Sunday, November 9, 2008

A day & night at the hospital


We have crossed over into the category of parents with a child who was sent to the hospital. In a weird way, I feel like I've conquered something great. The experience was not great at all, but we all survived and have grown and now KNOW we can trust God in scary hospital business because we experienced Him firsthand! Let me tell you the story....

Last Tuesday morning at 5:30am Mikaela came into our room, so I picked her up and snuggled her under the covers. I asked if she was okay, but she didn't say anything. I put my arm around her and felt her heart pounding WAY harder than normal and her breathing was very shallow and rapid. At first I thought she had a nightmare because I think it's this age (2 yrs. old) when they start remembering them and getting scared. After 5 minutes of laying there and thinking what in the world could be the matter, I woke up Kevin. We sat her up and gave her some juice. That's when she started crying and clinging to us. At about 6:30am Kevin called the on-call nurse who told us to call Mikaela's doctor and leave a message or take her to the ER. He called the office, but they didn't have an answering machine, so he decided to take her to the ER in Temple.

When they got there, her oxygen level was at 75% (it should be at 100% for a child) and her heart rate was 210 (it should be in the 100's). The medical staff swung into action fast because she was NOT doing well at all! They stuck an IV to rehydrate her and gave her two breathing treatments right away. She had chest x-rays taken, lots of stethoscope listening, and swabs up her nose to collect mucous. The doctor concluded it was viral bronchiolitis. Although each virus tested came back negative. They put her on antibiotics and an inhaler. My "mother gut" still thinks it was an asthma attack. The symptoms and treatment are the same and considering her history of eczema and allergies, asthma seems to fit right in.

Anyways, Kevin stayed with her the whole time, minus about 20 minutes when he ran out to get us Taco Bell for dinner. He was AMAZING with her. I sure wish I had a dad as loving and attentive as he is to Mikaela... and Keira for that matter :) He held her for hours and sang to her. When it was bedtime, he pushed the extra bed right next to hers and sang some more while holding her hand and playing with her hair until she fell asleep. Their relationship deepened. I stayed home with Keira... and watched the election... and prayed for my friend, Rachel who was in labor :) Kevin brought her home a little before noon on Wednesday. It's been almost a week and nothing similar has happened... praise God!!!!!


I praise God for protecting Mikaela.
I praise God for giving us wisdom and peace.
I priase God for how much He loves Mikaela.
I praise God for knitting Mikaela together perfectly.
All her little "medical issues" aren't issues in His eyes.
I praise God for life!

4 comments:

The Trombleys said...

I praise God that He brought little Mikaela to you at 5:30 in the morning. I cried as I read your story; it is one of my worst fears to have a child so sick that she needs to go to the hospital. It makes me want to go hold them in my arms and never let go!

I am so thankful Mikaela is home safe and sound!!

Jennifer Owens said...

Wow, that's so scary! I'm so glad she's okay!

She's so blessed to have a good mom and dad who love her the way you guys do.

Dacia said...

i'm glad she's okay now! what a scary experience!!

Jen said...

Yes, let's do get together. I've been carrying YOUR baby gifts with me from 2 houses & now they've been riding with us everywhere in the car. Give me a call next week after Thanksgiving & we'll get together before our babies graduate:)