Scary Sick Fathers Day

I can't believe the flu is going around again - it's June for heavens' sake! This one took a turn for the worse and Josiah refused to eat or drink. I had to resort to forcing liquids through a small medicine dropper every 15 minutes - he would cry the entire time. He is so sweet when he's sick - he just lays in your lap and cuddles (it's the only upside to having a sick baby). It was so hard to see him feeling so awful - it was hard for me to photograph but I knew I would want to remember how he looked when he was sick.cuddling with Papahe was so punk he could barely open his eyes :(doing his best to smile

When we took him to the Doctors the next day she said that he looked pretty good (not dehydrated) but when I explained that he was really malaise and not himself she thought we should run some blood tests just to be sure.

While in the waiting room to have the blood drawn there was another woman in front of us. She had kids, one around our age and she sympathized with us. When her number came up she offered for us to go first. I was so thankful I wanted to cry - she really knew what we were going through - the worry, the anticipation - the anxiety and thin nerves. When we went in Pete and I had to be the ones to hold him down it was horrible - He did really good though- I think it was worse on us than it was on him.

When we finally got the results it showed that his electrolytes were off and his blood calcium was low - they wanted to admit him in order to be on an IV - yay - more sticky pokeys. It proved to be more horrible than we anticipated. They couldn't get his IV in - they tried several times in his arms until finally succeeding on the fourth try. It was in his hand - not a great place for a moving toddler.

At 4 am I woke to Josiah crying - his bed was soaked and his blanket covered in blood - his IV had come out in the night and had leaked everywhere. Thus started the second round of trying to get the IV in. After three more trys and the NICU nurse giving a go - they finally got it in his foot.

the IV fluids made his eyes so puffy. So one night wasn't going to be enough - we had to stay another night. The hospital can be a really depressing place to be when you're surrounded by the same numbing noises of the machinery and the lack of sleep associated with scheduled nurses checks (bless them - we had some really good ones). Not to mention the heaviness that comes with knowing that you're there for a reason - like your baby is really sick!

Fortunately on day two, auntie Ella (as Josiah calls Gabi) came to visit us. She was so sweet - she came in with this humongous fish balloon - Josiah loves balloons. She also brought all his favorite treats that Mommy never buys him. I didn't care a bit - I just wanted him to start eating again. I have to admit it didn't just cheer Josiah up it lifted my and Pete's spirits as well - it was so good to see him smiling again - look at the difference in his countenance!Can you believe how happy he was after she came - he loves her so much -and so do we - thanks for blessing us auntie Ella! (as a side note - I'm always saying that Josiah didn't get any of my features - I may have overlooked one thing - his neck.)When we finally got to leave on day three (Father's Day - Happy Father's day Dad!) they let him ride out in a shiny red Radio Flyer wagon. I was so bummed that this picture came out blurred but I had to put it in - he was just so thrilled to get to ride in this thing, it was great.

We felt blessed this weekend to have so many people praying for us around the clock - I was even able to text my prayer partner at 4 am to tell her to pray they could get the IV in again. My mom also called from Africa to check in and let us know she was praying. We're just glad to have this little adventure behind us. Hopefully this will fufill the quota for hospital stays in Josiah's life (please God? :))