My week-end

Where do I begin? I guess I'll start with Friday morning. We woke up early to go to Children's Sake Co-op, which is the homeschool group we meet with every other Friday. Toby is taking Handwriting and Bug Club this semester and Lorelai is taking U.S. Geography and Polished Cornerstones. Polished Cornerstones is  basically a Bible study for young girls that I am teaching. We will study scriptures on character and learn how to be who God created us to be as individuals, as well as what it means to live a Godly life. 

Seth had a real runny nose when I got him up, but he didn't have a fever so we loaded up and headed to Bryan. He acted fine except for the runny nose and the fact that he fell asleep on the floor of the nursery. That really isn't all that unusual for him. He's like his big brother and can fall asleep just about anywhere. After Co-op, I took all the kids over to Nick's Mom's house while I decorated for my sister-in-law's baby shower. After I finished decorating, Nick was actually off on a Friday night and we got to go on a much needed date. (By the way, we saw the movie, Unconditional, and it was awesome! You should go see it and tell all your friends to go see it.) We got home late that night and Seth was up a lot because his nose was so stuffy. 

The next morning the cold, or whatever it was, was in his chest and he was having a little bit of a hard time breathing. I gave him a breathing treatment and left him with Nick's Dad during the baby shower. He gave him several treatments and I ended up having to leave the shower early because he wasn't doing good. When I got to him, he had calmed down but was still having a very hard time breathing. This was the fourth time he had done this. In May we took him to the doctor and they said his chest sounded clear and there was basically nothing we could do but suction out his nose and use saline. The very next week, we were in the ER because he was struggling so hard to breathe while we were grocery shopping. Again, they told us there was nothing they could do. 

I had Asthma when I was little and Lorelai has asthma, so when my child can't breath I freak out. When she was two we were on our way to the ER when she started throwing up and turning blue in her car seat. We pulled over at a gas station and called 911. An ambulance came and I could tell by how they were acting that  it was very serious. I held her in the ambulance while she cried as they started an IV. I sang Jesus Loves Me in her little ear and prayed for her all the way to the hospital. At one point, the ambulance pulled over and another EMT hopped in before we were racing off to the hospital again. When you hear the EMT on their cell phone asking for help that is not a good thing. I was very sad for my baby girl, but God gave me His peace through it all and I believe if it weren't for Him we may have lost her that day. I remember them telling me when it was all over with that it's scary when small children have an Asthma attack because they fight for so long then they just give up. They use all their resources and then they just go to sleep and stop breathing.

About two weeks ago I took Seth in for this same thing and this time breathing treatments helped him. He had a fever that time, so they gave him antibiotics. He just finished those about a week before this episode. I debated on whether or not I should take him in because he didn't have a fever and I thought the doctor would just tell me to keep doing what I was doing. He was needing treatment after treatment with little to no relief so I decided to take him in. 

First, I went to the St. Joseph Clinic in Hearne, not knowing they were out of network for our insurance. (We just recently got on insurance through Nick's new job.) At that point, I was still debating whether or not it was necessary for him to see a doctor so I decided to make the drive to Bryan to the Scott and White Clinic. That was the scariest drive of my life. Seth was in nothing but his diaper because he was sweating and I know from experience that when you are hot it is even harder to breathe. I could see his ribs and his little belly extending as he cried and struggled to breathe. It sounded like he was saying, "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God," between shallow breaths. I cried and prayed and my car could not go fast enough.  By the time we got to the clinic he was sleeping and actually breathing better. I got to the desk and was told I would have to pay for the visit out of pocket because I didn't have proof of insurance yet. I didn't have the money for that so I decided to go down the road to my sister-in-law's house to give him a breathing treatment. She works at the S & W clinic I took him to and she got on the phone to get Seth's insurance ID then called the clinic to start the registration process. I took him in and they decided to admit him into the hospital because it was more than likely an Asthma attack. I was not expecting that. It looked like Asthma to me, but after seeing the doctor three times with these same symptoms, just not as severe, without one mention of Asthma I was hoping this was all just because of congestion. 

Nick was at work when I left for the doctor and was planning on coming home in time to do our Saturday night youth service at church, so I'm on the phone with him throughout this whole process updating him and trying to decide if he should come to the hospital after youth. He ended up getting our Student Leaders (SO thankful for them!) to take over the service and he rode up to the hospital with his parents. Thankfully, he got there just before they put the IV in. I had to leave the room. A nurse came in the hall after a little while and told me they were done so I went back in. My poor baby was wrapped tight in a sheet with only one arm out. The IV was in and he was laying there whimpering with his eyes shut. They were still cleaning him up and there was a towel under his little hand with his blood all over it. I knelt down and he opened his eyes and looked up at me. I kissed his little cheek over and over and rubbed my hands through his sweaty hair. It was so hard to see him like that, but I was so grateful that, even though it was painful, what he just went through was going to make him better. I thought of all the parents with sick children that have to watch them suffer day after day with conditions much worse that Asthma. I almost felt embarrassed for crying over something so small as an IV. 

The next morning he was a new kid and not too happy about all the cords attached to him. He had the IV, oxygen under his nose, and the little cord attached to his big toe to monitor his oxygen level. He was starting to feel better and it was getting harder and harder to keep him still, so I was so thankful when we were released at lunch time, less than 24 hours since we got there. The doctor thought we'd be there for several days, but I found out later that complete strangers on Facebook were praying for his recovery and I'm convinced my God intervened once more. Here he is after we got the good news.