The morning went horribly. I took Micah up to the Children's Hospital north campus. We ended up waiting longer that usual so I was getting nervous we were going to be late to look at the house. Then the phlebotomist that was there had seen us last time we were there and had trouble getting Micah's blood, so I was nervous having her do it again. He started to get upset because he was hungry and I think recognized the room and knew what was coming. I was doing my best to entertain him and keep him happy but this phlebotomist was having a hard time finding where to stick him. She eventually decided to try and she got nothing. I don't know how it was even possible but not a drop of blood came out. She was sticking the needle in and out and wiggling it around and poking at it with her finger and Micah was just screaming and I started to cry. It was horrible. She apologized but told me she was the only one there so no one else could come try. I basically just scooped Micah up and ran out furious. I called Tim to tell him how upset I was and that we were just on our way to the house. Luckily we made good time getting there and I calmed down by the time we got there. We looked at the house knowing it was out of our price range and liked the house a lot, but it needed a lot more work than I had anticipated. So we needed time to think about both houses we had just looked at and discuss them, but in this market we needed to put offers in that day. We decided to put our low ball offer in on the expensive house, knowing we would probably loose the other one in the mean time and that our offer would most likely be rejected. I called Micah's doctor later to tell him that the blood draw didn't happen. He said that Micah could get his blood drawn in the afternoon, after his appointment the next day, as long as he fasts between an early breakfast and the end of the appointment. To top off the day, Micah took a bad fall, hitting his face on the coffee table and has a nice black eye.
Thursday morning we found out that the offer was countered with a higher price, which we said no we can't pay that much, and we found out that other house was waiting for an offer from us. In the mean time I was trying to get ready to take Micah to his metabolic appointment and have someone come over to watch Ben for the afternoon and I'm trying to juggle phone calls and texts from the realtor and Tim and relaying info and trying to make decisions. Micah needed new clothes, Ben was getting into things he shouldn't have, I was trying to pack and I felt like I didn't really like either house option but we just need to get one because they are all that is left and we need a house. It all became too much stress for me and I had a break down. I lost it and I yelled at the kids and I yelled and cried to Tim on the phone and I told him I was done. I told him I needed him to call the realtor, I couldn't be the go between right now and he needed to just make the decision to offer on the smaller needy house or to go up in price on the bigger house but I couldn't think about it any more. He knew I wasn't super excited about either but he knew that I just needed to know we had a house, so he didn't know what to do either. He called while I was in the car on the way to the Children's Hospital and said he decided to go even higher on the expensive house, which I was surprised, but if he was ok with it, I was ok with it.
Micah and I got to his appointment and it was going well, after I explained the black eye. He was clingy and fussy because he knew he was at the doctors and he had to fast through snack, lunch and it was getting close to nap but he was doing pretty well. We went over his genetic results which were really interesting. He has GSD 9. They know this because of the gene that the mutation is on but the specific mutation of that gene is one that has not been documented in literature yet. Even more interesting is that he is also a carrier for GSD 5. It is very bizarre that he has GSD 9, which is an x-linked disorder, and he is a carrier for GSD 5, which is a recessive disorder. They are also completely different types of the disease. 9 only affects the liver and is passed on by the mother through the X gene and 5 only really affects the muscles and is a recessive gene that would have to be passed on by both parents. I will find out in a couple weeks if he got GSD 9 from me or if it was just a random mutation. It is all just so bizarre that I am pretty sure he is just a random mutation. We are pretty sure the GSD 5 is on Tim's side of the family. We also discussed his corn starch regiment and how that might change in the future, but they need to see his labs first (which didn't get done). As for now, he needs that 2 am corn starch. That is the thing that is making him better. So we will keep doing that until they can get him on to a different supplement that is longer lasting than the corn starch, but that will be a couple years. The last thing that we talked about, which upset me a little, is that his growth has slowed down a lot. He was on a steady curve for his first year and then at 12 months he basically stopped growing in length. He has moved to 18 month shirts and PJ's to accommodate his belly (which is looking better), but his 12 month pants are still fitting well, if not too big. So they need me to send his measurements after his 18 month well check this month and then he needs to go back to see his metabolic team right before Maelyn is born. I had been hoping that we wound't have to go back for a whole year. We know that slowed growth is a symptom of GSD 9, and I don't know what they are going to do about it, but they need to monitor it closely.
After the appointment we needed to go to the lab and have blood drawn again. While waiting I checked my several texts and voice mails from Tim and the realtor about the houses. Tim had gone up in price on the expensive house but they had gotten another offer and "decided to go a different direction". But apparently the other house was still waiting for our offer. We went into have blood drawn. We have never had a bad experience at this lab. He needed his lactate levels checked so they had to draw from his hand, so there were two women doing it. They had me put Micah on my lap and pin him between me and the table. The one woman held his hand and arm and the other woman did the needle and everything. Of course Micah was upset, it was late, he was hungry and he was being held down pretty tight. But then, I couldn't believe it, the needle slipped out of his hand and his blood squirted out all over the table and the woman holding him. So they had to quick pick it up and stick it back in. I started crying, hiding behind Micah's head whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry". They took a tube, put a bandaid on him and quickly wiped his blood off themselves. We were all so upset I quickly got him his milk cup which helped him a lot and left crying. I, pregnant lady, really needed to pee. So we went into the public restroom, both of us crying. I just put my sunglasses on to try and hide as we walked to the car, but once I got to the car I saw the mascara running down my face. I got Micah in his car seat, gave him his food and lovies and I sat in the door crying. We had two horrible blood draws in two days. I'm sick of watching my baby be tortured. And then I just think about how this is nothing compared to what Maelyn is going to go through, and I can't even keep it together now. I got in the driver seat and called Tim. He thought I was still crying because of the houses, but at this point the houses were not even on my mind. I just don't want to watch my babies suffer, it's not fair and it hurts more than anything.
So once I calmed down, I started driving and thinking about houses again. As far as I knew, we lost the expensive house, we were not excited about the other house that was still waiting for us to offer. And just thinking, Lord, do we settle for this house to be safe, or do you have something else coming? What do we do? We need to make this decision, like right now. And as I'm driving I got a text from my good friend Erika, who lives two doors down from us, telling me she talked to her friend, Betti, who lives across the street from her, and Betti told her that her house is for sale, but she doesn't want to use a realtor and wasn't planning on moving until summer. When I got home I called Erika to talk about her conversation with Betti and to ask her if she thought I should call Betti or not. Erika asked Betti if she wanted to talk to me about her house and then sent me Betti's number to call her. I then received a phone call from Micah's doctor we had just met with. She said she has good news and bad news. Good news is Micah looks great and his lactate levels were great. The bad news is they forgot to draw blood for the five other tests they needed done (probably in the chaos of blood squirting all over them), so he needs to do another fasting blood draw in the next couple of days... Holy cow is this frustrating. I told Tim he has to do it, I can't do it again. Three attempts at fasting blood draws in one week, is just too much for me, no less a little boy.
I eventually called Betti, thinking I was going to leave a voice mail, but she answered and was expecting my call. Tim was on his way home early from work because he knew I was having a horrible day, and walked in while I was talking to her. I don't even know exactly how the conversation went but I told her we were interested in buying her house, but we didn't want to cause her more stress by doing it before she was ready (she has been going through some hard stuff lately too, which is why she is moving), and we are on a quick time frame but if she thought it was right we were very interested. She gave me a price range, which was right within ours, and said we should come look at it because we might not even like it, to which I told her, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it and the next thing we knew we were walking up the street to go meet her and look at her house. We looked at it, loved it, agreed on a price, told her we wanted it, talked about how to do it without realtors, said we would both do some research and get back to each other. So in a matter of a few hours we had found our perfect home, we didn't have to compete for it, or settle for anything, we just had to figure out how to logistically and legally buy it. I know that this point I should have been super excited and relieved, but nothing was on paper. I was still feeling uneasy and scared because this could not work, and if it doesn't our time frame gets tighter every day.
When we got home, I had several texts and a voicemail from our realtor saying that the expensive house had their other offer fall through and wanted our offer back on the table and to call her ASAP. Of course our realtor was really excited, but now we were thrown for a loop. I thought about it for a couple minutes (just because of size, it was much bigger that Betti's, and legalities), but really it was a no brainer, Betti's house is perfect for us. So we had to call our realtor and have a very awkward conversation that we were not going to offer on any houses because we were going to do a for sale by owner with our neighbor. It was very awkward. But she was happy for us that we found a house, because she knows how desperate we are.
Friday Tim took off work. I had an appointment for an ultrasound in the morning so we were planning on Tim watching the boys and then using the rest of the day to go look at houses. Instead we researched how to buy a house and what we need to do and who we need and made phone calls. I went to my ultrasound in the morning. I was so thankful that the appointment went well. After everything with Micah this week, I needed Maelyn to be doing well. This appointment was really to make sure that she has grown enough, which she has. She is back to 30th percentile. Other than her heart, she looks healthy and adorable. They had just gotten a brand new machine the day before and were able to take some amazing 3D pictures of her. I got to my appointment early and they took me right in so I was able to get out early and I went on a massive Costco trip. It was nice to go by myself. We had been trying to not renew our membership until we really needed to, and really wanted to wait until after the move, but there was too much that I needed and didn't want to keep buying Kroger brand of (like diapers, wipes, syrup, cereal, dog food, ect.). When I got home I had a voicemail from Betti that she had talked to a family friend who is a realtor and could do everything for the sale for a really good deal. So I had Tim talk to her to compare what he had researched that morning. She gave us the guys phone number and Tim called him. He was really helpful, and explained a lot more about how house sales work in CO and that he was doing this as a favor to Betti because he knows that she is going through a hard time. Tim told him a little bit about us and our situation and that it was also a huge blessing to us. Since we had already agreed on a price before anyone else was involved, we don't feel like there is any kind of conflict of interest, he is just going to help process all the paper work. After talking to him and Betti yesterday it stared to feel a little more real.
This morning, Saturday, we went over to Betti's house to sit down and write down the price we agreed on, pick a closing date and list out what she was going to include and not include in the sale of the house. This felt a little ridiculous because we had talked about it all the other day, so nothing was really up for debate or negotiated. We just needed to write it down so that we can tell Betti's realtor friend what to put on the contract. We discussed furniture and rugs she might leave, or sell us. We even talked about trading furniture because our sectional might work better in her townhouse. We spent a few hours there just talking to her and playing with her grand kids. We looked over the house again. It is beautiful. It needs nothing done. She has updated everything and done a great job. It is even perfectly painted. We will get a home inspection done and an appraisal will be done, but we are not expecting any big surprises. Also she is doing us such a favor and giving us such a good deal, we don't care what she leaves or takes or what the house needs done. I'm starting to feel more and more secure in that, this is going to happen, we have a house, we are going to buy Betti's house and only move four houses down the street. It still feels so surreal and nothing is legal yet but every time we talk to her, we know it's happening, there is no doubt. I just need it on legal paper work to really feel relief. Hopefully it will be on legal paperwork and signed by everyone, possibly by tonight.
I know in my mind that this is exactly what I've been praying for. I knew God needed to literally hand us a house by someone. We needed to get in the back door because we couldn't compete with this market. But in my heart I am having a hard time trusting it because everything has just been going so poorly lately. It's feeling hard to accept the blessings in this time of troubles. I didn't expect that. Once we are moved in, I think I will feel that peace and comfort and blessing, but until I'm sleeping in that house, I don't think I'm going to really believe it.
I am so thankful to everyone who has been praying for us, sending us little pick me up texts, emails, cards and gifts in the mail and supporting us in everything these last couple weeks. Thank you to everyone who has offered to help us pack and move, we will be taking you up on that the last week of April. I've been praising God for this nice weather, it really helps me feel better. Praise God for this house. It is exactly what we needed, and wanted. God knew how much I didn't want to leave our house, this street or this neighborhood. This house is on the same street and a very similar floor plan. It is probably the next best thing to not moving at all. If you have our current address, all that will change are the last three numbers of the house number. Pray that everything with this house sale goes smoothly (home inspection, appraisal, contract, financing, timing, moving) and that it all just works out. For our family, pray that Micah has a growth spurt and it is no longer a concern. Pray that he is able to have an easy and incident free blood draw this week. Continue to pray for our sanity as we get up at 2 am every night for him. Continue to pray for Maelyn. Her heart is still messed up, but we can still pray for healing and for best case scenarios. Pray for God to continue to prepare us all for what lies ahead for her. Pray for Benjamin, who is having a third birthday in just two weeks and is very excited about it! Pray for Tim and I as we start to pack and clean out and probably try to sell stuff. Pray for strength, energy, wisdom and joy. Oh and this morning, adding the chaos of everything, the dog cut his paw pretty bad in the backyard and got blood all over the house. So pray for Bentley, that his paw heals and we don't have to take him for stitches.
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