Yesterday my little stink monger was one unhappy baby. The screams as I tried to feed him, dress him and change his diaper grew louder and more ear-drum popping as the day wore on. Lying him in his crib with his little "taggy" binkit was the ONLY solution.
Knowing John (a.k.a. the BIG Booger) was terribly ill with a high fever, aches and lots of snot, I suspected the Little Booger followed suit.
Every so often I'd sneak up to Booger's room and check on him. A little after 7 PM (when "Hannity and Colmbs" started covering the Anna Nicole Smith case - GAG!) I decided to look in on the babe for the 50th time.
From the threshold, I could hear tiny grunts with each breath. His breathing was shallow and rapid. Lunging across the room, I reached into the crib, placing my hand on his forehead. I've felt Colorado sun-baked rocks that were cooler than Kyle!
Kaiser Permanente has a 24 hour on call nurse. I wanted to know if I needed to take Kyle to Children's Hospital in downtown Denver. After listening to him breath for half a minute, the nurse told me to get in the car and get him to the ER ASAP. If his breathing became more difficult en route, I was to stop and dial 911.
My heart lept into my chest as I scurried to put some diapers in the diaper bag. Who knew how long I'd be at the hospital? John, moaning in pain and fever, fretted over the fact he couldn't come with us. I was on my own. Or so I thought.
Speeding north on Santa Fe at about 75 MPH (hope none of you are with CSP), I began dialing "grandparents". You see, my parents live 2K miles away, so two couples in our church "adopted" us and act as Kyle's "Colorado" grandparents. One set of grandparents had to be at the airport by 3AM, while the other was busy hosting a college choir from Seattle Pacific University. Unable to come, the traveling set called the hosting set and while I talked to my mom, found another couple willing to meet me at the hospital to provide support.
Sitting in a wall-to-wall packed room full of coughing, sneezing kids, I held my baby to my chest, praying desperately. All over the place you read and hear about how the Flu kills babies. John and I waited 5 years for the booger. I couldn't bear the thought of loosing him!
Wondering if I were getting 2nd degree burns from my 104.2 degree Kyle, I saw familiar faces through the automatic doors. Wanda and Jim, parents of six (now grown) children came in embracing both Kyle and I. They prayed for Kyle as we sat there waiting. We all prayed a room would open fast. Kyle's breathing was labored and painful.
Minutes later, our prayers were answered as Kyle was moved to the front of the triage. The nurse practitioner said he had a very bad case of the flu, along with a terrible ear infection! How'd I miss that?
Anyway, Kyle was sent home with some antibiotics for the ear, numbing drops, and Tamaflu. The danger of the flu is dehydration, so I must make sure my wee one imbibes in Pedialyte or Gatoraide.
Today I received a call from one of our pastors, who upon hearing Kyle was in the ER, made a bee-line for Children's last night only to find he'd already been sent home.
In a very dark hour, God was there. He was there through loving people. He even provided someone to pay for all the medicine Kyle has to take!
If you don't belong to a good church, I encourage you to seek one out. This kind of support is NOT found in the world at large. If you don't know Jesus as your personal savior, or wonder if He's real... stop doubting. Peruse the archives of my posts. My life-Kyle's life, and the lives of my friends and family are evidence Jesus LIVES.
Oh, and pray I don't get the Flu. Baby snot and hubby snot is impossible to avoid. I'm wearing a Lysol can slung through my belt...
2 comments:
Thank God he'll be ok. And for people to support you.
Don't feel bad about missing the ear infection. I think mine had one longer than I thought and I chalked it up to teething until it go so bad I knew something was not right and took her in. It's so hard to catch an ear infection. Unless they are incredibly cranky and pulling on ears it's easy to find another reason for slight differences. Or so I've heard from many moms I shared my ear infection story with.
Hang in there. I be praying but don't dare come any closer so that we can all stay healthy. :-)
I've got it now and don't plan on going anywhere!
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