I'm back! Surgery, sickness, and other things

I'm so sad I haven't blogged for two whole weeks! But it was necessary as life just got a bit too much to handle temporarily. Everyone is fine, all is OK. It just never rains but it pours, hey. Here are a few things we've been up to over the last fortnight...

O had surgery! He's had a hernia since birth, nothing too much of a worry, but it did need to be fixed, as there is always a small risk of strangulation, which is very dangerous. He was originally booked in for surgery two months ago, but we had to cancel as he had a respiratory infection the week of the surgery. So we waited for another spot to open up. Last Tuesday was his rescheduled surgery. We were nervous because it was his first time undergoing a general anaesthetic and any kind of surgery. It was an EARLY start - we left the house at 4.45 am - E had a sleep over at her grandparents the night before and they took her to school that day. We drove for 1.5 hours (his surgery was at the Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane) to be there by 6.15 am, as he was first up for the day. I was glad that he was scheduled early, as there should be minimal delays. And thankfully, he went in right at 8am. Al went into the theatre with him (as he is definitely better with medical procedures than me!), and O was a champ, went to sleep easily, and the operation went smoothly. Afterwards we joined him in recovery, and within an hour he was eating, drinking, and walking up and down the aisle, chatting about the cartoon animals on the walls. We were discharged by midday, and home by 1.30. He had a big nap in the car on the drive home, and then watched cartoons all afternoon, full of energy. And since then, he's had NO PAIN. We did give him some painkillers overnight, but he hasn't complained of pain once, and was able to go back to Kindy on Thursday. Amazing. So nice when things go better than expected. I'm like - are we sure they actually operated on him? But he does have the (dissolving) stitches to prove it.

On the drive home from the hospital

Totally better a few days later.

I've been sick! So O recovered almost immediately, but unfortunately I got sick with a nasty virus. My mum has the same (exactly the same symptoms came on within a day of each other), and she tested for Covid, flu and RSV twice, but it's none of those. So its a random virus, that comes with cough, cold, and fatigue symptoms. I was far too busy this week at work to take any days completely off, but I cancelled my meetings (people were very understanding about this), and worked on my laptop from bed, while also taking a nap when I needed. I'm not completely better yet but I have a fair bit of energy back, so that's good news.

My work view for a few days, our kitty Bells was happy

Our car needs repairs! Our car started making some pretty dire sounds when accelerating, and was lacking power, so a few weeks ago we took it to the mechanic. He referred us to a transmission specialist (never a good sign when your issue can't be repaired by a regular mechanic), but he was away on holiday. We've been borrowing my parents' second car (so generous of them!) for the last few weeks, while we wait for the "diagnosis". And when it came, it wasn't good. Apparently our car got water in the engine during the flooding after Cyclone Alfred, which ruined the transmission. Noooo. Our driveway was flooded, and it didn't even occur to us that the car had been damaged. The transmission specialist quoted us 8K to fix it. Holy Moly! Otherwise the car is in great shape so we did want to repair it, although for that cost it is almost a write-off - not quite, but almost. However, Al then went back to our original mechanic, and he called around wrecking yards for second hand transmissions, and found one. So he can replace it for 4.5K. Definitely better. So that is the plan. The cost may be covered by insurance, but also may not - we will see.

E had her first Scouts camp sleep over on Friday night - and she loved it! They slept in tents, she got a shiny new pink sleeping bag with unicorns on it and a big pink duffel bag to put everything in, and I packed extra blankets (it gets cold at night now we are close to winter). The weather was perfect - sunny and warm, they did bushwalks and craft, and she had such fun. I'm so glad, she was a bit nervous in case she needed "mummy cuddles" during the night. But the was totally fine. (She did bring a big toy sloth to cuddle during the night). Very proud of our big girl.

Just to end on a sweet note - O and I had a "Mummy Day" while E was at Scouts and Al was at work yesterday, and it was so fun. 4 is a such a gorgeous age, and O is getting so confident and happy. (He was a much more highly strung toddler, but pre-schooler O is much more relaxed). I was going to drive us to a new library/shopping centre, but while on the way, he asked "Can we go to the (indoor) play centre?" Sure! So we headed there instead. He absolutely loved it, didn't stop running and playing for over 2 hours. I drank coffee and did some planning which I enjoyed. He bumped into a little friend from kindy there, a new boy, and they were absolute besties the whole time. It was so sweet - especially because O has often been pretty cautious of other kids, and not one to have a "bestie" at playgrounds (unlike his sister - ha!). But for the two hours they were inseparable, and as we left, O declared "He's my best friend". Oh, my heart. After that, we were going to head home, but he asked to go a park playground. In the spirit of mummy day, I said - Sure! So we went to a new to us playground, which was absolutely lovely. The weather has been great (finally), so it was perfect park weather. Finally we drove home and I had a nap as I'm still a bit sick while he watched cartoons. It's actually really rare that O and I spend quality time just the two of us, so I enjoyed this and think we should do this a bit more often (especially when E has Scouts activities some weekends). E and I naturally spend some time together on the school holidays, so she doesn't miss out.

Ball pits never get old!

Coffee and planning

Swings have always been his favourite

I'm sure there are other things going on, but that's enough for now. (The header image was from a little drive we did last weekend) I hope to resume regular (2 x per week) posting from now on. I hope everyone has had a good May, and life hasn't been quite as busy as me (I know it has for a few readers, though - my commiserations).