Life at Home

Life at home has definitely been different than I expected.  Shailyn requires 24 hour care, she can't get up by herself, eat, drink, or get to the bathroom.  Since we have been home Tim has been taking the night shift and sleeping on the couch next to her to make sure if she needs something we are there.  Last night was the first night she slept through the night, which is really nice other than both of us got up a couple of times to check on her.  We have to feed her all meals and drinks through a syringe, which takes up a lot of our time.  The first day home it took about 10 minutes to feed her 2 ounces, now we are down to about 5 minutes but when you consider she needs to be taking in 56 ounces of fluid a day it takes up a lot of time!  She also had a rough morning today and broke down in tears because she just wants to eat (and I can't blame her!), we are trying to be as accommodating as we can but after blending up 3 different soups, making instant breakfasts, chocolate milk, sodas, water, milk, apple juice, and Pediasure by the end of the day I am so exhausted.  It is like having 3 full time jobs.  She is doing really well considering all that she has been through, even with a broken pelvis and hip she is able to move fairly well and enjoys being in her wheelchair.  Today we even went to my Mom's for a couple hours and let the other two swim and enjoyed a barbecue.  She only lasted about 30 minutes outside and then we took her in to lay down, it was so nice for her to be able to visit her cousins and get out of the house for a while.  Kyra and Brooklyn were both so cute with her, they got her anything she asked for!  I don't know how we would do this without the support of our family, just knowing they are there makes a huge difference!  Tim's Mom and Dad have visited almost everyday and both of our parents have done shopping for us.  Shailyn gets her splint removed and mouth unwired a week from today and we can't wait!  Thank you everyone for everything you have done for us, we truly appreciate it!