A Month Later...

Wow so much has happened in the past month. Here is a LONG update on Baby O and our little Reginald.

Monday, October 18th was CHAOS for our family of four. We woke up early to take Reggie to the doctor since his foot/leg was leaking stuff out that smelt unbearable. We had to drop him off and let the doctors evaluate his condition. Meanwhile, we rushed to our 'Baby O' appointment to find out the sex and health of the baby.

After waiting patiently we were finally getting an ultrasound done and got the exciting news, 'It's a BOY!' We were so happy, me because I'm not the girly type and Cory because his checkbook will still be in the black and not adding to the drama of our little family.

As we are waiting for Dr. Balat to come in that wonderful husband of mine decides he doesn't want to name him the name we have had picked out for 4 months! As I'm sitting there in a blank stare at him, he comes up with a name. I'm still staring at him but with more of an 'are you kidding me' stare. Where does he come up with these random thoughts and names? So yes, we are having a boy and no, we don't have a name for our sweet boy. The doctor finally comes in and reviews Baby O's measurements/tests and everything looked great/normal (whatever that is). In the meantime I will pray for a strong boy name and have the faith God will see it through.
Now we are off back to Reggie's doctor for an update. Due to Reggie's continuous movements on his leg, his splint is shifting and rubbing a wound (hole) in his leg. Since the doctor couldn't leave it exposed until we got back he showed us pictures of it, disgusting! Now we aren't concerned at all with the broken leg because if this doesn't get better it can lead to amputation! The doctor decided to remove the splint and leave the wound wrapped up with stitches along with the infected foot that was extremely swollen and looked like raw meat and explained he is to have NO activity, aka dog rest. I wasn't sure how that would happen but thankfully I had to work 12+ hour days at my company’s golf tournament all week so he was bound to the kennel.

I guess kennel time is paying off! A week later, he went in for a checkup and we were told things are looking much better. Finally we are seeing the light! Well we thought we were, then we are told the pad on his foot has 'fluffed' and he needs to come back in tomorrow to be sedated and have it cleaned out. That day came and he got more stitches and told no activity again, but things are looking better.

I've skipped many appointments through this blog and have tried to remember to take pictures of every color cast, splint and wrap he has had to show the number of times he has gone to the doctor. I think they are running out of colors because we have duplicated colors but here is a list thus far: blue, green, pink, yellow, blue, green, blue, fluorescent orange, yellow, blue, green, yellow, yellow, fluorescent orange…you get my drift! We were told he had to come in everyday that week to have a check-up. CHAOS I tell you, CHAOS!

So at that point I have had no time to think about my excitement with Baby O being a boy, had time to debate with my hubby on a name or much less thought about how I want the room. Of course I'm stoked about first God answering our prayers and blessing us with a baby boy and second being a mom to something with two legs, but again God knew what we could handle and gave us a boy, one who doesn't require a decked out room or any of the details little girls come with.

Throughout the next two weeks my belly grew! After being back in the office my colleagues who hadn't heard about me expecting were shocked to see a HUGE bump (it makes me feel good to call it that still). I feel great, just a little winded at times especially bending over to put on the plastic cover on Reggie’s foot before he goes outside each time.

After taking Reggie to the doctor everyday for almost 2 weeks, we were getting a day off because he was doing so well. After each appointment, Grandma Charlotte picks him up and goes home with her. She’s been such a lifesaver during this chaos and deserves an award especially after this story. That day she takes Reggie out to potty and comes back inside. She is taking off his leash and now his plastic cover and Reggie sees the door open goes to paw at it and takes off running down the driveway and through the mud. I get a call at work and it is the very irate Grandma Charlotte and she is telling me this story but I have to cut her off because I was in a meeting. After my meeting finished, I called Cory and asked what happened he tells me and we both bust out laughing. Just thinking about how mad she was is still so funny to this day especially when she still hadn’t caught him yet. She was done chasing after him and trying to lure him with a treat she went inside and shut the door. He would come to the backdoor and look at her and she would go towards the door and he would bolt again. She finally caught the ‘little bastard’ and called me to tell me she was taking him back to the doctor and I could pick him up there. I called the vet and told him a very angry Grandma was coming in with Reggie and that I would pick him up after work. After work I went to get the ‘little bastard’ and the receptionist was laughing and told me how mad my Mother in law was.

Fast forward and we are now 22 weeks and have finally agreed on a name…drum roll please…Carter Reid Ormsby! I have always loved the name Carter for a boy but love it for a girl too (especially since one of our good girlfriends name is Carter). Reid is Cory’s middle name and Cory’s late father’s middle name. I love initials and want to pass down a Galligan tradition of having the same initials as our parents.

I don’t know how many times I was asked if I had felt Baby O yet, but finally I felt the little man last week. I was laid up in bed with a migraine and felt something, not knowing if that was gas or what everyone had been calling a ‘flutter’ I continued to lay there hoping to feel it again. It happened, over and over again. Such a cool experience, but I couldn’t get too excited since I was feeling like death.

Reggie went in and had his leg x-rayed and the broken leg still isn’t healed, we have 2 more weeks of restricted activity. They removed the bandage for his paw and have put him in a lampshade (e-collar) to keep him from licking the pad and causing moisture to get in and for the pad to open up again. We go back Friday and hopefully we don’t have to go back in between there and can catch that break finally.

So do you think we have lived an exciting and chaotic last month?