I decided to call this blog, The Yellow Submarine Mom for many reasons.
April 18, 2007 I was blessed with my first born. A little girl, Elizabeth, entered this world with a bang. After a very long labor, she arrived eyes wide open, and I swear she started talking right away! However, she had difficulties breathing, and a team quickly went to work on her. After about 5 hours I finally got to hold her.
Sadly the next 6-8 weeks was hell. She had 2 rides in the ambulance, admitted 2 separate times in the Pediatric unit. She was diagnosed with Laryngomalacia, GERD, low muscle tone, apnea, etc. She was on an apnea monitor, tons of meds, saw many specialists and Occupational Therapy starting at 4 months old.
She was in so much pain we had 3 people caring for her around the clock. We were stationed in Washington state, but I decided to have her in Alaska where my parents lived. I never anticipated having to live apart from my husband for a year because her health was too much to handle alone (my husband deployed a lot). There were times we walked with her and bounced her for 4-5 hours at a time while she just cried and cried. My mom, while walking with her, started singing to her and out came the Beatle's song "Yellow Submarine". For no known reason it soothed her. For the next 10 months we tried other songs. No other song soothed her, only the Yellow Submarine. She is 8 years old now and if we sing it, she gets a look in her eye and I swear it still soothes her!
We finally moved back to Washington State after a year, to live with daddy and when she was 2 years old we had our second child. May 29, 2009 we were blessed with a happy baby boy, Jackson. Unfortunately he was born with all the same issues as his sister. I was more educated on the issues and we once again were at specialists, he was on tons of medications, in OT, and using an apnea monitor for another 10 months. Both ended up having surgery within a year of one another for the same thing.
We finally made it through infancy with both kids!!! In 2011 we moved to Germany per orders from the military.
Fast forward to today. I'm raising 2 kids who both struggle with issues. Elizabeth with more issues than her brother (ADHD, ODD, SPD, extrene anxiety). Jackson struggles with anger and often being put on the back burner while Elizabeth has multiple medical appointments weekly. We are seeking help from many doctors and waiting to get stateside where help is more accessible.
For now, the submarine seems an appropriate mascot for our life. I often feel like I'm trapped under water, moving slow, looking at the world through a periscope, wanting to come up for air more than I am able. I'm grateful for the health we do have for our kids as it could be much worse. We do struggle, and this is our journey. Hop on the submarine if you dare! :)
I will use this as my outlet, my forum, and at times my soapbox. Sometimes I may just cry and type a few words. Some days I may get that breath of air and write a novel. So come along for the ride.
(I am working on my correct blogging sentence structure and perfecting my writing style. I am often on the go and blog from my phone. I apologize now for typos! Lol)
