First off, I learned that the "Mommy Gut" is a very real thing. I just knew something wasn't right with Allie since earlier in the week. I called her pediatrician several times and was very disappointed when they constantly told me the same things I should be doing for Allie's ailments: humidifier, prop up her bed, give her warm apple juice to drink. I knew these things were not going to cut it. After yet another awful night of Allie waking up 6 times crying and coughing, we found ourselves at our wit's end Thursday morning. Thankfully, Mike's mom, "Gammy" came up to be with Allie. After hearing Myra's thoughts on Allie's condition, I knew that drinking warm apple juice was not going to be enough for her. I finally decided to take Allie to the EmergiCenter Thursday evening. A wonderful doctor there tried his best to help us out -- but ultimately told me we needed to head to the emergency room. And that is where we were 24 hours ago.
Another lesson I learned over the last 24 hours is that my little girl is one tough cookie. She took everything in stride. Now remember, she has been sick pretty much since September. This last bout brought on a double ear infection on Friday and a prescription of steroids on Tuesday. Even after several doses of the antibiotic and steroids, she still wasn't getting better. After literally coughing all day on Thursday, me then dragging her all over the Lehigh Valley to find help well after her bedtime, she was being a little trooper. Here she is sleeping in the waiting room at the Lehigh Valley Children's ER.
She continued to amaze me and the ER doctors and nurses with how well she put up with all of the prodding and poking. After looking at her chest x-ray, the doctors believed that Allie had pneumonia. This led to Allie needing to have an IV put in. My mind instantly went back to the 46 days the twins spent in the NICU and all of the IV's the nurses had to put in....and all of the pain my little babies went through during this process. When it came time for this IV to go in, I was crying. Allie was sitting on my lap and saw me crying and offered me her pink baby - something that always brings her comfort when she's sad. The nurses continued to work on putting the IV in and Allie did not cry or pull away. She simply watched the proceedings and took it all in stride. Everyone was amazed. Luckily, Allie does not have pneumonia but only RSV.
My next lesson is more of a view into something my mother lived through with me...seeing your daughter go through a medical scare. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with ITP which led to me needing my spleen to be removed. I can remember my mother crying the night the doctor called our house at 9:30 PM and told my parents to rush me to the ER because my white blood platelets were so low. I now know what that feeling was that my mother was feeling. Spending the night with my daughter in the hospital room was both exhausting and eye opening. I remember my mother spending several nights with me in the hospital room after my surgery and feeling so thankful to have her there with me. The tables were turned last night and I was the one offering comfort to my daughter as she was constantly woken up by the nurses checking her vitals and listening to her breathing and talking to me about her oxygen levels. It was so exhausting and stressful but I felt so good to be able to be there for her
Something else I was reminded of last night is how amazing a husband and father Michael is. He and I have lived through hell together and are still able to get through trials together. I made the comment as we entered our second hour of waiting in the ER that it was nice to actually be able to sit and chat with him. He has been my rock through so many awful, awful things and is now becoming the rock of our family.
And finally, my final lesson is that "the sun will come out tomorrow". After a very long night of watching Allie's oxygen levels and hearing the alarms sound when her levels dropped too low, the sun came out....and Allie woke up, saw the pink in the sky and sat up and said, "Mommy!! Pink!" That little voice saying those two words brought me so much relief and happiness.
Now if you are wondering about Mister Cameron, a week ago he was our sick one. He also had a visit to the ER but his chest x-ray came back clean. Mike and I are now wondering if he also had RSV but didn't have it as bad as Allie does. So he is currently healthy and being a very good boy.
Allie was discharged at noon and was able to take a good nap in her crib. I picked Cameron up from daycare and the twinjas were very happy to see and play with each other!
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| Where's Allie?? |
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| There she is! |
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| "My turn!" |
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| After being in her pajamas for 18 hours, I let Allie pick out what she wanted to wear! |
We headed out on the town to get the twins a few toys for being so good (Cameron) and for being so brave (Allie). We headed to Giant to get a few movies for tomorrow's snow day and the twins spied these cute Primrose flowers. They really wanted them -- so we got them! It also helps that one of my plants died and I now have an empty pot -- planting the Primroses will be another fun activity for us to do tomorrow!
So as I finish this blog, both kids are sleeping comfortably in their cribs. Mike and I are hopeful that our entire family will get a much needed good night's sleep and we can enjoy our time together this weekend. I want to thank everyone who sent me a Facebook message, text message, or phone call (especially Grandpa Carr!). It means very much to us. It is quite difficult to not have family members right down the road to lean on and having so many people offer help to us is very comforting. Thank you everyone and good night.
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