3 Lloyd Boys and Our Journey To Mayleigh Wei: Mayleigh turns 2!

Yesterday was Mayleigh's 2nd birthday. Our first birthday with her. Unfortunately it wasn't what I pictured for her first birthday home. Mayleigh started not feeling well on Tuesday of last week. Last weekend Jeff and I were noticing that she wasnt pooping as much as normal. I noticed it but didnt really do much about it. And that is where the guilt comes in for me. I know the slippery slope her body goes on when she starts becoming constipated. It has happened before....and it happens quickly! Things go bad so fast. I should have known. But unfortunately I am still learning and I am busy with 3 other kids. Anyway....Tuesday I was spending the morning getting the house cleaned for a showing and Mayleigh threw up. It was a crazy morning. I ended up spending so much time cleaning her and sheets and clothes, that I wasn't able to spend as much time cleaning the house. Total chaos! She continued to throw up a few more times after lunch. I was beginning to think that she had a stomach bug but it ended up being the constipation. Unfortunately when she gets constipated, she seems to get dehydrated too. By Wed. morning she had the stool coming out of her urethra again. We were told by our surgeon that this wouldn't happen anymore now that he revised the stoma so we are not sure what is going on. :(
Unfortunately Mayleigh's specialist are far away and we dont get much help around here. I took her to my pediatrician and he really wasnt much help. No offense to him, he just doesnt know much about her medical issues. No one seems to be that alarmed that stool is coming out of her urethra and causing her terrible pain! It is very frustrating. So Jeff and I are just trying to figure this all out and sometimes feel like it's a big guessing game. We dont really have a lot of support here as far as doctors go and that is hard! So for the last 4 days we have been pushing fluids big time and just trying to comfort her through the pain as best as we can. Which is not easy when you have 3 other kids and 3 house showings through all of this! After Jeff called me on Thursday morning to tell me about a showing we had that afternoon, I think he sensed I was on the verge of a meltdown. He asked a friend to give a presentation he was suppose to do that afternoon and after the market closed, he came home to help clean and help take care of Mayleigh. I.was.so.thankful. I wasnt on the verge of a meltdown, I had already had a few in the last few days! ;) He is a good man!!!

Not only was I dealing with Mayleigh, but it was a pretty emotional week with Brennan finishing up kindergarten. I know...silly, but it just seems like the year flew by. I still am having a hard time with the upcoming move so knowing this was his last few days of being in the Mt. Zion schools was hard too. We were so blessed to be apart of the Mt. Zion district and are sad to leave! Brennan was blessed with such an amazing teacher this year and I think I am having a hard time with letting go. I dont know anyone at his new school. We had a tough year. Brennan not only was adjusting to all day school, his parents left for 17 days to go to China and bring home a new sister with special needs. It was a lot. Big changes. And his teacher handled it so well for him! We are so thankful for her and the support she gave not only him, but our family! THANK YOU RACHEL!!!! She has a special place in our hearts and always will! With 2 surgeries coming up this school and year and living in a new place, I can only pray we get a teacher as supportive and loving as his kdg teacher!

After the long week, Mayleigh's birthday ended up being a pretty great day! One more showing so we quickly knocked out the cleaning and then picked up B from his last day of school and went to the surf club! Jeff thought I was crazy for dragging Mayleigh and everyone there but that was Brennan's one request for his first day off. This is where I struggle. Having Mayleigh has taken a lot of time away from my boys. I know they will be ok in the end and they are learning so much about giving and learning that there world doesn't revolve around them, but it's hard!!! It's hard to divide my time. Especially when she is sick! So I was going to do whatever I could to take the boys to the pool. Everyone did great! We had a super fun afternoon with all of our friends!!
As hard as it is, I was reminded this week that things could be worse. As hard as it is to hear when you feel like your world is so hard and falling apart, that was really good for me to hear. It made me stop and count my blessings and realize this too shall pass. The one thing that it has made me realize is that if we can manage these weeks at a time where she is in this much pain and caring for her is this difficult, we can handle post surgery. I have been terrified for what those few weeks after surgery will be like. But now I am feeling stronger about that time. I guess God has a plan.

Luckily we are not doing a party for Mayleighs birthday until next week. We are hoping she is feeling better by then. We really arent sure why this keeps happening. Like I said, I thought having her stoma revised was going to take care of this. But we are starting to think that her body gets constipated easily so we need to be on top of that all the time. Her anatomy is so complicated. I am now more anxious then ever to get surgery started. (sigh) This move is really throwing a wrench in plans. But that's a whole other post! ;)