Unexpected

On Friday, June 3 William woke up with a little bit of a stuffy nose. I didn't think much of it until I was burping him later in the afternoon and he sounded a bit wheezy when I was holding him against me. I was with a friend and asked her opinion. She agreed, so I got myself right in to see the doctor because after all, he was only 5 1/2 weeks old. (Amazing for a Friday afternoon and AMAZING that I had another friend offer to take the girls so I didn't have to take everyone.)
The diagnosis: A cold.
The remedy: Saline mist and bulb suction as needed, cool mist humidifier, sleep on an angle, Vicks Vapor rub on his chest, nose and chin. If he got a fever or it persisted more than 5 days we should return immediately.

He didn't worse, nor did he get better. On Wednesday June 8, day 5, I contemplated taking him in but decided to wait 1 more day just in case. That evening at 5 p.m. he came down with a fever of 100.6. I called the after hours nurse at my pediatrician's office and was instructed to take him to the ER. For a newborn anything above a 100.4 is considered a dangerous fever. I waited for Bill to get home and administer a priesthood blessing. Bill's mom was here (tender mercy) and agreed to stay with the girls while we took William to the ER.

We arrived at St. Luke's at 7:30 p.m. to a waiting room FULL of people. Luckily, the pediatrics side is different and we didn't wait too long. A chest x-ray showed that William had a socked in pocket of pneumonia in his upper right lung. I was shocked! Who gets pneumonia in June- in Houston? They would have to admit him right then to start a heavy therapy of IV antibiotics, but first one more test. I was Group B Strep positive and untreated in labor and they had to be sure to rule out meningitis since he got sick before he was 8 weeks old. I cried though the entire spinal tap. It was so painful to watch that happen to my tiny, sweet baby. THANKFULLY it was negative and we only had to treat pneumonia. (I'm grateful that we skirted RSV also!)

Just after midnight we arrived in our room.
It was a long night and there wasn't much sleep for anyone, but we managed. I quickly went home to change clothes and pack a bag b/c I knew that I'd be staying for a few days. When I got home Brooklyn woke up (she still does that sometimes) and I was able to rock and sing her back to sleep. A few minutes later Madisen came in and asked about William. We talked and she was concerned, so we knelt in prayer together. It was neat to be able to comfort and feel comfort myself.

Bill left early Thursday morning to go relieve his mom. And then he turned into SUPER DAD for the weekend, taking the girls to swimming lessons, the grocery store, birthday parties, etc. In fact, he was so super that he arrived to one party 30 minutes early. Oops- sorry Sierra!

And for me, it was a vacation- right? I didn't cook one meal- in fact complimentary room service was delivered 3x a day (and there was unlimited chocolate Blue Bell ice cream upon request from the nurses), wash one dish, change the sheets, wash or fold laundry or clean up one mess created by my toddler! I got to spend 24 hours focusing on my sweet little boy. He enjoyed resting against my knees and talking and cooing at me.
He had a sponge bath, an IV change- from the right arm to the left, multiple high powered nose suctions and a few deep suctions where they reach in to the lungs to remove the mucus.
And of course, he had some breathing treatments.
This angel woman is Nurse Lucinda. Some people are meant to be nurses and she truly was made for this job! She was attentive, careful, sweet, patient, knowledgeable, thorough, doting and witty! Lucky for me she was our nurse all day on both Thursday and Friday. (Don't you love William's socks! I sure do and they were the only piece of 'home' he got to have while we were there.)
Bill brought the girls up on Friday night to 'visit'. The girls weren't allowed on the floor, so we had dinner in the cafeteria as a family. Then the girls and I walked around the lake and found 24 turtles hoping that we would feed them- while daddy had a turn to be with William for a while.
I tried to cherish every minute of our quiet time together. He is growing up too quickly and I want time to stop! I love his tiny little fingers wrapped around mine, they are still so pure and perfect. Those hands have great work to preform in this life and I'm humbled to be able to raise this boy of a noble and great generation (and his sisters, too).
We spent a lot to time like this. Secretly, I think it was just what the doctor ordered! Despite the fact that he could not have felt well, he maintained his peaceful and calm disposition.
We were discharged on Saturday, June 11. We continued the breathing treatments and antibiotics and he's a new boy. I am so grateful for modern medicine and a competent staff who took such great care of us!