Crazy Little Thing Called Life: August 2014

It all started about 6 months ago. Nick had a sensation where his heart was beating crazy fast (like he'd just exercised really hard), but he was just sitting on the couch. He thought it was odd, but didn't think too much of it.

A week later, it happened again. This time, he told me about it. I'm a huge worrier, so my mind went into overdrive. We had had a relaxing evening at home and watched a movie. There was no reason for him to have a racing heart. He could tell I was worried, so he told me it had evened back out after about 30 minutes and was fine. In truth, it lasted most of the night.

Three or so months went by before it happened again. He went to sleep fine then woke up with his heart racing. This time, he went to our family doctor, Blair MacBeath. By the time he got to Dr. MacBeath's office through, his heart had gone back to normal. The EKG didn't show anything abnormal. Dr. MacBeath gave him a few options. One was to wear a monitor for a week and see if they could record it doing anything out of the ordinary. Considering it had been three months between occurrences, they decided against this. They decided that Nick would get up to the ER or Blair's office if it happened again to get another EKG.

Tuesday, August 26th, Nick woke up with his heart racing. He got up to ETMC to have an EKG done. Sure enough, Blair said he was experiencing atrial fibrillation and admitted him to the ER. Nick was blessed with the "A-team" as he called them of nurses and doctors. They took great care of him. They gave him a medicine that actually stopped his heart (on purpose) to try and get it to start beating regularly again. No such luck. They tried a different med, and it did the trick. The ER doc talked with a cardiovascular doctor in Tyler, and they decided to transfer him for observation and testing.

After almost two days, Nick is being released, and we're getting to head home. He's had more EKGs than I can count. He's had an echocardiogram on his heart. He's had blood tests done. All has shown that he's as healthy as a horse aside from being a fib. After speaking with the CVC doctor, it's been decided that Nick will have an ablation done towards the end of September. He'll have to take a baby aspirin every day for the rest of his life, but we think that'll be pretty manageable.

I'm so thankful that Nick didn't ignore this happening. A fib can result in you havering a stroke or heart attack from your heart throwing a blood clot. I'm thankful that his doctors knew exactly what to do, and have taken good care of him.

My outside loving husband started going stir crazy after about 12 hours of sitting in a hospital bed. We were finally able to walk around more than just our floor late Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully though, we were pleasantly surprised with a large, comfortable room with a nice view.

We've had amazing friends and family who have taken care of Brayden and checked on us. Special thanks to my mom, Aunt Nee, and Casey and Mitchell for keeping Bray happy and entertained.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us! I know God heard them and took care of my love.

Bad blogger award goes too....DeAnna Robertson!

We've been busy. What can I say? :)

Sunday, June 29th, my parents and Sister kept Brayden for us while Nick and I went to a Rangers game. We were given tickets by a company that Nick buys from. We got to sit in the All You Can Eat section. The Rangers didn't win, but we had a fun time anyways.

Randomly, we sold our house through a text message while at the Rangers game. We didn't even have it listed, but God has plans for us.

Friday, July 4th, we went to New Boston to celebrate Independence Day. I love this holiday. :) My Dad's sisters and their families came down for lunch. One of my Mom's sisters and her husband showed up during the afternoon. We swam, ate, and went to the fireworks in downtown NB that evening. I didn't know how Bray would handle the fireworks, but he took them like a champ. He actually almost fell asleep.

Saturday, July 5th, Nick and I had dinner with our friends, Greg and Meagan May, at Country Tavern in Kilgore. Meagan is pregnant with a little girl. We cannot wait to meet her!

Sunday, July 6th, we hung out at our friends, the Finks, for dinner with lots of friends. Brayden watched Bracton crawl and is slowly learning to do the same. :)

Tuesday, July 8th, my sweet Memaw went to be with Jesus. She's been sick for a while now. She would have been 93 in August. She's been living at a nursing home in Clarksville. My Uncle Larry and the staff at the nursing home took wonderful care of her. We'll miss her, but I also know she's in a better place now. I joke that she is getting to tour her mansion in heaven that she gets for putting up with my ornery Pepaw for so many years. She loved God, her family, and Loretta Lynn. She loved to cook for her family, but would never eat her fried chicken (which was amazing). She was a great woman, loved by all her kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and great, great grandkids. She will be missed! My sister made a slideshow of pictures for the visitation. Here's the link to see it. Her funeral was Saturday, July 12th.

One of my favorite pictures of these two!

Our family after the funeral.

Around the time of the funeral, Brayden gave up the paci. He just flat out refused it during nap one day and bedtime the night before. I haven't given him one since then, and he hasn't acted like he wanted it. My baby is growing up!

Sunday, July 13th, Nick, Bray, and I went with the Brummels to the lake after church. We had a lot of fun riding their boat and wakeboarding. However, Nick and I are no longer as young as we once were. We were both acting like we were dying the next day because of how sore we were. It was hard to pick up Bray for a few days. :) We took fruit and drinks with us to contribute to the trip. Brayden loved PowerAde, watermelon, and pineapple.

Thursday, July 17th, Brayden turned 9 months old! He had his appointment the following day. He was 26 lb 6 oz (>97th percentile), 29.25 in length (90th percentile), and 19.5 in head (>97th percentile). No shots. He enjoyed the toy waiting on Dr. Ramos. He's pulling up, but doesn't want to crawl. He is MESMERIZED by Mickey. He drinks juice out of a sippy, and has loved any food we've put in front of him. And, I have to move the dog bowls now if Brayden is in the kitchen. Otherwise, he's playing in the water bowl. He loves the saucepan and spoon too.

His face any time Mickey is on.

Saturday, July 19th, Sister and I celebrated her 29th birthday by going to Painting with a Twist in Longview. Mind you, she turned 30 on August 10th. We were a little behind in celebrating last year's birthday. :) We just finally got around to picking one and going. We ate at Cheddar's beforehand, and we had a blast! Bray and Nick got to spend some quality time together. They went to Chicken E and Braums while we were gone. Nick said that Brayden LOVED the frozen yogurt. This kid is going to be so excited to get Blue Bell one day. :)

Friday, July 25th, we went to eat with the McKenzie family to Country Tavern. They had never been there, and we felt the need to introduce them to some of the best BBQ around. :)

Saturday, July 26th, Brayden and I headed to New Boston for a day full of showers. One of my best friends from high school is getting married in September, and we attended her wedding shower. One of my sister's friends from school is having her first baby, so we also attended a baby shower while in town. Bray and I headed back home after those. That evening, Nick, Brayden, and myself went to Vaughn's Catfish for dinner to celebrate Nick's great-aunt's 80th birthday with family. We followed that up with dessert out at the winery with Mitchell, Casey, and the Robicheauxs. A very full day, but we all had a blast!

We also purchased a portable DVD player for the car because car time has been horrible lately. Brayden just cries all the time. The only way to calm him down is to play LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" over and over again. I'm learning to loathe the song. Do I listen to him cry, or listen to that song? We ended up purchasing this one. It's been a God send, and Bray loves the Mickey DVDs we got him. No more crying in the car. Yay!

Sadly, our fun weekend was followed by Bray getting double pink eye and an ear infection. Phooey! He took antibiotics and eye drops. We have a follow up appointment tomorrow to make sure he's cleared of both. It breaks my heart when he's hurting!

To give him some fun, we decided to give him his first bubble bath that evening. At first, he was not into it. But after realizing the bubbles weren't going to hurt him, he thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

Friday, August 1st, we headed to make a quick trip to Waco to see Nick's Memaw. We got to see the Baylor Bears, swim at the hotel, shop some, visit Memaw, go to the Cameron Park Zoo, and celebrate Dakota's 16th birthday. We had a great time!

Oh my goodness, Brayden was in such a funk for four or five days! Melanie was being an awesome mother-in-love/Oma, and kept him for me a few afternoons while I packed up the house and got ready for a garage sale. He didn't nap very well while at their house. Friday, he was inconsolable most of the day. Mom offered to keep him that night and Saturday morning so I could do the garage sale without having to worry about him. He didn't go to sleep until midnight that evening. Saturday, we celebrated my sister's 30th birthday with swimming, food, and gifts. We got her an Etsy giftcard and an "Aunt" Charm for her Pandora bracelet. I put Bray down early for bed because he was in such a bad mood. He cried when you held him, cried when you put him down, cried here and there and everywhere. He went to sleep about 7:30pm, we went home later that evening, and he slept the entire way home, and only woke up for a few minutes when we got home. He didn't wake up until 8:00 or so the next morning. Bray & I stayed home from church on the 10th in hopes of him getting over whatever was wrong with him. And I thought his pink eye had returned, but that turned out to not be the case. I don't know if he still has his ear infection, cutting teeth, allergies, or what, but those were not very pleasant days. Thankfully, he's returned to himself the past few days.