My house is a zoo...

Wow -- it's been a long time since I've posted. Of course, it seems like every post starts out with that same sentence. I really need to catch up with this -- as one of my friends posted, "it's amazing how quickly you forget the details" -- and it's true. Two months have passed, and Nicholas has changed so much. What's even worse is that I had his six month pictures taken, and still haven't sent them out...he's eight months now!! Bad mommy!!! Don't worry -- if you haven't gotten your pictures yet, they are on their way....I promise!!!

Nicholas is now officially mobile. He has been rolling everywhere for about a month and a half or so, but in the past couple days he's relied on a cute little wiggly army crawl to get to his destinations. He's quite the little daredevil, too. He lunges, grabs, twists...I actually get pretty nervous holding him now -- you never know when he'll try to jump right out of your arms. He's had a couple head bumps here and there -- but he takes it pretty well. I'm trying not to be the overprotective mom who puts a helmet and full body padding on her child, but it's definitely crossed my mind. We're in the process of baby-proofing too, which in reality should have taken place months ago, but it was just one of those things on the list. Helpful hint for all the moms-to-be, get your baby-proofing done before baby arrives!

On a more serious note, I'm curious to hear if people are going to get H1N1 vaccines? I had originally planned on not getting the vaccine. I had heard about nerve-damaging side effects and just hate the idea of a "new" vaccine. It scares me. We've seen a lot of cases of H1N1 in the ER, but mostly very mild cases. I had a direct exposure to a patient with H1N1 about a month ago. I ended up wearing a mask for 4 days at home to avoid exposing Nick just in case I was infectious. I had one day where I was extremely tired, and had a slight sore throat, but otherwise was fine. So, I was hoping I could rely on some possible antibodies from exposure here in the ER to protect me. However, now my thought process may be changing.....

This past week, a girl with whom I went to high school, Jamie (Blackwell) Loveless, became ill with H1N1. She was on vacation in Florida with her husband, Chris and nine month old son, Gavin when she became critically ill and was placed on a ventilator. Unfortunately, she lost her fight yesterday afternoon. My heart is absolutely broken for her and her family. Her husband whom she dated throughout high school, is now a widower. Her son, nine months, will never really know his mom. I guess this situation hits just a little too close to home. I can't imagine the pain their family is enduring at this time...as I'm sure acceptance will be the most difficult struggle. Please pray for her family in this difficult time. A website has been created to give thoughts and prayers to the family, as well as donations http://thelovelessfamily.weebly.com/

With all my love,

Court