Welcome to my blog. I write about life as a Christian wife, mother of eight children, and grandmother.
Enjoy.
I took Nathaniel for his pre-Cincinnati pediatrician check up this morning. He needs clearance from his primary care doctor prior to every visit. The doctor gave both of us a high five after hearing an update and giving Nathaniel a quick exam. "Congratulations on getting him this far," he said, "I know it has been hard and long, but this is a different kid than I saw six months ago."
I would agree.
Nathaniel and I are wearing orange to celebrate the life of Kalkidan Qualls. Kalkidan would have been fourteen today. She passed away last December in a tragic car accident while traveling with her parents, Lisa and Russ.
We do not personally know the Qualls family. I started following Lisa's first blog, A Bushel and a Peck, in 2008, two years after she started writing about their adoption journey. Kalkidan and three other children from Ethiopia joined the Qualls family, and I enjoyed Lisa's honesty and transparency about transitioning from the family they were to the family God called them to be.
Last week, my father asked me how I know if Nathaniel wants to add a new word to his talker. Isn't that just like a grandparent - challenging the middle generation on behalf of the younger - I love it!
Thankfully, I had a recent example of Nathaniel and I negotiating the addition of a new word to share with him. Nathaniel became infatuated with the movie Frozen this month. Despite our encouragement that he let it go, he hasn't. His usual show requests are Curious George, Daniel Tiger, or Cars Movie - all titles he has on his talker. Rather than using his talker to request his normal shows, he repeatedly brought me the DVD case for Frozen.
I can not believe it has been two weeks since Nathaniel and I returned from Cincinnati. One reason is that within a couple days of getting back, I learned the dates of when we go again. It seems my life is now categorized under two labels: "Has to be done before Cincinnati" and "Can wait until after Cincinnati." By mid-November we will have been there three times in three months. It does not leave much room for the "Has to be done before Cincinnati" things.
It was around day six that Emily and I realized our experience here in Cincinnati has had similarities to a Christian mission trip. Too few people for the work. The lack of sleep. Long hours spent helping someone. An inability to get a shower daily. Difficult living conditions. That last one is what I want to write about before our trip comes to an end. The subtitle for this post could be: Five Hotel Hacks for Parents of Medically Fragile Children or How to Make a Hotel More Like a Home or Kim's End of the Stay Rant. Title it as you see fit after reading.
It is four forty-five in the morning and I am sitting on the floor just inside my bedroom door. It is open. Nathaniel is freshly back to sleep in the living room portion of our hotel suite. The pulse oximeter is delicately balanced on the TV stand so I can see it above the chair pushed hard against the couch. The patient side wire goes one way to Nathaniel's foot and the electrical cord goes to an outlet on the opposite side of the room. Together with other machine cords, room air and oxygen lines, there is a labyrinth of wires that would challenge even CatWoman. The alarm sounds, and I divert my gaze from laptop to machine as I set down the one and move towards the other. Oxygen level: 84%. I silence the alarm. 85% 86% 88% It rises slowly with every flash. Nathaniel's central sleep apnea. 89% 90% 90% 91% I pull a flashlight out of my pocket and check his color. He looks cozy and comfortable, lips pink, chest rising and falling rhythmically. I lightly squeeze a finger. Capillary nail refill is good. 91% 91% 99% That finger squeeze always works. I return to my computer desperate for awake time that is not entangled with hands-on care giving. If you are reading this on Monday morning, you will know I found that time.
