Thankfulness

Nora has had a cold lately. Because she's been congested, she hasn't slept very well, which means I haven't slept very well. She had her 18 month well-child check yesterday. Since she had a cough, the doctor checked her lungs and ears. Both were okay, but he did tell me to watch her cough and call if it got worse. Last night she went to bed okay and I went to bed early, figuring I wouldn't get to sleep all night. I was in bed by 10:30, early for me. As predicted, Nora woke up about 2:30 (I think. Nights of interrupted sleep start to run together.). We were back in bed shortly after 3. She whimpered in her sleep a few times but didn't really cry until about 6:30. We got up for the day then. She had that barky cough so I turned on the shower, cranked the hot water up, and shut the down. We sat in there for a while. I'm not sure how much it helped. I tried giving her juice but she didn't want it. I googled croup and took her outside, hoping the cool air would help. It didn't seem to. After continuing to hack and cry, she threw up a lot of phlegm - right into my hand. Miserable, but it seemed to help more than anything else had.

Finally it was 8 am and I called the doctor's office. They said to bring her back in. So I got all the girls dressed, dropped Ella off at school, and headed to the doctor's office for the second morning in a row. They took us back to a room within a few minutes and the nurse talked to us and said the doctor would be in shortly. Nora slept fitfully on me (honestly, I can't be very comfortable for her. I'm too short for her to stretch out.) and I almost fell asleep. Mia looked at magazines and explored the room. She did wonderfully. The doctor came in after about 45 minutes (well, we didn't have an appointment) and looked Nora over. He listened to her lungs, her throat, and checked her ears. One ear was pink - it had been clear yesterday. She also had a slight fever. He was concerned about her breathing so he had us get x-rays of her lungs.

That was more waiting. Nora would sleep on me for a bit, wake up and cry, and occasionally would stop and just whimper. The x-ray tech was wonderful and did a great job, but I hope we never have to do x-rays like that again. She put Nora in this contraption. We had to slip her legs into these holes and she straddled the table. Then I had to hold her arms over her head while we closed this clear plastic thing around her. It's effective for keeping little bodies straight and arms out of the way for chest x-rays but poor Nora was miserable. She just sobbed and kept reaching for me. Mia had to wear an apron and stand off to the side. She was very concerned about Nora and I had visions of her having vague memories of watching her baby sister in what looked like a torture device, complete with leather strap, while I stood there letting it happen. And I stood there in a lead apron holding Nora's hands and trying to comfort her as best I could without holding her. They took back and side shots and then we had to wait a minute for them to develop. The tech said it was easier to keep kids in there than put them back in there so we waited. A few had to be repeated and it felt like an eternity. Poor Nora gets this betrayed look when she's upset with me. I almost cried with her. But the x-rays were clear and we walked back to the exam room we had been in.

We waited a bit longer before the doctor came back in to explain the diagnosis: bronchiolitis. He said right now Nora's trachea is more inflamed and congested than her bronchi (is that right? I don't know.) but he wanted to treat it aggressively since Nora is so young and it came on so quickly. The prescription is basically a kiddie z-pack and steroids to help her breathe easier. He said to give her Tylenol too, for any fever and discomfort, and to keep him updated on her progress. By this time, we had been at the doctor's office for about two hours. I love our doctor. He's thorough, reassuring, and doesn't rush, even though we didn't have an appointment.

Since it was 11 am by then and none of us had eaten anything (Ella had a cereal bar on the way to school), we swung through Tim Horton's. I got coffee (extra large and NOT decaf) and tried to get an egg white breakfast sandwich and ordered Timbits (donut holes) for the girls. They were out of egg whites, so I ordered a regular breakfast sandwich. I pulled forward, paid, and took the coffee and Timbits. And I waited. Finally, the girl came back and asked if I needed something. I said my sandwich. Oh, she thought I didn't want one. Then she wandered away and the manager came to window and asked if she could help me. So I ordered my breakfast sandwich for the third time. I paid for it, got it, and we left. I love TH and I'm glad they usually do a better job than that. Although I have to say, if I'm having a rough morning already, they are out of what I try to order and/or mess up my order. I still say they're better than Starbucks or Biggby though.

We continued to Walgreens, where we once again waited for someone to notice us. Finally someone helped us. She said she was working on Nora's prescriptions and it would probably be 15-20 minutes. Of course. But at least we knew, so I turned off the van and gave Mia another Timbit. Nora was inconsolable again at this point. She didn't want the bottle of juice I had for her. She didn't want a donut. She wanted either a bottle of milk or me. She sat there crying and repeating, "Mamama" in the most pathetic voice possible. I ate my sandwich and sipped my hot coffee, wishing I had ordered an iced coffee and we could just get the prescriptions and go home already. I called Steve to update him on everything, they finally gave us the prescription (about 18 minutes from the time she told me 15-20 minutes), and we headed home, Nora crying the whole way.

We got home, got inside, and I tried to give Nora her meds. She drooled out some of the azithromycin and we both ended up sticky (side note: this is why I avoid giving my girls ibuprofen. It always ends up all over my hands - and I'm allergic. Like my throat will swell shut if I ingest it. So if I give them ibuprofen, I feel like I immediately need to scrub my hands. Tylenol is just easier and safer.). So I laid her down to give her the prednisone but she still spit some of it out. I went to the kitchen to wash my sticky hands and the syringe and came back to find a puddle on the floor. So I don't know how much of either she really got. I gave her Tylenol a little later too and gave her a fresh bottle of milk. She calmed down and maybe half an hour later, she ate a couple Goldfish crackers and wandered away to play. I was so relieved, because in the 6.5 hours we'd been awake, she clung to me and just cried. It's 3 pm now and she seems to be doing MUCH better. She's acting like herself again and her breathing is easier. Neither Mia nor Nora napped, but whatever. They'll sleep harder tonight.

So after this very rough day, why am I thankful? Because Nora merely has a bad cold and the worst test they performed on her was an x-ray. Because I realized she'll be better within a week and doesn't have a chronic or terminal illness. Because I didn't have to watch the nurses and technicians draw blood, intubate, do a spinal tap, or any other invasive procedure on my baby. Because this very rough day for me and my girls would be dream for some other families compared to what they endure. Because so much of life is a matter of perspective and I realize we've got it GOOD. We're blessed. I'm guessing you are too. So be thankful, appreciate what you do have, don't complain about the things you don't have, and just SMILE. Life is good. :)