MARY'S HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE

Maggie, Mac, and Mary have all had a yucky winter. Little Mac was never sick until he turned a year old. After that, it seems like he hasn't been well. He had tonsilitis twice, nasty colds, a gross stomach virus (which he shared with Mary), and the added horrific diaper rash that accompanies that. Poor little Mary caught another of their illnesses when she was 6 weeks old. We took her to the doctor, along with Mac, on Wednesday, 2/24. Mac had the beginning of an ear infection but Mary had clear ears and lungs. By Friday, she was running a fever. At 7pm, that night, the on-call nurse advised us to go ahead and take her to the ER. Brett & I dropped Mac and Mag off at mom and daddy's and headed out. We were in the back very quickly but then things stalled. Total time in the ER, 8 hours! Mary was a little angel. Brett and I sat up and watched the Olympics and she slept whenever they weren't messing with her. They tried to draw blood and start her IV twice. They blew two viens. They got offended when I asked for a pediatric nurse to come do it. Poor little Mary. Brett & I were very calm & collected though. The doctor was very nice but screwed up. He forgot to send in the orders to have us moved upstairs. Hince the 8 hour wait. He called and came to check on us the next two days. I guess he felt badly because a 6 week old, with a fever, was having trouble breathing! They gave her a treatment right before we were sent upstairs. We were on the 3rd floor at 4:30 am where they tried to start the IV. Didn't work, again. When Mary was going to be jabbed for the 4th time, I asked for the nurse supervisor to come do it. She was able to get it right away. The only time I broke down and cried was while waiting for her to get there. I was later told that if she had not been successful, they would have had to put it in her head! Yikes! Anyway, after that Brett dosed in a chair and I sat up and held Mary. I can't sleep sitting up. The room only had chairs and cribs. I had been up for about 36 hours at that point and had been holding her for 10 hours straight. It was then that God and I had a very good, long talk. He definitely uses those situations to bring you closer to Him. If that's what it takes, then I'm grateful. Brett took off and stayed with us Monday and Tuesday. He did go home Sunday night and got a good night's sleep. I was very proud of myself for staying at the hospital alone. I had my girl with me though. When Brett stayed with us, the little cot was actually pretty comfy for me. He didn't agree. I'm sure the nurses thought it was a sight to see both of us squished on there though. Mary was in the hospital from Friday night to Tuesday. Her oxygen levels kept dropping so she was on and off oxygen. The initial x-rays showed RSV and pneumonia. Brett kept praying for the pneumonia to just go away. They did x-rays again on Monday...the pneumonia was gone! They thought that perhaps it was a shadow on the first x-ray. We just believe that God can do anything. Mary was able to go home Tuesday and continue breathing treatments there. We were so proud of her. Her little sweet self would just cry when they would stick her and then look that them and smile. She really was a little angel the whole time. I'm so glad that she has Mac's disposition. DeJuana actually commented, "Aren't you glad that you never had to go through this with Maggie?" I can't imagine.