The Puddles

Home. The Lake family home located in Conroe, Texas. Population 9 (2 Lakes, 3 Puddles, 2 guard dogs, and 2 minions of Satan (the cats))

It has been so wonderful just being home. Don’t look behind the couch where all of the suitcases and duffle bags are hidden at the moment. We will unpack those tomorrow. Today is a day of rest and reconnecting with each other. Chris said we were starting to be like the Waltons because we had shared so many meals around the kitchen table in the last day. More than we had in a long time.

It has been peaceful. A little TV. Some napping on couches. No sibling warfare. Eating the fine food brought over by our church family. Laughing. And most importantly rejoicing.

Ben heard his new heartbeat for the first time today. I don’t know why I had never thought of letting him hear it before today. There is no more “swish swish” sound, only “thump thump.” His heart has sounded like a washing machine for so long. It is truly like icing on the cake to hear his new heartbeat. He even called his sisters over to listen (something that is highly unusual for him). We all celebrated his new heartbeat. I have never seen Ben smile so big. That smile was all the reward I needed after the last week.

We still have a few hurdles to jump. On his first night home, he started running a fever of 101.7. We called the hospital (as instructed). The cardiologist on call told us to give him medicine and then call back in the morning if the fever was still there. Ben wasn’t having any symptoms besides a fever. So these instructions sounded reasonable. He woke up with no fever and continued to be fine throughout the day. Until tonight, when his temperature went to 102.2. He doesn’t have any other symptoms so we gave him Tylenol and are checking his temp throughout the night. But we are calling his cardiologist in the morning and we already have a scheduled follow up appointment with his pediatrician tomorrow. So hopefully we can get to the bottom of these weird evening temperature spikes. And we pray it is nothing serious or something that will send Ben back to the hospital. We really are tired of the place. We don’t mind letting someone else use our room for the next ten years.

Even with all of the issues, we are still grateful and enjoying our time as a family. As mom, I will enjoy the peace while I can. Because I know that the first sibling fight is coming and then I will know that we have returned to normal again.