couldn't do it with any pain medication.

So, Sean headed up to the ER with his dad.

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At the hospital, they gave Sean morphine and propofol (the drug Micheal Jackson o.d. on).

That knocked Sean out for about 10 minutes.

When Sean woke up he said he could see hand prints all over his body and 

Sean's dad was told that it took several people to get Sean's shoulder popped back into place.

 ...

After that Sean was sore for several days and in a sling for about a week.

At first he couldn't lift anything over 10 pounds, put on a shirt, drive or shampoo his hair!

He just couldn't lift up his arm at all!

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Monday, Sean got an MRI Arthrogram.

That means that he had a large needle inject dye from shell fish and something else (I can't remember) into his shoulder socket and then got an MRI.

Sean told me that after they injected the needle he felt something running down his arm.

He looked and there was tons of blood!

Sean said the MRI wasn't too bad.

He felt like he was on an airplane. It was loud and a really small space.

They gave Sean a blanket and he actually fell asleep!

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This morning Sean had a follow up appointment. 

The images from his MRI made it very clear that Sean needs surgery.

His labrum is torn.

We could see in the pictures that the tissue surrounding Sean's shoulder socket has moved out of place.

And the doctor told us that there was some "debris" in there too and needs to be cleaned up.

Sean is going to get what they call a "Bankart Repair."

Here are two online articles about what that is if you really what to know:  source 1 and source 2.

Basically they are trying to stabilize Sean's shoulder.

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So we scheduled surgery for Wednesday, September 5th.

This is one week after Sean's next C.P.A. test (Wednesday, the 29th)

and it's just under six weeks from my due date (Monday, October 15th).

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After the surgery Sean will be in a sling for about six weeks and the start physical therapy.

And about nine months after his surgery he will be able to play contact sports again.

So it's gonna be an interesting few months around our house!

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Sean just read this post and wanted me to clarify that he's had shoulder problems in the past, 

dating as far back as his mission.

He remembers one time on his mission reaching to pull the blankets over him and 

his shoulder popped out and back in really quickly.

All through our marriage, Sean's shoulder has popped out once or twice a year.

He doesn't have to be doing anything physically strenuous for it to happen.

He's always a little paranoid.

So it will be nice to have one less thing to worry about.

 

A Sports Themed Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

I just had to share these pictures of Sean with his girls right after their birth.

I'm so excited to get a picture of him holding Eli for the first time!

Friday, Lexi and I decorated.

I blew up balloons and hung streamers. Lexi decorated a big banner and helped wrapped gifts.

Lexi was so excited for Sean to get home and see it all.

When Sean got home from work she told him he could open one present.

Next thing I know he'd opened all his presents!

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We decided to go for sports themed presents.

We got Sean two footballs (one from him and one for Eli).

 Some new BYU basketball shorts.

Lexi picked these out. When she saw them she had to get them for her dad!

Sean also got a new baseball mitt.

Here he is throwing the ball around with Justin.

These all are things that Sean has wanted for a long time but before now 

he didn't really have someone to play with. Now he has Justin.

And here is Sean today with his kids...

Our ward here has an interesting Father's Day tradition.

The Relief Society sisters and Young Women bring desserts and other treats.

We all drop them off in the kitchen before church.

After church all the men get to go to the kitchen and pick out what they want.

Sean got an entire banana cream pie!

Other options were cookies, brownies, a container of ice cream, a pineapple, 

chips and salsa, homemade bread and rolls, etc.

WE LOVE YOU SEAN!!!

5 Years of Marriage

I've been working on this post for a while now but Blogger changed everything and was being so frustrating and I really wanted my pictures in chronological order so this post took way too make time.

Anyway, the 14th was our 5th year wedding anniversary.

I thought I'd share some pictures from the last five years.

First, our wedding day.

This was taken as we were coming out of the temple.

I just love the excitement and happiness.

 

This was our first 4th of July.

We're just so young.

The first and only time we've gone inside the Salt Lake Temple.

This was taken during our trip to Utah to meet our nephew Parker.

 

Our first apartment in Rexburg.

Look how tiny our living room and TV are!

  

Me, 20 weeks pregnant with Lexi.

Our first anniversary.

I made a romantic dinner for us at home and then we went out for pie.

I was 6 months pregnant with Lexi at the time.

  

We traded in my Acura to buy our Elentra a few weeks before Lexi was born.

We figured that having a car with heat and AC would be important for a baby.

  

July 6, 2008.

Lexi was born after 32 hours of labor and a c-section delivery.

  

July 18, 2008.

I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree.

I was asked to speak at graduation and graduated com laude. 

  

Lexi's first Thanksgiving.

This trip to St.George is still one of our favorite vacations ever.

 

I just wanted to include a baby pictures of Lexi.

I love those thighs!

  

Our second anniversary.

I flew in from Seattle that day and Sean met me at Lexi at the airport and took us out to dinner.

  

July 2009.

This was taken in Island Park.

Another one of our favorite vacations.

This was just weeks before we found out I was pregnant with Avery.

And me 16 weeks (I think) pregnant with Avery.

Christmas 2009.

Our last Christmas in Washington.

I am 6 months pregnant with Avery.

 

April 9, 2010.

Sean graduates!!!

We were so excited to be done with school and move onto the next chapter of our lives.

                                                             Our third anniversary.

This was just 5 days before my due date with Avery.

This was taken during the glorious time when Sean wasn't a student anymore and wasn't working.

We were just waiting for Avery to be born and then move to Albuquerque.

April 28, 2010.

Avery was born after 23 hours of labor and a successful VBAC delivery.

This was Lexi's first time seeing Avery.

Memorial Day weekend 2010.

We loaded up our overly sized moving truck and left Rexburg.

August 7, 2010.

Outside the Seattle temple with our girls.

This was at Andrea and Brandon's wedding.

It was also the day I got sealed to my parents.

Christmas Eve 2010.

This was our first Christmas in Albuquerque and the first time we didn't go back to Washington.

  

And just because, here is a picture of baby Avery.

I believe she's 10 months old here.

  

April 2011.

Our 4th wedding anniversary.

We went on a date to Texas Roadhouse for the first time and fell in love!

Memorial Day weekend 2011.

First day of the summer swimming season.

 

December 2011.

Family pictures in Arizona.

Easter 2012.

Our girls are just really cute and a huge part of our lives so we had to share another pictures of them.

 

April 2012.

Our first ultrasound with baby #3.

 

And April 14, 2012.

Our 5th wedding anniversary.

And I'm 14 weeks pregnant.

We had a low key anniversary.

Originally, we were planning an over night kid free trip.

But now that we're moving in 3 weeks we decided to postpone that until later this summer.

We went out and got Chinese.

I picked. It was want I was craving at the time.

And then we went shopping.

(I got the most amazingly comfortable overly priced flip flops.

They are going to be perfect for my pregnant swollen feet this summer.)

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Anyway, I just wanted to say that I love my husband.

Sean is a great husband and dad.

I love him and I can't wait to see where we are in 5 years and taken our next 5 year anniversary picture.