Gratitude

Elliott is almost 3 months old.  I have been wanting to write this post since he was about 6 weeks.  My fear, that has kept me from writing it so far, has been that I will forget someone or a particular incident or act of kindness and be called out on it.  I don't want to hurt any feelings!  And since it has taken me so long to write, the list has grown longer.  But I'm going to attempt it now.

The last 3.5 months have not been easy.  Not just the newborn stuff that everybody deals with, but my hospitalization before Elliott's birth, his hospitalization for sepsis, his ongoing medical issues with seizures and liver problems, having another kid to take care of during the entire time and financial issues.  We really could not have made it without the love and support of our friends and family. 

In no particular order, these are the people and things I/we are grateful for:

Michael

 For being at the hospital every day during my 2 week stay.  For taking wonderful care of Spencer while I was there.  For sleeping on that awful bench after Elliott was born so I didn't have to be alone.  For taking 5 weeks off of work even though you knew things would be terribly backed up when you went back.  For continuing to get up with me every single time Elliott wakes up during the night.  For being the best swaddler.  For taking Spencer to do fun things when I can't.  For sacrificing your own fun to take care of your family.  For staying with me every minute of Elliott's hospital stay.  For cooking dinner, doing laundry and cleaning the house.  For going with me to all of Elliott's doctors appointments and medical procedures.  For tolerating my pinterest projects.  For letting me get really, really down with worry and grief and then talking me out of it.

My mom and dad

For paying our rent for January and February. For taking Spencer to Tucson for the weekend when Elliott was in the hospital with sepsis. For taking Spencer for Spring Break and planning many fun activities with him.

My mom

For giving up your entire life in Tucson and spending 2 weeks taking care of Spencer when I was in the hospital and for taking care of him for another almost 2 weeks when Elliott was in the hospital.  For doing everything you had to do to provide him with a wonderful substitute mother- feeding him, getting him to school, his medicine routine, playing with him.  For driving back and forth to the hospital every day.  For taking Spencer to the zoo with Megan. For filling our car with gas multiple times. For going grocery shopping for us multiple times. For going to get and paying for Elliott's compounded medication. For driving up here with no notice when we thought Elliott might have biliary atresia and calming us down. For volunteering to and paying for half of the new desk.

My dad 

For slipping us cash every time we see you, with the excuse that it's for "expenses". For playing with Spencer and doing projects with him when he was in Tucson without us. 

Michael's mom and dad

For giving us extra cash disguised as a Christmas present. For taking care of Spencer for the weekend when I was in the hospital.  For bringing us homemade food and groceries on multiple occasions.  For slipping us cash for gas and food.  For buying Elliott lots and lots of diapers.  For driving up here the day after Christmas to have another celebration.  For taking Spencer for Spring Break and planning so many fun things with him.

Megan

For being at the hospital within an hour of us needing you when I was first admitted. For taking care of Spencer that whole day and taking him to dinner. For waiting at our house until 11pm for my mom to arrive from Tucson. For bringing me dinner in the hospital the first time I was allowed to eat. For doing a big chunk of our Christmas shopping. For meeting us at the ER and taking Spencer for an overnight when Elliott got sepsis. For cleaning Spencer's vomit out of your brand new car and not making a big deal out of it. For taking Spencer for play dates and zoo trips (too numerous to list) over the last 3 months. For watching Spencer during doctor appointments, sometimes getting to our house at God awful early hours of the day. For volunteering to baby-sit Elliott for free when I go back to work, gulp, next week. For bringing us chicken enchiladas. For driving back and forth in between our houses way too many times. For all the phone conversations and for being patient when I just can't talk.

Monica

 For coming to see me in the hospital multiple times and for bringing me trashy magazines.  For spending the night at our house so that Michael could come to the hospital in the middle of the night if he needed to.

Aunt Janis 

For feeding my mom and Spencer multiple times during both hospital stays. For keeping my mom somewhat sane while she lived at our house. For entertaining Spencer and letting him pick a train off your Christmas tree.  For coming to see us during both hospital stays.  For bringing me my favorite cookies in the hospital.  For all the calls to check up on us. For selling us your desk for a steal of a price.

Michael's brother

For lending us money so we could pay bills when I unexpectedly ended up in the hospital and missed 2 weeks of pay.  For ordering the Lact-Aid system for us when you read the blog and saw that we wanted it but didn't want to pay for it.

Karen 

For coming to see me in the hospital and bringing me gifts and baked goods. For picking Spencer up and taking him to My Gym and then bringing him back home.

Erin

For taking Spencer to the park multiple times to play with your kids during both hospitalizations and for picking Spencer up for school and bringing him home 2-3 times a week since January so I don't have to take Elliott into a germ infested elementary school.  If we make it to May without Elliott getting sick it will be because of you.

My brothers

For taking Spencer to Jump Street and out for pizza and frozen yogurt so Michael and I could celebrate our anniversary.

My brother Nick

(see above photo)

For playing with Spencer and letting him build a damn with a river in your front yard while he was in Tucson when Elliott was in the hospital.  For making a slide out of a door for Spencer.  For picking up a Christmas present for Spencer in Tucson.

Joni

 For bringing us lasagna and banana bread.

Shireen

For bringing us several different types of cookies and bread mix and for bringing us homemade vegetable soup, salad and tea.

Amy

For coming to see me in the hospital. For bringing us chicken stroganoff and noodles.

Maryellen

For coming to see me in the hospital. For bringing us macaroni and cheese, salad and fruit.  For going to Sandy's memorial service with me

Lauren

For ordering us a pizza.

Kendra

For texting back and forth 300+ times about medical issues and concerns.  For cornering doctors in the elevator of your hospital and forcing them to give a differential diagnosis or advice on what to do next.

Laura

 For bringing me Starbucks and for making and bringing us pasta salad.

Chelsea

 For bringing me Starbucks and holding Elliott so I could pack.

Our Pediatrician

For calling us daily while Elliott was in the hospital just to see how he and we were doing.  For calling us, almost daily, at home (after hours) while we were eliminating the possibility of biliary atresia just to make sure we were doing OK.  For allowing me to cry and cry and cry while talking to me.

Dr. Miloh

For being so on top of Elliott's care.  For telling me that it is your job to be paranoid about every little thing and I don't have to continue to try to diagnose Elliott without a medical degree via google.

Jennifer

(I have no picture because we have never actually met each other.  She is my blogging friend.  Which makes this all the more incredible)

For mailing us a care package with a Subway gift card, a book for Elliott and matching T-shirts for the boys.

To EVERY SINGLE PERSON

who has said a prayer for Elliott and us, left a reply on facebook, left a comment on my blog, sent me a private message on facebook, sent me an email, sent me a text or left me a voicemail with encouraging words.  These little acts have meant a lot.  They have kept us connected where otherwise we would have felt alone.  I also apologize if you sent me a personal message, email or text and I haven't responded.  It was impossible to keep up during the hospitalizations and now I'm so far behind and taking care of a baby and a kid.

Like I said, I have not wanted to write this post because I don't want any one person or any one event to have been neglected.  I have not been writing these down so I am going completely by memory, which is getting fuzzy from lack of sleep.

There is one more thing I want to add, because I never shared these pictures on the blog and now seems like a good time.

To Michael and Megan- for taking Spencer to see Santa Claus the day before Elliott was born.  Just barely got that one done.