More Firsts

And these are not milestones on a list that I particularly wanted to check off.

We'd been home from the hospital a day and a half and I thought things were looking OK. Sure, we're all feeling a bit stir crazy and tired of hanging out in the living room watching movies. But Sophie was doing OK, and seemed herself much of the time despite the lack of mobility. This morning brought a different day.

She was up at 6am after a most unrestful night. She coughed a lot. I kind of figured it was mucus in her throat from laying down so much the last 3 days. She started the morning out before 6am fussing. This is not her norm. She typically sleeps later, and her disposition does not whine much. She refused to eat. Anything. Another freakish twist. Not even pancakes. She just cried and complained that the tummy hurt. At one point, I think she just gave up fighting with us to eat something and went to sleep for an hour. I hate to give her pain meds for the feet (which she still really needs) without something, however small, in her stomach. Eric managed to get her to eat half a graham cracker all morning. Something was definitely up. And it was not good.

I spoke to the doc oncall from the orthopaedics office to see if this could in anyway be related to the surgery or anesthesia. He (naturally) disagreed, but suggested we have her checked out. If I had not seen her labored breathing I may have dismissed this. But, thankfully I did not. We took her to an acute clinic which is very close. They got us in quickly, and almost immediately I knew something was very wrong. Her pulse O2 was only 92%. Her breathing was most definitely compromised. The doctor there said right off we'd need a nebulizer treatment, and a chest X-ray, and very likely this was going to require a hospitalization. She suspected pneumonia. We were told we needed to go back to Maine Med - where we'd been just 2 days before. I was too caught up in the reality that we were going to have to relive the hospital horror, have to have an IV put in a 3 yr old while she's awake, etc horror, to realize what was happening next. During the nebulizer treatment, two firemen showed up, asking if we needed a ride. They said they had a big truck out front of the clinic. And that they did. The reality sunk in.

We were going to the hospital, and we were going in full emergency style. Actually, an ambulance came moments later, and a stretcher, and many tears. Hers and mine. I've never been in an ambulance and really never want to be again. Not only is it a bit scarry, it is a very bumpy ride. We were not with siren on, going fast either! I suppose it must be protocol for a doctor to call for ER transport when a minor is involved, but we were not expecting it. So here I am, unshowered today. I nearly forgot to put on a bra this morning. And I was starving. And to top it all off, I thought that we were embarking on the second hospital admission of the week. Good God, who needs this life of mine!

We were rapidly seen, and yet a 2nd doc thought it seemed likely it was pneumonia, but we'd do a chest xray to confirm. By that point, I just wanted to get my daughter onto the pediatric floor, allow her to rest and get the medicine she needed. Instead we had to wait in an ER room for nearly 2 hours, waiting for someone to read the xrays. TO our surprise they were negative. Normal. No [pneumonia. Puzzling to me, and maybe to them a little. WHat the heck was it? Is it? She's clearly sick and not normal and coughing A LOT. There needs to be a better explaination, for my methodical mind. The words "It may be a virus" is just too unsettling for adequate peace of mind. The good news is we are home. Sophie did eat some food this evening. She even went outside for a while with me, gladly. We rocked on the porch swing a while. She asked to sit in the grass, and who was I to refuse?! She just needs her life to be as normal as it can be. She loved that, even for 15 minutes. Then we sat on a blanket in the back yard - like a picnic. She chatted away with me, did her first few crawling steps since having the casts. It was a good hour and a half, and hopefully a glimpse at what this week will bring. We have a home inhaler/nebulizer to use with her which hopefully will help this chest illness. She is scheduled to have these casts replaced this Friday, but under a light general anesthesia. I kind of don't think they will even consider this if she's got a nasty hacky cough. And certainly not if she had pneumonia. That thought of delaying the "surgery" was worrysome.

I am supposed to be going to MQX in Providence next Saturday if my household is healthy enough. It seems a world away right now, but there's one small thing to look forward to. Until then, I can check off "been to an ER" and "ridden in an ambulance" from my imaginary list of Life Goals. Been there, done that. Don't really see a need to repeat!

Cheers-the week can only get better from here. Hope to be posting quilty goodness very soon.