Hospital update

Well, we're home--praising the Lord for that, healing and the power of prayer!

Last night was rough. Ryan absolutely couldn't sleep with the pulse/ox thing on his toe, but once he peeled that off and I figured out how to turn all of the lights off (and after 2 loud alarms went off from him removing his ekg sticker), he fell asleep around 9:15. Amazing what sitting in pitch black room will do to you...I also went to sleep at 10:30. I woke up from a "nightmare" of excruciating backpain to realize that it was not, in fact, a dream and that my back was throbbing. I looked at my cell phone thinking, "well, at least it's almost time to wake up" to see that it was only 3:28 am. Bummer. I also saw 4:45, 5:30 (when the nurse woke me up to ask me if I'd changed a diaper during the night. Umm, no), 6:30 and finally up at 7:30.

So yes, I'm quite rested. Ha!

Ryan slept about as well. I started getting concered as he had another coughing episode in the middle of the night, but his numbers weren't bad enough for them to give him another epinephrine treatment. When the nurse listened to him this morning she said he sounded SO much better and that it was really loosening up. Thank you Jesus! Her only concern was that he wasn't that interested in drinking, therefore his "output" wasn't very high. (Like, if I had to guess I'd say there was about 1 oz of pee in his diaper this morning of 12 hours of "sleep"--not so much). She said some docs will order IV, some will make you wait until the kid is drinking/outputting like normal and some will let you go and just tell you to push fluids. Thankfully, the doctor on call was the latter.

When we went on a walk around our floor last night we randomly found Chris. So, this morning Ryan said he wanted to go on a walk and when we got to the elevators (where we'd seen Chris) he went running around the bend saying, "daddy?, daddy?". So sweet. I told him daddy was at home and he started crying saying, "home, see daddy. daddy. home". Pitiful, and, my sentiments exactly.

A realization I made, though sadly too late to help anything, was the significance of being put on the respiratory wing. Obviously that's where we'd be since he was having breathing problems. But, on our walk last night I kept seeing people in masks, signs on doors warning not to enter without masks, not to let liquid pass between people etc. Umm, ya. We were on the H1N1 floor. Super. I kindly declined the nurses offer to show us to the children's play area. I keep reminding myself that at least Ryan and I had the H1N1 shot (and yes, you can be praying about that. That's the last thing his airways need, and as I am working on 3% of my lung capacity, the last thing Jack and I need as well).

We were glad to get home. I promptly stripped us both and ran everything through HOT water. Chris bathed Ryan and I showered. Then, I picked up Anna-Kate from school (where she came RUNNING to me with even more enthusiasm than normal--it was awesome!)and she and I got some icecream at McDonalds to talk "just the girls". Special time.