ER trip number 2

Hannah is very lucky to have two big brothers who worry about!

A healthy dinner of Fruit Loops and a donut make everything better!

Another trip with Hannah to the ER. (Why do these things only happen at dinnertime?) Hannah was running through the kitchen wearing slippery socks. She slipped and smacked her head on the corner of the island. She barely cried, and we didn't think it was anything bad until we saw blood and then the gash. And thanks to her un-natural fear of band-aids and because the cut was so deep, we wanted a professional to fix her up!

It took three of us to get the glue on - two to hold down her freakishly, strong body, and the doctor trying to get the glue in the right place. The first try didn't take, so we let her calm down and then we tried again. Let me tell you, it is super awesome to hold down your child and try to calm her while she screams for her daddy to save her. I was very glad to hand her to daddy when we got home!

Poor Jonathan thought the purple glue was a permanent addition to her face and informed me the next morning in private that he didn't like it. :)

Week in the Life - Sunday

I've been inspired by Jill to do a Week in the Life blogging project. I'm going to try really hard to do this everyday. We'll see how it goes. I'm starting with Sunday, even though I only took a couple of photos.

Jonathan's ER bracelet

It was a quite a day and it started way earlier than it should have! Jonathan woke me around 1:30 am begging for a drink and coughing up a lung. It took me a few minutes before I realized why I was out of bed and then I heard the dreaded wheezing sound. Keith took him outside to try and get his breathing back to normal, but it didn't work. We had him lay on the couch for a few minutes before we realized he was going to need to see a doctor. He couldn't stop wheezing and it really sounded like he was struggling to breathe. So Keith got dressed and took Jonathan to the mini ER down the street, but not before Jonathan had a coughing fit causing him to throw up. Fortunately, I sensed it was coming and we made it to the bathroom in time!

The great news about our mini ER is that they usually get you right in and this was no exception. They were ushered right into a room and after a few quick vitals were taken, they gave Jonathan a Popsicle to help shrink his airway. The doctor quickly diagnosed him with croup, again, and gave him a healthy dose of steroids. We hate how they change his personality, but love how they help him breathe! They also gave him a breathing treatment, which he didn't like, but it also helped.

They got back home around 3, and we all went to bed. I should add that Jonathan was running around the house when they got home. Keith and I could barely keep our eyes open to walk him up to bed. Guess they should give the parents steroids too! Everyone slept until around 8 and then it was time to get ready for church - for Keith only. He had to teach Sunday School. The rest of us kept our germs and our tired selves at home.

While Daddy was at church, I let the kids watch Robin Hood that I recorded on the Disney channel. They weren't too sure of it at first, but then decided it was great. They are all wearing their Thing shirts and playing cars together. Well, I don't know how much playing Hannah was really doing, or if it was more mess making.

After lunch it was rest time! Hannah went down for her normal nap. Keith didn't sleep well after he got home from the ER, so he and Jonathan also took a nap. Andrew played mostly quietly in the basement with the promise that Daddy would play with him in an hour and I went to Target ALONE!

I came home in time to see a very grouchy Jonathan waking up from his nap. He and steroids do not mix! He needed a little TV time to get over the crankies and Andrew played a couple of games on the iPod. Hannah woke up and then I made dinner - chicken quesadillas and Keith made guacamole. Sorry no pictures. I'll try to do better! It was yummy and everyone ate it, even Andrew. Well, he didn't eat the guac, but quesadillas are baby steps!

After dinner, the boys worked on Get Well cards for Grandpa. He had back surgery last week and needs some good mail! I'd show pictures of their cards, but that would ruin his mail. I will say there were some stencil drawings and Andrew drew a maze. And Hannah destroyed one or two rooms in the house. Then it was time for bed!

And everyone slept through the night, and we did not make any more trips to the ER! Hallelujah!

Jonathan - the Ornery One

This child named Jonathan has got to be the orneriest kid around. He just oozes trouble and can't stop himself from looking for it. As soon as he is caught, he looks up at you with those chocolate brown eyes through his long lashes with a little smirk, as if to say, "You wouldn't dare punish me. I'm too cute."

He asks "Why" at least a thousand times a day. And he's developed a bit of smart mouth at the tender age of 2:

me - "Jonathan, why is your shirt all wet?"

Jonathan - "Because it is."

me - "Jonathan, why are you doing that?" (that -being anything he shouldn't be doing.)

Jonathan - "'Cause it's my job."

But early Friday morning, he gave us quite a scare. We've all had the sniffles, but I just chalked it up to the changing seasons and allergies. We noticed Jonathan seemed out of breath Thursday night after running around outside, but tried not to make a big deal out of it. Around 3 am, I heard this awful coughing sound and went to check on him. He was laying in bed, wheezing and sounding as if he couldn't catch his breath.

I woke Keith up and had him listen to Jonathan to see if I was having a pregnancy over-reaction. I wasn't. Keith agreed that he sounded TERRIBLE. By this time Jonathan is fully awake and talking and asking me to sleep with him. Selfishly I was afraid to sleep with him and share his germs. So I held him for awhile instead, and he talked the.whole.time. But in between each sentence he would wheeze and sort of gasp for air. We quickly decided a trip to the ER was in order. We didn't know what we were dealing with.

So, Jonathan and I went to the mini-ER down the street. We were their only patient that early Friday morning and received wonderful care. Jonathan was quickly diagnosed with croup, which I didn't know existed any more. Most children just get a bad cough, that sounds like a seal barking, but some, like Jonathan, suffer from a constricted airway. So, after some steroids and a popsicle, we were sent home and back to bed we all went.

I'm convinced that we all have croup now, but we are able to manage it and cough up the junk. And Jonathan is feeling much better. He has two more days of steroids, which seem to have upped the orneriness factor. But I'll take ornery over wheezing sick boy any day!

Trip to the ER

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Definitely a 10, maybe a 12 and that was for Keith and I!

Sad baby.
I was trying to distract him with the camera while we waited. It just seemed to tick him off more!

Battle wounds all stitched up.

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, yesterday was a beautiful day until I let Jonathan crawl in the grass. My parents are getting a new roof and all the supplies had been dropped off for the workers, including a roll of sheet metal. Nice, shiny, incredibly sharp sheet metal. Jonathan was literally by my feet checking out the grass, when he starts to cry. I look down and he has crawled over to the roll of sheet metal and all I see is blood. I believe I screamed, Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!

Keith swoops in. Scoops up Jonathan. Rushes in the house and washes his hand off to see the extent of the damage. Mom, dad and I are close behind. Andrew is in the sandbox oblivious to it all. Keith sees the massive cut on the inside of Jonathan's hand, below his thumb, yells for a towel and one of us to apply pressure and tells us we need stitches and the ER. He hands off Jonathan. Runs to the car and removes Andrew's car seat so I can sit next to Jonathan and hold his hand for the 15 minute drive to the ER.

This happened around 5:45 and we were at the hospital close to 6. We walk in and I see that the waiting room is packed. Not a good sign! But I had hope that because Jonathan was screaming, bleeding and little that we would be moved up to the top of the list. Unfortunately, there were 3 or 4 car accidents that had just occurred and those victims were ahead of us. They triaged us and decided Jonathan wasn't critical and so we waited. And waited. And waited.

Oh, and we weren't allowed to give him anything to eat or drink while we waited. Nice. I told the nurse that the doctor could hold him if they wouldn't let me nurse. I don't think she knew what to do with me. But I wanted to comfort my baby and make the screaming stop! Well the doctor did not hold him and the screaming did stop as long as we stayed outside and sang and walked. It finally got too cold and we had to go inside and wait some more.

We were finally brought back to a room around 9 pm and the doctor numbed Jonathan's hand and then did a very thorough check of his injuries. I'll skip the gory details, but I saw more of the inside of my little boy's hand than I EVER want to see again! Fortunately the doctor declared no tendon or nerve damage. He did, however, put 8 stitches in the cut by his thumb and 6 stitches in his finger. Oh, and did I mention that we had to help hold Jonathan down during this procedure as he screamed at us and at the doctor.

We did learn from all this that Keith is GREAT in a crisis. Me, well, let's just say I had a little trouble. When we were admitting Jonathan to the ER, Keith was holding him, and I was trying to answer the admit person's questions. Silly questions like his middle initial and date of birth. I think it took me a full minute to tell her his middle initial. I couldn't for the life of me think of his middle name. I ran through many names in my head before it came to me. Pathetic mother under pressure. She was very kind and understanding and told me she had other questions that she would ask me later.

Jonathan is recovering great! He slept through the night, which I did not expect. The injured thumb is also the thumb he sucks. (So, while I had been wondering how we would break the thumb-sucking habit, I didn't want this to be the method!) This morning he invented some sort of two-legged, one-handed crawl to get around. He has been walking, but isn't super steady. He kind of looks like a penguin. So, I figure by the time these stitches come out, walking will be mastered! And he's a little more cranky, angry than usual, but really who can blame him?!

The good news is that the doctor told us he will heal quickly and to check with our pediatrician to see if we can get the stitches out on Friday. Here's hoping and praying!

Thank you, Lord that the damage was fairly minor and for protecting our sweet boy!