Our Trip to Children's

In a twist of ironic fate, my last post about my little Bubonic Bea and sarcasm about her cold that will 'turn into pneumonia' totally and completely came true.

After 4 days of 104+ degree fevers, one trip to urgent care, one trip to her pediatrician and MANY doses of tylenol and ibuprofen, my Mom gut sounded the alarm and I knew I needed to take her back in.

Feeling quite silly, I sit down and explain the symptoms and the Dr. promptly puts on the device that measures oxygen, which Bea fails miserably.  I get to learn how to nebulize a toddler--an experience I have been fortunate enough to avoid up until this point. It helps with the oxygen, but then she crashes about 10 minutes later. Rinse and repeat. Throw in a chest x-ray for good meausre.

Verdict is in, and we are off to Chidlren's hospital (only after pulling the pregnancy and one-car household card to avoid an ambulance ride). 

Good thing we had the most important item with us: Susie Doll.

I didn't have my wallet, a charge in my phone, a diaper bag or anything. Because I was assuming it would be a quick trip to the Ped, get some meds and we would be home.

So with the 10% phone battery I had left, I texted Nate and called my friend Summer (and promptely started bawling) to arrange for some necessities to get to the hospital.

Bea was such a sad baby. I was a sad mama. 

She didn't cry getting her IV in...such a champ, and perhaps just so exhausted she didn't care at that point.

Blood tests came back: bacterial pneumonia. Which was great in the sense that she wasn't contagious and none of us could catch it, but bad in that the antibiotics they had started weren't working.

So 8:45PM, Nate rolls in with a hospital bag for me, stuff for Bea, and I drop the bomb on him.

Sooo...umm...I am having contractions. 

Yup. 

After much logistical scheming, we decided it was best for him to stay with Bea so I could be at home only 4 blocks away from the hospital i am set to deliver at.

To leave this one......ugh. I have decided there is not anything on this planet more sad than a baby in the hospital. It doesn't matter what they are in there for. It's just all around sadness.

Blood tests came back: bacterial pneumonia. Which was great in the sense that she wasn't contagious and none of us could catch it, but bad in that the antibiotics they had started weren't working.

But once they found the ones that did...this girls sprung back into action!

And naturally, the first thing she did the morning after returning home, was to get her doctor kit and perform many tests on Susie doll (who I think was by her side the ENTIRE time in the hospital).

As a fun (fun in hindsight, that is) story: of course Bea took it upon herself when we were in the hospital to essentially REFUSE to go to the bathroom in her diaper. So everytime she had to go (which was a lot because they were pumping her with fluids through her IV), we had to unhook her oxygen monitor, and cart her IV through the hall, get her to keep a mask on and sit her on the potty while holding up all of her cords. 

It was a wild ride, made wilder with the 39.5 week pregnant timing, but thanks to some great friends and amazing care from the staff at Children's we made it. Now I am just hoping we can all stay relatively healthy until this baby arrives. I say relatively because Matilda is coughing, wheezing and complaining of a sore throat today....soo........

The Sick One

After an afternoon of coughing, fever and urgent care, Nate plopped down on the couch tonight and said: "Bea really is a sickly child."

Now, I know that in the scheme of sickness she is closer to the healthy end of the spectrum than the sick end of the spectrum. Our illnesses are not serious. But they are....persistent.

And the bummer about it is that she is a totally different kid when she is healthy (but again, who isn't?), and just when we catch a glimpse of how laid back, silly, independent she is, she catches the next virus du jour and she is sad, unrested, clingy and crabby.

Yes, I definitely miss my Beezy when she is under the weather. Especially, since this little monkey clings to her daddy when she isn't feeling well. But here is the thing.....we are not sleeping in this house. And we have a newborn coming in lets call it under 9 days. 

I am not asking for a miracle of health for the rest of the winter. In fact, I am fairly certain this baby will have whatever whopping cough/pneumonia/flu that Bea currently has before it actually comes home from the hospital. But dear lord, PLEASE let us get a few solid nights of sleep before this baby comes.

And if you can throw in a wake-up call that has 6 in it instead of a 5 that would sure be an added bonus.