Good morning Baptist Memorial Hospital...

Well, this morning I made my second trip to the ER in the last 4 days (which is why I am free to be on the computer as opposed to schooling the older children). The first trip was on Sunday with Zion who, by the way, is feeling much better (still a little wheezy but MUCH better). This morning's trip was with Bijou who came in our room with a face like she'd been in a bout with Mike Tyson. Her entire face was swollen so much that her speech was slurred and her eyes were little slits. Needless to say, that prompted an immediate trip to the ER. Despite the HUGE-ness of her face, she was the same old Bijou. Once my immediate freak out subsided (which happened after running out of the house with Bijou in her pajamas and Napoleon Dynamite boots and me without a bra and my shoes on the wrong feet - didn't notice until I'd checked her in at the ER), I realized that she probably just got a bite during the night and had a bad reaction. While we waited for the doctor, I gave her a once over and found several red, swollen spots on her legs, feet, hands and stomach. Whatever bit her, liked her and kept biting her. Two doses of Benadryl later, only slightly puffy eyes remain and we can all laugh about the madness of the morning. I've decided that my sweet little Bijou, when bitten during the night, wakes up as Danny Glover. Sorry, Danny.

Sick baby = sad mommy

So, Zion has had a runny nose on and off for a couple of weeks now. There have been colds passed round and round the house since the weather changed. On top of the fact that she has been teething for weeks (current tooth count, 4. 2 on top, 2 on the bottom), she has been a snotty mess. The runny nose returned a few days ago and initially I thought it may have been something that she was eating, but yesterday I noticed that she was breathing pretty fast and as the day progressed she began to wheeze and was running a temperature. We decided to take her to the ER just to be on the safe side. Of course with the whole swine flu madness going on there were a bunch of people in masks sitting in the waiting room. I opted to wait my turn out by the elevator. After 6 hours in the emergency room, one nasal swab, an albuterol treatment, a shot of antibiotics, a dose of Tylenol and a chest x-ray, we were sent home with a diagnosis of RSV and an ear infection in both ears. All of that seems like enough to make any adult crabby, but my sweet little angel took it all in stride. She has been in good spirits and if it wasn't for the runny nose, you wouldn't even know she was sick. She cooperated and fussed very little (even with the shot), she laid still for the x-ray, only fussed a little for the swab, but she did spit Tylenol on the nurse. But after all she'd been through, I think it was warranted. Today, she has been doing pretty well. She's still all over the house and she ate dinner this evening (she hadn't been eating much). Her breathing sounds much better after tonight's nebulizer treatment and we have the humidifier going near her bed. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be back to 100%. I read somewhere that babies display new abilities after they've gotten over a fever. I'm afraid that she will be walking or talking in sentences when she does get better. I think I would take walking over talking right now. I don't know if I could handle another talker in this house. I haven't been able to hear my own internal dialogue in years!