Our visit to the emergency room

It all started with #3 and a "cold" on Saturday. By 3 am her fever spiked at 103. We fought the fever, upset stomach and stuffy nose for the next day and a half. I took her to see the dr. on Monday just to be cautious. Her lungs, throat and ears were normal, it was "just a virus" and we were sent home with cold medicine. By that afternoon her fever was moving toward 104. Our boys never run high fevers so I called one more time. At the end of the conversation I mentioned she is making a grunting noise. Turns out the grunting noise can be a sign that a baby is having trouble breathing. I really didn't think she looked like she was having trouble breathing. But the nurse on the phone told me to get to the nearest E.R. When I began to debate aloud which hospital would serve her best she replied, "You just need to get to the NEAREST emergency room!"

I began to feel my heart beating faster and the blood rush to my face. I told the boys we had an emergency and I needed them to get on shoes, quickly. #1 lazily replied, "Mama, I'll be right there. I want to finish my computer math game. It is educational, after all. I am counting money!" I turn him around and explain to him that the baby is really sick and we need to get to a hospital quickly. I tell them that everything will be alright, but this is an EMERGENCY! Poor #1! In the next 10 minutes he would patiently and calmly find my lost keys and the lost infant seat for the car. (How does someone forget where they put a car seat??) I throw a few things in a diaper bag, turn on the hazard lights and we pull out of the drive way. (Sidenote: My husband was coaching little league so he was not there to help me get the kids loaded up. The boys were at home due to runny noses.)

I call my man and tell him what is going on. Then we spend the next 15 minutes trying to keep #3 awake. #1 sang to her, laughed with her and talked to her the whole way there. When we got to the emergency room I decided to quickly park the car. We pull into the lot and I couldn't find a parking spot. #1 and #2 begin to pray. We immediately found a spot. My boys minister love and grace to me so often in my times of need!

As I do the half walk, half run, while dragging three children dance into the E.R., I see my husband pull into the parking lot. We proceed through the adult ER into the pediatric ER. It sortof made my stomach sick to be in that room! There were two kids that had vomit pans. One girl had a "goose egg" bigger than any egg I have ever seen on her forehead. Three kids had swollen arms or wrists which appeared to be broken. And there was one other sick baby. And then there was some goofy teenage couple that did not look sick and the guy was oddly amused with the Mary Poppins movie. He actually made me laugh. Within 10 minutes our best friends from church came to pick up the boys. Thank you SO much to them! They drove 30 minutes to the hospital and took the kids home, had special prayers with them for #3, gave them their favorite bedtime snack, loaned them pjs and toothbrushes, and let them fall asleep secure and happy. I will never know how people make it through life without a church community to love and care for them!

The entire ordeal was over in 2 hours. We found out that #3 reacts to high fevers by grunting when she breathes. Apparently kids have all kinds of weird ways of dealing with fevers that spike quickly. She was not actually having breathing problems at all. By 10:30 we had gotten the boys and we were all 5 back under our own roof and in our warm beds. #3 is still really sick with a high fever, but I am confident that it is just a really bad virus and I pray it will run its course soon! What a night! Did I mention that I have a phobia of hospitals??