Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The Good, The Bad...


Dana: This past weekend I visited Minnesota to attend the Twins' first baby shower, hosted at my friend Tara's mother's house. It was a great opportunity to spend quality time with some of my closest friends and family.

First, I must give props to Tara for hosting such a wonderful shower. She had us decorate little onesies with twin themes, had great food and we played some very silly, fun games. Of course, it's not a baby shower until you have your nose in a diaper trying to determine its contents (all of which were different brands of chocolate bars).

Thanks to all who attended and showered our little ones with some pretty sweet gifts. It was so much fun to share my pregnancy stories and parenting fears with so many loving and supportive people in one room. I can't tell you how much it means to feel that kind of support for our new family.

Unfortunately, around 3:00am on Sunday morning , the trip took a sudden turn. I received a call from Walker, who was at the animal hospital with BOTH dogs deathly ill. After an exhausting night, Walker transferred them to our vet, where more tests were done. Oddly, it was determined that their illnesses were not related, but both very serious at the same time. Sedro needed to have a corncob surgically removed from his small intestines (swallowed several months ago) and Chili Bean was diagnosed with a endocrine disorder called Addison’s Disease (JFK also had Addison's!). He's had it since birth, yet the symptoms are only now appearing. At his worst, Chili's potassium levels had skyrocketed past that of which normally puts little pups into cardiac arrest.

It was clear that I needed to be home with my boys and help Walker out. It was killing me not being able to see them to make sure they were OK, so I cut my trip short by one day.
The good news is that they are both home with us, recovering from their near death experiences. The bad is that it cost us dearly money-wise to get them through this. I guess this is just one of life's lessons that we will learn from. I truly am grateful that they are OK...I just couldn't imagine raising our children without the joys of our two wonderful dogs.

Posted by Walker Lockhart @ 9:03 PM