Oh man. What a week. We had Lulu's first hospital stay Wednesday night.
Our poor bug woke up Monday with a fever, we went to the doctor, she had her first ear infection. She started taken antibiotics, but the fever lingered. I got up to check on her at 1 in the morning Wednesday and her fever had spiked to 105.1, which caused me to get Chris & go to the ER. Not before we changed into regular pants. And then Lulu threw up on both of us. And we changed into different regular pants. Then we went to the ER. These are moments we feel lucky to live a stone's throw from a hospital. Long story short the bug has parainfluenza, a viral infection related to the seasonal flu in name only. She got admitted so the doctors could ensure she would start drinking & eating normally, the fear was she would become dehydrated.
Her IV fluids really perked her up. Getting the IV set in her arm did not perk anyone up. Man, the hospital is the pits. There were way to many procedures that involved staff laying on her to hold her down, or me holding her still, or both to get the job done. It is so hard to know if Lulu gets it when we tell her "its going to hurt now, but help you feel better soon" I am quite sure that a little human of her age has no concept of time. Ugh.
90% of the hospital staff were warm, helpful, capable, supportive people. I am eternally grateful for them. I honestly can't adequately express my thanks to family & friends near & far who supported us while we took care of Lulu.
Special shouts outs to:
My parents for coming to visit us in the ER & again once we were admitted. Going to our house & doing our laundry. Noticing I'd left a sink full of dishes & washing them for me. My mom brought me a delightful oat milk latte from Backlot on Thursday morning & it was just about the best thing I could've imagined in that moment.
Laura for taking wonderful care of Owenn, bringing us an easy to make meal for when we got home, a cute balloon & flower, plus coffee for me. I made the food for dinner Thursday & we all loved it. Plus Lulu & Chris ate another meal out of it. I haven't really cooked anything yet.....and its Saturday! Feeling lucky indeed. The wine. I forgot about the wine. Laura dropped off a bottle of wine with the food. It hit the spot so hard Thursday night once the Bug was asleep & the dust had settled. Yes. Wine. Good idea Laura!
Cody for sending me (& Lulu whose appetite had returned) a delicious chicken burrito from Tomate Fresh Kitchen since I had breakfast at 7am and didn't think about lunch until we were in Lulu's room on the pediatric floor at 230. She was keeping tabs on us from sunny San Diego.
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| The chicken burrito was delicious. Just ask Lulu! |
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| This is after 2 rounds of IV fluids, she looks puffy & vaguely drunk not sure if the fluids made her puffy & the lack of sleep made her look over served.....but it is funny looking back at these photos. |
Margie for sending Lulu a balloon & her dancer girl elephant toy while we were in the hospital. The gifts were a welcome distraction for the Bug. I was amused by the fact that the woman came in and said "Laurie?" and we said, no, you must have the wrong room, To which she replied (as cheerfully as the first time) "Laurie Kramer?!?" She was a cute older lady who then laughed at herself saying she must've written the name down wrong. She was just so perky & persistent. My sister was on vacation and spent a lot of her pool time making sure we didn't need more food & ensuring all of my family had the most up to date info that I'd sent her.
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| Lulu playing with her elephant dancer girl & balloon |
Jay, who upon hearing we were in the ER, dropped off lunch foods for us so we had food when we got home, Unfortunately we didn't get home Wednesday - so another shout out to Laura for putting that food in the fridge for us. I ate all of it between Thursday & Friday this week. My general rule of thumb is to bring/make/send/buy food when people are in crisis because I figure "you gotta eat". I didn't realize until this week how incredibly helpful it is when others do the same. I was bone tired when we got discharged midmorning Thursday & to not need to think about food was amazingly helpful. I would've been eating Kind bars for the remainder of the week if Laura & Jay hadn't thought about us!
Tara (who is going to have baby number 4 literally any day and has so much on her plate I can't imagine adding one more thing to it) brought over delectable treats from Great Harvest Bread Company, adorable cards from the kids, and such a cute narwhal toy that Lulu's cousin Anne picked out for her. How she found the time to take care of us when her plate is overloaded is a mystery to me. The suggestion of taking a shower with Lulu to wash off the hospital grime was a most excellent one and meant we were both clean before I put Lulu down for a nap after we were discharged. A shower is so restorative. I felt so much better after it.
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| "Dear Lulu I hope you feel better. I really miss you. From: Liam" |
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| "I am Kane. I'm wishing Lulu feels better. I am Lulu. I am almost feeling better" (Kaner went artsy on us) |
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| Anne's card requires no translation :) |
Stacey who volunteered to drive up from the city to take care of us & Owenn (despite her plate also being on epic overload mode at the moment too) Wednesday night. Then handling our lovely neighbor kiddos who wanted to come over & see Owenn (they love Owenn & play really well with him - I feel lucky for this, but having Stacey there was an added curiosity they simply could not resist!) Raiding the fridge, bringing food to us, pajamas, phone chargers. All the things. Then we were literally falling asleep while she visited with us. In our defense, we had been awake for about 20 hours at that point, but still!!
The other friends who stayed in close text touch to keep tabs on Lulu's progress and our sanity. Thank you a million for finding your own ways to take care of us. Hopefully by the time the weekend is out Lulu's fever will be gone for good & we can finish out her prescription for disgusting bubble gum amoxicillin and put this week behind us. Thankfully Lulu seems to feel much better now that we are home. Fresh air, sunshine, dog walks and some huge sleeps have all contributed to her seeming more like herself. Oh what a week it has been. Thank you again everyone for helping us through a challenging parenting first.
If this week has taught me anything it is a newfound respect for families who include kiddos with chronic illnesses. What a challenge to be faced with hospital visits & stays as a regular part of your life. I can now imagine what that would be like & it would be ridiculously difficult in so many ways.
We are now officially 24 hours fever free with our biggest big Bug. We are so thankful that the virus seems to have finally run its course & has left the building.
Happy Weekend everyone, it is much happier for us now that Lulu is on the mend.
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