Another night in the ER.......

After such a fun-filled week the last two weeks, it looks like we haven't quite seen the end of things yet!

Saturday evening Sweet-pea came down with a high fever. I decided not to wait around on it and be sent to the ER this time, so I got her dressed and headed to Kidmed (our pediatric emergency care center). My experience there was horrid! When we arrived there were several people waiting to be seen. I signed her in, filled out paperwork and then sat holding her on my lap. She was lethargic and her cheeks were bright red. After about 15 minutes of waiting she starts coughing, and then vomits all over the front of my shirt and the chunks fall into my lap. I look over and the girl at the desk next to me was just staring in shock. She finally points over at the wall and tells me I can get up and grab a bag off the wall for her to vomit in again. I kinda give her this look like "do you not see the huge puddle of vomit that is in my lap?" and she finally jumps up and grabs me a bag. She brings me some wipes and as I begin to wipe the vomit from Sweet-pea she says "oh don't wipe her with that it will break her skin out!!" I then gather the chunks off my lap and make my way to the bathroom...Sweet-pea in one arm, my bags in the other. I cleaned myself off, and changed Sweet-pea into a hospital gown. When I came out I saw a nurse standing there talking to someone having a personal conversation. By this time Sweet-pea was just MISERABLE! She didn't want me to hold her, but she didn't want me to put her down, and she just didn't know what to do except cry! So I just scoop her up, cradle her and rock her while pacing around the floor. 15 minutes later she is burning up! I ask the lady at the desk how much longer before they can get us back and she says, "it should only be one to two more minutes" at that point I was thinking if they didn't come soon I might need to just go to the ER. A minute later the nurse who had been in her long personal conversation, turns to me and says, "is this Sweet-pea, I came out here for her but I just got to talking" I WAS LIVID!!!!

Once we got back to be seen they looked in her ears and said she had a double ear infection, swollen throat, and temp of 104.7. They took a strep test, flu test, and x-rays. Strep and flu came back negative, but the x-ray showed pneumonia in her right lung. The doctor wanted to give her an IV, take some blood work, and then re-test her pulse-ox levels to see where we were. If they were high numbers on her blood work or her pulse-ox was low she wanted to send her to the hospital.

The nurse came in to do the IV and take blood work. Sweet-pea started screaming the minute they came in the door! I lied down beside her and held her while they straightened her arm to put in the IV. The nurse put the needle in without a line attached to catch her blood that started pouring out all over the place. Once she finally got the line screwed on she took the blood they needed. Once she was finished she took off the tube put it next to her, and bumped the IV tearing it from Sweet-pea's arm!! Blood sprayed all over my face, glasses, and Sweet-pea's face; it was all over the bed, the floor and the nurse! It was terrible!!

I decided since she had screamed enough I didn't want them to put the IV back in unless her blood work came back showing she was dehydrated, which it did not. The doctor gave us some antibiotics, a shot, and sent us on our way!

Monday she woke up with a low temperature of 99. By 11:30 it hit 104.7 and we gave her motrin. 3:00 it was 104.7 so we gave her tylenol, and at 3:30 it went up to 105.0! We called the pediatrician and they immediately told us to come in! We got there around 4pm. Again they checked her ears...which were fine- no infection. Checked her throat...which she had tonsillitis...and rechecked for flu and strep which was still negative. They re-drew her blood and said there was no change from what they drew Saturday which was not good! So they sent us to the ER to get fluids and be watched over night.

We got to the ER around 7pm. They were packed! We did not get called back until around 11:30. They even had hospital beds with patients in the hallways it was so packed!! They did more blood work, and another x-ray her temp was 104.7, and she was inconsolable! I spent 7 hours holding a fussy, crying baby! They gave her an IV, and told us the x-rays did show she still had pneumonia. They wanted to see what her blood work showed and was told it would take about an hour. THREE hours later, they finally came and told us she looked like she was hydrated, they would change her medication and send her home.

While we were there, the little boy next to us had a seizure. His mom asked us how high Sweet-pea's fever had gotten and when we told her 105, she said her son's hit 108 and that he had a seizure. They told her that it was from a stomach bug and he has had them ever since!! When we were about to leave we asked the doctor, "at what point is her fever dangerous?" She says, "no fever is dangerous" Nathan asked, "so 105-108 isn't dangerous?" she says "OH no ones body can have a fever of 108- you are talking heat stroke then, so don't worry about that!" At this point that doctor lost all credibility to me! I have a worried mother telling me her son just had a fever of 108 and then a doctor telling me that 108 wont happen! Not really making a lot of sense to me!

Don't get me wrong I am BEYOND happy we are able to spend the night at home tonight; however, I DO NOT want to spend another night or morning in the ER because they did not think she was sick enough to keep overnight! Since when is 105 NOT a high temperature? I've been told all my life that 104 is dangerous but 105 is extremely dangerous, but now I'm being told no temperature is dangerous?

I guess this is why we get paranoid parents! We get told one thing by one physician and another thing by another physician. They can all go to school at the same exact medical school and still all come out saying totally different things!! Who do you listen to? And if you do just go by your parental instinct and decide they do need medical help...who is going to give that help if they think they aren't "sick enough?" Then you become a "paranoid parent" and you get the semi-laugh from the doctors because they think you are over-reacting? The last time I didn't overreact my daughter ended up coughing up blood!

So for now we are at home. Pumpkin has a fever of 103.7, Hobble-bobble 101.3, and Sweet-pea's is broken for now. We will have a visit to the pediatrician this afternoon and then hope we can do the rest of their medical care at home!

The longest week ever!

You would think that after the last two weeks we'd be beat down and can't go on. But that's not the case. We are happy, excited and looking forward to the calling that God has for us!! I'm about 80% sure that in the next 18 months God has some amazing things in store for our family, and I'm about 99% sure we are under a serious spiritual attack because of it.

Our attack has started off slow, something here and there, a few things at a time , but this week it has turned to catastrophe! Our week started out with Hobble-bobble jumping off a chair and fracturing her ankle. Right away it swelled up and we rushed her to the Ortho-on call Emergency care center. They put her in a boot and sent us to a pediatric-orthopedic doctor who did confirm she had a fracture and needed to be in her boot for another two weeks.

Saturday evening Little Bear (4yrs) came in and started complaining of a stomach ache and that she didn't feel well. She had a fever of 100.5 and so we canceled our plans, had her lay on the couch, and gave her some motrin, then she began vomiting and could not keep anything down. Around 3am that night her fever spiked to 104.7; I continued through the night trying to cool her down so we could wait till morning for a E.R. visit. I covered her with cool rags and gave her more motrin, and tried getting her to drink which was not successful! We ended up in the ER that morning and she tested positive for Strep. They gave her an antibiotic shot, a popsicle and sent her home with anti-nausea medicine. Once we were home we again could not get her to drink anything! Her fever continued as high as 103.7 and we continued monitoring her day and night trying to keep her drinking, cooled off and medicated.

Monday evening as I was just about to lay my head on the pillow and pass out after an exhausting weekend, I was awakened by Pumpkin (6) who was gasping for air as she barked a croupy cough. Normally, croup in our house is a normal thing. She is on singulair all winter long for it. Since our winter was pleasantly mild this year it was given occasionally when the weather changed. I could tell this time was different, as she struggled to suck in air I did our normal routine of sticking her head in the freezer, and when that didn't work sitting in a steaming bathroom. After watching her struggle for air 15 minutes (too long) I dressed her and rushed her to the ER. I was afraid to let her stop talking in the car, afraid she would stop breathing. Once we arrived I pulled her out and rushed across to the doors. Once inside her breathing slowed, and quieted and became fairly normal! I was so frustrated! After not sleeping the last two nights, being at the hospital again for no reason was not something I was happy about! Once we got back to the room, the doctor was quick and to the point (which I appreciated). She received a breathing treatment, and steroids for the next few days and we were sent home!

Wednesday morning, Little Bear woke up with a broken fever! She acted fairly well most of the morning then started to get bad again. By the time she went to bed she had her fever back up to at least 102 and was having severe abdominal pains below her belly and on her right side, and chest pain. We were worried it may be her appendix, or pneumonia! We called the on-call doctor and told them what was going on...they didn't have a whole lot of advice for us so we were left to decide what to do on our own. I spoke with a nurse friend on facebook who advised we should probably head to the ER- and again we did. This time they gave her an IV, ultrasound, blood work and tested her urine. The urine came back with blood in it which they said was a sign of dehydration, the ultrasound came back normal, and the blood tests came back normal! They gave her motrin to break her fever and sent us home after she ate a popsicle. On our way home I was exhausted! I wanted to doze off with every blink of my eyes but I was determined to get home! As I pulled out of the parking lot to head home, I began praying that God would protect us on our way home! I decided to go the long way home through town instead of taking the highway home which is shorter! I kept getting stuck in traffic and behind slow moving cars!! About three miles from home I began to hear a slight thumping and felt the steering wheel start to pull and vibrate. I thought I might have a flat tire but wasn't sure since it wasn't really loud, and not to mention I had never had one before. I called Nathan and told him I thought I had a flat, and then it began to get louder! I slowed my speed and since I was less than a mile from home, was tired, and had a sick kid...I kept going! I got home and was taken back by the sight of the blown out tire! It was busted open! My first thought was, "if I had gone on the high way, we would have really gotten hurt!" Then I started to pray and thank God for protecting us!

Thursday, as I checked out checking account I noticed a withdrawl from paypal for 300.00! Since I did not make that withdrawl I immediately started investigating it. As I thought my account was hacked but I was able to recover our 300.00! Little Bear's fever was around 101. She spent the day on the couch and was a little active but for the most part she was really sick. She still refused food and anything to drink including popsicles! After she went to bed she slept for about a half-hour; then she came running out of her room threw herself on the floor and started to vomit. We ran her into the bathroom and opened the toilet and she spewed blood! I immediately put on my clothes and shoes preparing to head to the ER as we awaited our on-call doctor to call us back. This time they called ahead to the ER and they said they would just admit us when we got there. Once we were there they started an IV, took more urine, took more blood and sent us upstairs to our room. They wore gloves and gowns anytime they came in the room, and they were great! The doctors were really nice and examined her from head to foot!! They discovered she didn't just have strep but she had tonsillitis as well! They believed the blood was from a tear in her esophagus from vomiting, or a result of not eating or drinking for so long and it caused acid build-up in her stomach.

Friday, she was taken down for an x-ray to rule out pneumonia. After having fluids overnight she was a totally different kid! She had her energy back and wanted to go home!! We stayed the majority of the day and evening to make sure she could keep down food and liquid then was released to go home around 8pm.

Saturday, I slept most of the day. My amazing husband knew how tired I was after our eventful week and took care of the kids most of the day. He woke me in the afternoon and told me that Sweet-pea had a slight fever of 99.9. She acted normal most of the day and we gave her motrin to help with her fever. At dinner she didn't eat much; we started baths afterwards and she began to shiver so badly when I undressed her she couldn't hardly talk. When I got her out she was shivering so much her lips turned blue! I waited a while and took her temperature and it was 104.0! I gave her some tylenol and sat with her on the couch for a few minutes before deciding to take her to Kidmed. I figured the earlier we could get antibiotics in her the easier it would be to avoid the hospital! When we got to kidmed she was lethargic and her cheeks were rosy. All she wanted to do was sleep, and would not let go of me! I sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes with her on my lap, after 20 minutes of waiting she vomited all over my shirt and pants! The lady at the desk called out to me that there are bags on the wall, but I was so filled with chunks of food, and Tylenol in my lap that there was no getting up unless she wanted to scrape it up off the floor. FINALLY she brought on over to me, but it was too late she already spewed it all over my lap! I took off her clothes down to the diaper and took her to the bathroom to clean her and me off! As I came out of the bathroom I held her in my arms pacing the floor trying to soothe her to sleep while the heat from her body baked my skin! I paced for about 15 minutes while listening and watching a nurse have a personal conversation with another patient sitting in the waiting room. Getting annoyed (and ready to leave for the ER), I asked the desk clerk how much longer before they could see her and she said, "about 1-2 more minutes." About a minute later the nurse who was having the conversation turned to me and said, "is this Sweet-pea, I'm out here for her...we were just chatting!" I was IRATE! Here I am covered with vomit, rocking my baby who had a 104 degree temp, and was miserable and she was "chatting!" We went back to the room and was seen by the doctor, they did a strep swab, flue swab, and x-ray. She was positive for pneumonia, and negative for everything else.

Once we established her diagnosis, I let the doctor know what I thought of her nurse , and then we continued with getting blood, pulse-ox, and they were planning to put in an IV. Two nurses came in; one was the same one that brought us back and then there was another who actually did the IV. They put the needle in but didn't have it attached to a tube, a her blood poured out all over the bed the nurse tried to screw the tube onto the end of the needle. She took some blood and as she went to put the tube of blood on the table she pulled the tube and the IV flew out of her hand onto the floor and blood squirted all over my face, the floor the bed! I was FURIOUS!! A few minutes later they came back in to retry, and I refused the IV! I told them if she needed it we would just go to the ER. The doctor came back in and said her blood work was slightly elevated, but that was expected for someone with her condition. They gave her a antibiotic shot and sent us home.

When we got home, we were welcomed by the site of Pumpkin laying on the couch with a fever of 101.7.

It is now 5:29 am on Sunday and I have yet to go to sleep! Because I wanted to keep an eye on them through the night I put the blow up mattress in the living room and Nathan slept on the couch and I in the chair. About 3:30 I finally finished my school work from last week and decided to check on them before I laid down. Sweet-pea's fever was back up to 103.7 and Pumpkin's was up to 101.7. I gave them both drinks, and motrin and before I knew it their fevers broke and now they are jumping around on the mattress watching veggie tales along with Hobble-bobble.

So at this point yes I am completely exhausted and I would be completely fine if I never saw a hospital or emergency care facility again in my life; however, my faith in the last few weeks has grown so much! I feel closer to God, closer to the girls, and closer to my husband. God has used all our trials for good this week! I love that I can look back and see his had working in our lives especially in the tough times! I found myself laughing a lot at everything. While it may be my way to keep from crying it still has been great for keeping light of each situation, and taking them one at a time!

So here is to hoping tomorrow brings us better heath, and no need for more emergency visits!!

The state of Virginia has passed a bill that it is mandatory for women to have an ultrasound before choosing to have an abortion. The ultrasound is external and there is an exception in cases of rape. The bill has been taken to the governors desk and is awaiting his signature. The women in Richmond, VA have been outraged over this bill. There were several arrests today of protesters on the steps of the capital building, and police were there in full riot gear!
I've heard the complaints of the women that the government has no right to tell them what to do with their own body. I've heard the complaints that making the decision to abort is hard enough without having to see it on an ultra sound, and women think it's cruelty. I get what they are saying, but what about the child who is being killed? Does that child have no rights? Did that child ask to be created? If a woman has the right to decide to kill her unborn child- then the least she can do is have to look at that baby before she does it! This in no way has infringed upon the rights of the woman to make the decision to abort her child, but only offers information that her baby is alive and kicking inside her- something she may not have realized before. If the woman changes her mind because of this there is another life saved! If the woman continues- there will be no more guilt present later then there would have been without it! If a woman does not truly want a child, they would be able to go through the pregnancy, hold that baby in their arms and then give it up for adoption. I believe most women who have abortions would have never done it if they were able to hold that child in their arms first. There is no harm doing an ultrasound to make sure a woman is not making a mistake, before changing her life and the life of her child forever! There are so many families and other women out there who can't have children and would do anything for an opportunity to adopt a child. If you really just don't want to have the baby and raise it on your own, at least give someone else the chance to give that child a better life.

Obedience

Wow so over a year since I've posted on here!! There has been so much that has changed in a year! We had another baby so that makes 5 mini-coopers! I started college this January. It was the scariest thing I've ever done, I have no idea what possessed me to take on another challenge like that while raising and homeschooling five little girls, six and under, but I did. I am now only two weeks away from being finished with my first two classes (Bible & English) and four weeks away from starting my last two of the semester (apologetics & English). I've never been a very academically minded person, nor did I ever think I'd actually go to college. But I did it, I am, and I'm actually doing considerably well! I've managed to keep a 95 in english and a 94 in Bible the entire time! This is such a huge deal for me! School was never my strong point but I am determined to change that! Who knows maybe I'll go on to be a scholar of some type ;) lol.

So we are still plucking away at 1st grade with Pumpkin! She is doing REALLY well! We tested her the other day and she tested at a 3rd grade reading level!! Not bad for a 6 year old who should still be in Kindergarten! Little Bear is still beginning to get interested in school. She is still only 4 so I haven't tried to push her much, we are still working slowly on her name and tracing letters but haven't gotten too in depth yet. She has to want to learn for it to be effective. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't, hopefully once she is five, she will be there mentally to really start digging in next year!

We've been having some trouble with discipline recently. Last sunday we allowed the girls to buy one movie (digitally) to watch as a family. When it was over, Pumpkin bought another without asking! We explained to her that mommy and daddy has to pay for the movies and we will only allow her to have one a week as a special treat; she was told to not ever do that again! At nap time that day we all decided to lye down, but she woke up, snuck out to the living room and bought a couple more movies and rented a few others! This time she didn't get off so easy! She was not allowed to watch T.V. the rest of the week, and she had to help me around the house this week to work off the money she spent! And daddy figured out how to put a password on there so we won't have this happen ever again!

So after a few days of praying and talking to Nathan about it, I decided that what the girls really needed in order to really take obedience seriously was an intense lesson on the "fruits of the spirit". So we started it tonight! We are starting week 1 with the lesson on "Obedience". Each day we will learn about different bible characters in the bible and how they were or were not obedient and what happened to them. Then the next week we will go on to the "fruits of the spirit"

Tonight we learned about Adam & Eve and how even though they loved God they didn't listen to Him. So even though they loved God, and even though they were sorry they still had to be punished for what they did! An example is once you eat poison, you can't undo it! Pumpkin looked at me wide eyed and stated, "WOW mommy, I'm GLAD we aren't in that story!" lol I'm excited to see what these lessons do for the girls and their obedience. At the end of each week we will have a special treat if everyone practiced obedience this week! So far so good!

Congratulations to Jessica Duncan winner of Childrens DVD!!!

Congratulations to Jessica Duncan, who is the winner of the Children's DVD Paws and Tales!!! Congrats Jessica your Certificate for a free DVD will be in the mail next week!!

To everyone else, don't be down, I have two more give aways coming next week for two Children's books!! Stay tuned for details!!!

Paws and Tales: God Cares for You DVD, Review & Give Away!

Chuck Swindoll's Paws & Tales: God Cares for You video, was delightfully entertaining and informative. The DVD includes two episodes, with a God centered lesson in each. Episode one, "The Good Shepherd", is the story of a shepherd named Ezra. After falling ill, he was in need of some help to take care of his sheep. C.J. and Ned decided to help! It wasn't long before they both realized how difficult it was to be a shepherd, and keep watch over the flock at all times. When C.J. falls asleep on the job, the sheep are attacked by a couple of wolves! C.J. forms a plan to capture the wolves, and not allow the sheep to be hurt ever again. He also starts to understand how Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and how He watches over us at all times to keep us safe. In Episode two, C.J. and his sister Staci, decided to build a tree house. They were told to find something big and sturdy. Acting quickly and impatiently, C.J. and Staci picked a tree that was not very sturdy! They quickly learned the importance of having a good foundation! After being coached to build the tree house correctly they chose a huge rock to build it on instead of a tree. They learned that God is our rock and our foundation! This dvd also concludes each story, with a music video that reiterates the lesson that was taught.

I found this series to be a great learning tool for my children. I'm always looking for easy, quick videos with good life lessons (especially about God). I love that I don't have to worry about what they are watching because I know they are learning their core beliefs!

Lets see what my girls had to say about it:



So there you have it! Feel free to check out the trailer video by clicking here! as well as the website Here!

Also as a little incentive to my readers, I would like to give away a certificate to receive a FREE Paws & Tales: God Cares for You, video!! Here is how you can enter:
1. Become a follower on my blog
2. Post a link to my blog on your blog or facebook page.
3. Post a comment under this post when you are finished!
The drawing will commence on Friday Feb 25th!

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this video for this review.

Little Star by: Anthony DeStefano

DeStefano tells the story of a Christmas star named Little Star. Little Star is the smallest star in the heavens. He was had no friends and was very lonely. One day he heard that the King was to be born. Little star was so excited that he decided to shine brighter than any of the other stars in the sky. He shone so bright trying to warm baby Jesus, that he ended up burning out and lost his life. The story says that each Christmas we remember the Christmas Star by putting a star at the top of our Christmas trees.

I don't think this will be a story I will want to read to my children. I found it to be biblically incorrect. A story of a star loosing it's life in order for Christ to be born, just did not sit well with me. My small children take things to heart that they read, and at this age they believe everything! So while I understand the creativity of fiction, I think it can be quite messy if it's not an accurate account of the things we've taught them to be true. This may be a good story book for older children who know the difference between fiction and non-fiction, however not good for our age range (0-5).

~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.~