A Birthday to Remember

Michael's birthday was December 9th. To put it mildly it was a birthday that our family will NEVER forget!

We had a busy, busy weekend leading up to his birthday so we spread the celebrations out over a few nights. Saturday we used his coupon for a free meal to Tucanos and enjoyed a delicious dinner there! Then Sunday we had a quick birthday dinner at home before Michael had to leave to teach a class at the institute. On the way home the car died on the highway and by the time he made it home he was too tired to even enjoy his cheesecake. Poor guy! If only that was the low point of his birthday...

Monday the day of his actual birthday I had to work. We were having a Christmas Party for all our clients at Chick-fil-a so Michael and the girls decided to tag along. They had set up a tent of sorts outside with lots of space heaters in order to fit everyone. Well, in the tent poor Michael stepped back a bit to let someone through and got too close to one of the space heaters (one of the really hot propane type with a sort of open flame). It was so hot it caught his pants on fire! He was holding Eliza at the time and was only thinking about keeping her safe so I ended up putting the fire out with my jacket.

When all was said and done the fire had burned through his pants and his thermals and in to his skin. An ambulance ride, ER visit, a few shots of morphine, and painful scrubing later we finally made it home to start the healing process. He ended up with a second degree burn on his thigh that is about the size of a football! (And once again he didn't eat any of his cake because he was so sick from the medication they gave him)

I'm not going to lie it has been a rough two weeks in our house. Michael's burn is not only very painful for him but also very labor intensive. I had to drive him around for the first week (because the car that wasn't broken is a manual and it hurt too much for him to use the clutch). It's difficult for him to walk or bend down so helping our with chores or the girls is nearly impossible for him. Plus it was constant dressing changes, hunting for the right dressings, picking up medications, a repeat trip to the doctor to rule out infection, a new medication that is really dangerous for pregnant women in their 3rd trimester that I can't touch yet I needed to help him smother all over his burn, and keeping the house under control by myself while 8 1/2 months pregnant. He has been a trooper and pushed through finals for his students and himself despite how much it hurts. Interestingly enough, the first few days it didn't hurt too badly. But as things have started to heal a bit the pain has been much worse. Then this past week both Hazel and Eliza came down with the stomach flu. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Along the way we have truly seen many blessings though. Our family in town has stepped up in so many ways to help. Harrison and Rebecca took the girls and drove us home from the ER the night it happened. Alicia babysat when I had to take Micahel back to the doctor. TJ has helped a ton with keeping our driveway shoveled and fixing the car so Michael could start driving again. My mom (who has been battling a painful injury herself) took the girls overnight then drove them home the next day so I could get caught up on some things. Gabby has acted as our on call nurse to answer our questions and give us tips to keep Mike as comfortable as possible. Thanks to all of you!

I also feel I have been blessed and strengthened. I have never felt this good at 35 weeks pregnant nor had this much energy. I know it's been a blessing from our Heavenly Father to me. Oh, and I never caught the girl's stomach flu which was another huge blessing! As for Michael, I know he too has been strengthened to make it though all he has had to get done the past few weeks despite feeling yucky.

We survived and we're stronger for it! (Though if I never have to repeat these past two weeks I'll be happy). Michael's burn still hurts a lot and has quite a bit of healing left to go. But it is getting better. And he finally did get some of his cake two days after his birthday. So glad we went with the frozen cheesecake so it was still good!

*I considered adding pictures to this post but they're a bit graphic and I decided to spare everyone. You're welcome!*