Home alone

So Walter and Ulises went to Spain for spring break! Hooray! I stayed here, at work... Boooo!

In just two days I get to go pick them up from the airport! To say I've missed them would be an understatement. I feel it in my bones. An emptiness. Kind of like I've lost a bit of my identity. I've not been in a position like this in years. No diapers to change, family dinner to cook, no one else to prepare or do stuff for. I've tried to make the best of it but I can't celebrate my "freedom" too much when I still have to go to work and my budget hasn't exactly increased to the extent my free time has.

I've gone to the gym classes I don't usually have the ability to attend and I've gone out with some friends ( thank you!!) and done some shopping, but that's not a fair exchange for the giggles and kisses Walter and Ulises bring.

I had to stay to work. I work to maintain health insurance and the company I work for would have cut off my benefits if I went under my designated amount of hours. So I stayed. I was a big girl and decided to remain employed and insured instead of partying in Spain.

I'm looking for a different solution for our family right now. I could go work for another company and get better benefits and a higher salary, but the joy that I get being so close to Walter and spending my day next to him while I work is invaluable. So I'm looking at work from home options or something. I'm trying to stay positive and look at this in perspective. Ulises will finish his PhD in just 2 years and will likely be employed somewhere where he can insure the rest of his family members for a reasonable rate. And then I would have the option to work for pleasure or stay at home or a combination of both.

Good news is that Ulises will get his student visa status adjusted to permanent resident soon and his restrictions on work will be lifted. And that will happen this year, not in two years!

So I'm trying to be patient. I do lement that I missed Ulises sister's wedding-- what looked like a simply  beautiful event-- in Spain. I also missed the time I could have spent there with Ulises family and our friends. It was really hard feeling so left out. While they celebrated, I helped toddlers glue cotton balls on construction paper. Ah the glamour of working daycare!

Sometimes it's hard being an adult.

But really, I'm glad they went. I've cried everyday since they've been gone, but Walter is being loved by all his aunts uncles and grandparents there. It's the best gift I can give them. I hope they see how hard this was for me and give him so much more love because of it!

So here is hoping we can go to Spain at Christmas. And here is hoping work requirements won't derail that dream.

And now, for some pictures! This is what I have been living off of while they have been away!

Walter's hospital visit

Walter comes to work with me at a daycare. Being a working parent is both good and bad.

My laundry and housework are neglected, my to do list never ends. I miss out on community events I could take Walter to if we were home in the day. (Twinkle babies at the library, anyone?) I don't have many mom friends because most of my friends at work are younger college aged girls, and by the time we arrive home it's bath and bed time- not play date time! But in reality, it really is good! I'm happy there because I get benefits, a free gym membership, and adult interaction with some really good people. I have a reason to start my day early. I can go and eat lunch uninterrupted. And Walter is always there! I've not had to miss any milestones like rolling over or crawling.

And then there is Walter's experience!
He benefits from the social interaction. He has girlfriends I'm pretty sure ;) People can see his cute outfits cause we actually leave the house. And he has a million toys at his disposal. But..... He is also more prone  to illness. Which I guess can be good to build up his immune system. But the last week of January, it got bad. And it stunk. A lot.

When adults have RSV it is sometimes expressed as a cough, a runny nose or  mucous, coughs, etc. Well when babies like Walter get it, their little narrow cavities and lungs can't handle it so well. And they don't know how to sneeze or cough it up.

January 27th Walter had been fighting a fever that we were treating with ibuprofen. But he wasn't kicking it. He was irritable, coughing and starred to wheeze and whistle when he breathed. He got so bad that at 3:00 am the next morning we took him to an urgent care at the local children's hospital where he was admitted immediately they suctioned out his nose and a huge amount of mucous came out. They did it every few hours!  Even though he was cleared out, the oxygen they were giving him wasn't working. He needed to be transferred to the Aurora main branch of the children's hospital network where a better machine could pressurise the air for him.

So we went by ambulance and arrived there. They sucked out more mucous and put him on a cpap. Still  not enough improvement. Poor Walter was exhausted. They moved him to the ICU and put him on a bi-pap which is a pretty significant amount of breathing support. While there, they  did a chest xray and added to his diagnosis of bronchiolitis (caused by RSV and corona virus) pneumonia! Poor baby!
He couldn't eat for a couple days and eventually Ulises and I chose to give him a feeding tube. Hard decisions. It was rough seeing our baby cry at every nose suction. Heel prick, tube insertion and iv. But after 3 days in the ICU we were upgraded to a regular room.. In all, he went from bi-pap to cpap to heated high flow air and then a nasal cannula and finally room air! Then we went home day 5!

He was pretty sick and it was hard to miss work, school, worry about those things, all while little Walter baby was suffering. But our church congregation took really good care of us. We feel really blessed for having health insurance, a skilled medical staff who helped us so much, and our church family who supported us when our own family, far away, couldn't come.

Now Walter is back to normal and has now started crawling everywhere! He certainly got his energy back!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers! We really felt your love!

Now for some hospital pictures and pictures of him at home

Christmas and our now 8 month old baby

Ulises, Walter and I went out to Utah for Christmas! It was great to be with my whole family. We played piñata and ate delIcious food! We saw my sister and her family and they meet Walter for the first time. Walter also met great grandma Dodge. He met his new bff Ephraim, too!

He also met Santa

Walter and Ulises got  matching pj pants for Christmas.

Walter was also spoiled by aunt Liz and he and Ulises got matching ties! Matchy-matchy!!

He got a beard hat and took a picture with his bull fighter hat with grandpa. And he also got a hat from Katy- the red elf looking one! 

That kid does hats!

Now we are back in Colorado and working hard. Walter just tuned 8 months old and a few days afterwards, he got his first tooth bud! He isn't quite crawling but it will be any time now! He also started swimming lessons! He is getting used to the water and his instructor. She is sweet with him and he is 1 million times better off with her than me. I haven't been able to swim well since I was a kid!

He needs to learn for when we go back to Spain and he swims in the sea!

Now, enjoy some Walter pictures