Earning Some Mom Stripes

Last week, the Pedersen house was felled by a nasty stomach bug.  Jeffery became sick before dinner on Wednesday.  I came down with the illness as I was preparing for bed that night.  Jakob woke us screaming in the middle night, having been sick in his crib.  I hoped and prayed that Dave would be spared as he had choral festivals to adjudicate over the weekend....but alas....he was the final victim on Thursday night.  

I didn't know what to do.  Our family is rarely sick.  We have been blessed so far.  I have friends whose little ones are constantly struggling with some malady or another but this was only the 2nd time that Jeffery has been really sick.  But being sick....and still having to be a parent....to children who are themselves sick, is THE PITS!  I just wanted my mom to come take care of me, to curl my fevered body on the couch and watch some mindless TV as I drifted in and out of sleep. But you can't do that when you're a parent.  :(  

Jeffery and I were the first to recover.  By Saturday morning, Jeffery was making up for all the words he hadn't spent over the previous days.  My ears felt like they were bleeding.  :)  Dave made it to all of his festivals and was able to "get the money" (a kind of mantra in our house).  But Jakob....Jakob still suffered.  By Saturday, I was more than ready to have my sweet little bear back with his goofy smile and infectious laugh.  

But all he did was veg in his swing.  He ran a fever most of Saturday and was just listless.  He wouldn't even smile for Dave...which is HIGHLY unusual.  As I was getting everyone ready for church on Sunday morning, I took his temp and it came back 101.5 degrees.  I fed him, hoping to get some liquids into his hot little body as he had been refusing the Pedialite and nursing the previous day.  But an hour later, he was sick again.  I tracked down Dave at church to let him know I wouldn't be there for Mass....and prepared to take myself and Jakob to the Pediatric ER once Dave came home.  After 4 days of being ill, running a fever for 2 days, and only 2-3 wet diapers in those 4 days, it was time to get some help.  I was afraid of dehydration and I know that once dehydrated, you can decline very quickly.  

Trying to bring the fever down with a cold compress and Cubbie Monkey for comfort

So....Dave put Jeffery down for his nap while I loaded Jakob into the car.  I kissed Dave goodbye and wished him a Happy Anniversary (it was our 12th that day) and told him to cancel our dinner reservations and left.  The nurses and doctors at the hospital were fantastic.  Over our 8 hours there (yes....8 hours), they did everything they could to help my little bear.  Plan A was to get some blood work done and then hook him up to an IV to get some fluids into his system.  Sadly, he was so dehydrated that his veins were all flat and wouldn't come to the surface.  I tried to console him and reassure him that I was there as they poked him in every arm, wrist, leg, and foot....and then tried to race after veins that they knew existed in that spot but were not cooperating.  They were finally happy to get a mere 15 drops of blood.  It was enough to show that his blood sugar levels were fine....that his CO2 count indicated moderate dehydration and not severe....and to convince them that there wasn't any possible way they were going to get an IV into him.  We moved to Plan B.  They catheterized him to check for a UTI after his fever spiked to over a 102 degrees (when we were admitted, it was 99.5 degrees). That came back okay.  Moving on to Plan C.  They gave him some anti-nauseu medicine and he took some Pedialite which made everyone VERY happy.  

Yellow hospital gown -- at least that was a little cheery

He was sick but not in any danger...and still it was a gut wrenching experience for me.  I just wanted my little bear to be okay.  I was exhausted and the only way he would be comforted was to be in my arms....which by the end of the day felt like lead.  6 hours in...and not knowing how long I still had to go (there was some talk about keeping him overnight)...I realized that I hadn't had anything to eat all day long.  Dave called in a babysitter to watch Jeffery for a short time and brought some food reinforcements in...and a much needed hug and smile.

Father M., the wonderful, amazing priest at our church who baptized Jakob found out and immediately came over to the ER to give Jakob a little blessing for sick children that he had just happened to find after he found out that Jakob was sick.  His calmness and presence was truly a Godsend for me and I can't thank him enough for coming to be with me and Jakob.  

And even in the midst of all of this....I was reminded, quite vividly, that there are always people less fortunate....people who are experiencing greater struggles and that behind every smile, are trials that we are completely oblivious to.  I was singing to Jakob as I tried to console him -- quiet, peaceful songs that I've sung to him since the day he was born.  There were only 3 that he would become calm and peaceful during: "Tell Me Why", "Children of the Heavenly Father", and the "Salve Regina".  I was singing the Salve Regina (in Latin) to him....I had just begun the 4th or 5th repeat of the song, when a Hispanic woman walked in to empty the trash.  She couldn't have been much older than me.  I kept singing to keep Jakob quiet.  And she just stood there for a moment, looking at us, and then put her trash bag down, closed her eyes and started to sing with me.  It was amazing.  It was surreal.  It was...beautiful.  When we finished, she asked in broken English if Jakob was my son.  Knowing enough Spanish to reply, I said that he was my "hijo".  She nodded and said in Spanish that her baby son was....a word that I couldn't understand...and then she pointed up, towards heaven...and was with God.  She then picked up her bag, grabbed my room's trash can, and left the room.  I was left speechless at what had just transpired in my small ER room and I held Jakob a little closer to me.  As I said on Facebook, never underestimate the power of music and faith to transcend time and place and situation.  :)

After 8 hours, we were sent home as he was taking some liquids and his fever had come down.  They felt he had a viral infection but would be okay to go home.  I was exhausted but so relieved that we weren't staying the night at the hospital....that our family was all back together.  I came home to a spotless house.  Dave, with a little help from Jeffery, had cleaned the house to make sure that after a stressful day, I didn't have anymore stress to deal with.  And he said that the best anniversary present was just having me and Jakob back at home.  :)  A day later, Jakob was flashing some smiles our way and kicking his feet in excitement whenever Jeffery went near him.  

As a mom, I am constantly second guessing myself.  Would he have been okay without a trip to the hospital?  Was it really necessary?  But Dave and I think we did the right thing.  Dehydration....especially in one so little....is not something to mess around with and my gut was telling me that he was dehydrated.  They were able to introduce a non-flavored Pedialite which he immediately took to whereas he had been refusing the flavored one we had at home.  And they were able to make sure he was not in any danger.  I am so glad he is better and back to his normal self.  The nurse told me that no matter what your child is sick with, it is those days that you earn some of your mom stripes.  

The force is strong with this young Padawan.  I'm just glad he is smiling again!  :)