Story Bell

Story now has a medical history. When the doctors now ask, "Have you ever been hospitalized?" She can say, "Yes."

Last Monday I took Story to the doctor because she had been sick over the weekend and I thought maybe she had an ear infection. Before going in that morning I was complaining about taking the kids to the doctor and they say, "It's viral, there is nothing we can do." But I took her in anyway because I knew if it was her ears she would need an antibiotic.

We got there and they said, yes she has an ear infection and they didn't like the sound of her lungs. They wanted to get a picture of them and take some blood. So I was like okay, I drag the three girls to the Xray room. Story was so cute standing up on these little stirs so they could get the Xray. Lyric and Cadence waited so patiently. Then I drag the three girls to the room for the blood. They had to get three nurses there to help me: one to hold Cadence, one to hold Story's arm and one to take the blood. Story cried when they took the blood, but it wasn't too bad. One of the nurses gave Lyric a stack of stickers and asked her to pick out a special sticker for her and her sisters. She was so busy digging through the stickers I don't think she noticed what was going on with Story. I then drag us all back to the room so they can tell me what the chest xray said.

They saw something in the left lung, they think she has pneumonia. At this point I am still thinking okay their going to give me medicine and we are going to go home. Not! They said they had to check her oxygen in her blood to make sure it was high enough to send her home. I am still thinking send her home... where else would they send her... I guess I was too busy trying to heard the three of them around, hospital had never entered my mind. The levels were too low. Hers were mid 80s and they like it to be in the 90s. They said they needed to do a breathing treatment on her. One of the nurses held Cadence while I held Story down to do the treatment. This was way worse than taking the blood! I think maybe by this point she was tired of being messed with so she fought the breathing treatment the whole time! Afterward, the levels were still low. So the doctor comes in and tells me that she needs oxygen and so they are going to have to send her to Dell Children's Hospital. I know I turned as white as a sheet because I was in shock!! Just the name Dell Children's Hospital makes me think of a really sick kid, not my kid...

The doctor was so sweet and talked REALLY slow to make sure I was taking it all in. At first she said I could drive her as long as I went straight there, but then after talking to the hospital they decided she needed to ride in the ambulance, so she could be on oxygen for the ride. Okay at this point I cried!!! It was all so scary!!! The paramedics came and were awesome! Devon showed up to pick up Lyric and Cadence who were such troopers through the whole ordeal!

Story and I rode to the hospital in the ambulance (which Lyric thought was pretty cool!). When we got to the ER they did another breathing treatment (which she didn't mind at all) and it didn't make a difference with her breathing. They decided to admit her. When the nurse put the IV in she just laid there with her little arm out. I think she was exhausted and didn't care what they were doing at this point. I was still in complete shock. When I think of a children's hospital I think of really sick kiddos. It is very scary to think you could be one of those parents! They took us up to a room sometime in the afternoon. We get to the room and it has a baby bed in it. I didn't give it any thought. I just thought well I guess when you are a little kid in the hospital you have to sleep in a crib. The next thing you know about 5 or 6 women walk in wearing masks and the scrubs over there scrubs. They looked like the haz mat team showing up for a chemical spill. They start checking Story out and one of them start asking Devon and I questions. I was thinking what in the h@** is going on! Well, finally one of them realized they didn't explain what was going on and she said they wear the protective clothing when someone has respiratory problems because they don't want to spread it from patient to patient. It made perfect sense to Devon and I it was just a little scary!

They said she had a viral infection in her lungs and she was dehydrated. So they gave her fluids and kept her on oxygen for the night. I got no sleep at all that night! She wanted me in the bed with her. She would say, "Come on mama, get up here. Let's go night night." So of course I would climb in the bed with her. I would lay there until she fell asleep and when my back could take it no longer I would go back to my spot on the couch bed. I did doze off once, but they came in to take her temperature/ blood pressure and woke me up.

Those of you who know me well know I do not like hospitals/ doctors. I have issues with the whole set up! Can someone please explain something to me? Why in the world do you need to check the temperature/ blood pressure of a two year old every two hours during the night while she is sleeping? I can kind of understand the temperature thing, but seriously what are the chances that a two year old's blood pressure is going to change? I just really don't get hospitals!!!! I will step off of my soap box now. ..The next day Story was feeling much better. The day nurse came in and saw Story in the baby bed. She said, "You are kind of big for this baby bed." She then looked at me like I was crazy and asked, "Does she sleep in a baby bed at home?" I told her know this was just the bed they gave us. She said, "Well I can get you a big bed. You don't need this baby bed." Why do you think the nurses who saw me hanging out of the baby bed didn't offer us a bigger bed? I really don't get hospitals! They decided we could go home in the afternoon. I was relived I really did not want to spend another night in that hospital and I know Story was ready to get out of there! Story is better one minute she will be playing and feeling good, and the next she is crying and wanting to be held. I am sure it is going to be a long slow recovery...