Another concern from the deployment, mysterious wounds

I have decided to post a few photos of Ryan's legs...Yes odd I suppose but I finally took a few photos for documentation. When he returned from Iraq December 2010 he came home with much more than I realized. At first he didnt tell me about the mysterious wounds on his legs. I notced them. But as days and months have passed they are still there but worse. As with his memory loss he seems to not recal the exact time it showed up. But knows it was last year in Iraq. I know when he came home on leave last July it was not there.....so it was after that.
I have reminded him many time to tell his VA Docs but he KEEPS forgetting.....and now he is working out of state....He is home this week for his drill time and I noticed some new wounds and he said another issue is his injuries (cuts etc) are NOT healing. He tells me it itches very bad and nothing helps.
HE has a deep cut he got working back in september and its still there...I have done some research briefly and have read this is increasingly more common with soldiers that were deployed to Iraq....I also mentioned at the VA clinic and  a man told me that soldiers deployed to iraq have been exposed to things we dont yet know! Similar to agent orange....
IF you are or know veteran from Iraq and have seen this sort of wound, etc....please leave a comment. I want to know. I am very worried about it among other things....
These wounds are on both legs...

More reality from other military spouses

I was reading thru on of my friend's blog post this morning, Heather, http://www.itstwinsanity.com/ ,she
 always makes me feel better even though she may not
know it. Her ability to "just keep swimming" thru the mess amazes me! I wish I were as strong as she is.

She linked this to her blog http://likeitfortime.com/2011/05/07/the-day-after/ its pretty much sums up how many of us military spouses feel.

In the coming months we will have over 40,000 soldiers returning home from deployments...Keep them and the families in prayer. Reach out and do something to help them. A hug, a card a word of encouragement. Many of us suffer in silence. Many of us blog and are as honest as we can be. But no one knows how hard it is until you live it.

Broken promises broken hearts

It's so hard seeing your children hurting and angry knowing there is nothing you can do . Knowing the thing they need won't or can't be there.
Since Ryan took he job in Kansas this past month the children have been sad and angry.
He has become more and more distant . Hardly answers his phones let alone my txt messages . I rarely talk to him . So I txt and the kids can over hear my frustration and hurt . However he ignores most of my txt.

Just this week he told Felicity on the phone two different days he would Skype with them. It's not like he is deployed he can go Skype. However he didn't and I had to listen to the younger ones cry about how daddy broke another promise . I do tell him do not tell them you are going to do something and not do it.

I keep reminding them daddy isn't well. He does have a brain injury and memory loss. But to a 5 years old they can't understand that. Even I'm struggling with understanding it. You don't see a physical injury or scar so it's hard especially when he has been gone for over 6 weeks to remember.
The few times I talk to him he is jut not very empathetic . They say it's apart of the PTSD an tbi. All I know is the children are broken hearted .

I took this picture of Ethan this morning while he kept trying to call his dad after he promised to Skype this morning....

Rest in Peace Dawn Olschewske

We have had a rough week. Last friday, November 4, Ryan called at about 6:30 pm. Ansely answered because I had my hands in dough for chicken and dumplings...I knew something was terribly wrong because he was crying. HE told me 'dawn died'. I was as he was in total shock.
Dawn was his oldest sister and she lived in upstate New York. So we rarely saw her. But I spoke to her on the phone almost weekly. She was MY sister, not just my sister in law. I loved her dearly. We would talk for HOURS late at night after my kids settled down. Ryan has another brother and sister. But I was closest to Dawn. She has always supported me through everything I did even when the rest of the family did not.
We are waiting to hear the results of an autopsy. She woke up in the morning at 7, had chest pains and numbness in her legs. She was taken to the ER via ambulance. MANY tests were ran. After lunch she ate a little and began to vomit. According to her husband. She then just fell over dead. They worked on her sometime to revive her. But were unsuccessful. She was pronounced at 2:30 pm. We are thinking it was a blood clot.
Please keep our family in your prayers. This has been a huge shock so soon after the death of Ryan's father, David on September 16.
I am thankful although under terrible circumstances we got to spend some time with Dawn.

Rest in Eternal Peace Dawn......We love you and will miss your laugh!

Here is a link to the obituary  http://newzjunky.com/obits/1108olschewskeobit.htm

This is a picture of David, Agnes  and three of the oldest Olschewske children (dawn was the oldest)

This sadly was the only picture I got of Dawn in september because she had to fly back to NY and I never got another picture. But I think the brother has some. I hope to post.

All Hallow's Eve 2011

This year we went to a another precious catholic family's house for a All Hallow's Eve Party. THey have 9 children....IT was SO fun have so many children together!

Ethan was a karate boy..

 Dehvin didnt dress up this year but carried felicity..

Sebastian had on a cute monkey out fit and I was going to be a mommy monkey carrying him however he took it off. IT was warm out since we are in florida....

Veronica  is so creative with parties..

mommy and felicity

Ansely was a gypsy

Tatiana doesnt smile...gotta love her

Happy Birthday Ethan! October 2

SO I got slack I have three children's birthdays within a month! Ethan celebrated his 9th birthday October 2! After 3 girls I PRAYED for a boy and I was blessed with one.

Here are a few photos from his day!

Ethan LOVES Legos! And has a gift of building some amazing stuff!

Newborn Weight loss and IV fluids in labor

I just read another blog post this morning that I wanted to share. I have been a Lactation Specialist for over 15 years thru my volunteer work with La Leche League. I get SO many calls and questions at our support meetings about newborn weight loss. This article is basically what I have been trying to explain to moms for a long time! Here is the link
http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/2011/10/31/newborn-weight-loss-and-iv-fluids-in-labor.html
I have never had IV fluids in labor , I have had 3 homebirths and 3 hospital. Dehvin wa smy first born in a hospital I had not iv fluids but did have MAJOR latch issues with her so she did lose over 10% of her birth weight. My others never lost weight...except Sebastian, he was my last baby and was a preemie.