An Eventful Week

Last weekend was such a fun weekend! We got to hang out with Kate, Aunt Ivy, Uncle Tony, and Tom (Tony's brother-in-law from NY). Tom was in town to see the Tigers play. That was a bit of a disappointment. I hated that Tom had to experience THAT game (and season for that matter) as his first game, but I think he enjoyed pregame! :-) We got to visit with our cousins that were in town for the game. My cousin Lewis's kids were in town with him, and my two LOVE Jillian and Trey. It was a good family weekend!

Rush was acting kind of cranky on Saturday and Sunday. He had a little bit of a runny nose, but it seemed fairly typical of a cold that kids get. By Sunday night, he was running a temp of 101. We made plans for him to stay with my Mama so we could go to work. Early Monday morning, he came into my bedroom and woke me up. I thought it was just his same habit of getting up early, etc. I walked him back to his room and put him in the bed. I could hear and see his little stomach trying desperately to get a full breath. I could tell this was not just a normal cold. We changed plans, and I made him a doctor's appointment for that morning. I took him in expecting to get some antibiotics and to take a couple of days off work to get him well.We saw Dr. Johnson, who is not our regular doctor, and he listened to Rush for a long time. I could tell something was up. The doctor heard pneumonia in his lungs, and he said he would give him antibiotics for that. He said he was just going to get his nurse to come in and check Rush's oxygen saturation levels. She came in with the monitor and tried it on about 5 different fingers hoping for a different result. I spent enough time staring at monitors when the kids were in the NICU to know that 91 percent wasn't going to be good enough. While we waited for the doctor to come back, I was sending frantic texts to Aunt Ivy, R.N. Dr. Johnson came back in and said that Rush would need to be admitted to the hospital for overnight observation. My eyes immediately filled with tears. I just wasn't expecting him to say that. I recovered without Rush seeing me, and we prepared to head to the hospital. I tried to downplay it all for him. He said, "I don't fink dis will be much fun, Moooom." I wanted to tell him I totally agreed.

Day 1--watching Toy Story:

It took forever to convince him to put on the hospital gown. He said gowns are for guhls (girls).



Of course, when you have a little one in the hospital, someone has to stay with them in their room. After a very traumatic experience (for him and me) of having an IV inserted into his little hand by two very sweet nurses, I fully expected everything to be better by the next day. He had several breathing treatments and a couple of doses of high-powered antibiotics. The on call doctor was Dr. Fuller. He went to high school and graduated with Ivy. He wanted to run a lab on Rush to test for the presence of mycoplasm. He said that it was a bacteria that causes "walking pneumonia". I always thought that walking pneumonia was when people tried to keep going (or walking around) with pneumonia when they really should be home in the bed. It is an actual type of pneumonia often called "atypical pnuemonia". And if you have to pick a kind of pneumonia to have, it is somewhat mild in nature. After that diagnosis, they changed his antibiotic. Unfortunately, despite the definite diagnosis, Rush's oxygen levels would remain acceptable during the day, but at night, they would drop into the 80s. Doctors and nurses do not like this. Neither do Mamas of four year old, fuzzy-headed little boys. So, one night turned into two. On our third day there, Dr. Johnson came in and said he would be comfortable sending us home with the oxygen numbers from the previous night (with only a little supplemental oxygen in his nose). We ate yucky food off cafteria trays (although breakfast wasn't so bad). We colored in coloring books. We watched many movies. I even had to break down and let him play in the "toy room". Y'all know I don't like public toys. There was little choice, though. We had to have something to do during the day, and the doctors and nurses encouraged him to get up and move around and play as much as possible.

He got many balloons and stuffed animals while he was there. I think he kinda enjoyed himself. Those nurses spoil their little patients. Popsicles whenever you want them... grilled cheese sandwiches ordered between lunch and dinner..

Truthfully, because Rush is a twin, he rarely gets that kind of undivided attention. If we had been in any other circumstances, I could say that I loved spending that time with him. I will say I enjoyed hanging out with my little guy. He talks so much when you have him one on one. He is funny and entertaining. (Except for about an hour after every albuterol breathing treatment where he turned into a little devil with horns and enough energy for every adult in that hospital to share. Mama witnessed this with me one afternoon. It was unfortunate.)

All is well, now, though. We are so thankful and happy to be home. He is doing much better. A cough still lingers, but overall, he is back to his happy little self.

Taking goofy cell phone pictures with his sister after bath time last night...