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You know you are a confirmed scrapaholic who has been in the hospital wwwwayyyyy too many times when the doctor calls an ambulance to transport your child to the hospital, and your first thought is: Man! I don’t have the camera!
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Yes, Michael and I in the hospital…again. He took the cold we’ve been passing around and added a few degrees of drama to it. However, we are not in the ICU. And it’s a very different thing to simply be in the hospital, rather than in the ICU. For one thing, I’m expected to change my own baby’s diapers. (Boo.)
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I actually feel better now that we’re in the hospital. After the week of Sick
, in which I commented that we have entered some Bermuda Triangle that sucks up both good health and rest, I didn’t know whether to trust my skyrocketing anxiety level. Was it mother’s instinct talking or lack of sleep? Michael perked up and began eating, at least a bit, as soon as he got some oxygen in him. And this morning he’s not on oxygen at all and is doing much better. So I am reassured in my instincts.
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But I also question this crazy lack of health in our family. We are generally really healthy people. Did we really have these kids too close together? Is that why we have such a poor record of health, so ridiculously many hospital stays? Or am I overreacting? After all, most of the hospital stays have been Julianna’s. But really, we’ve had illness after illness upon illness for two full months. Looking at the state of my kitchen this week I’d blame my housekeeping for the germ breeding ground, but the fact is that the dishes didn’t get done this week because I had to hold the baby so much, and when I wasn’t holding him I was trying to make up lost sleep. Nonetheless, all you people who say “dust bunnies can wait, enjoy the kids”–our experience makes clear that cleanliness cannot be sacrificed entirely!
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Escalating the Month of Sick to hospital levels adds marital stress that we didn’t need. Nothing can make you feel quite so disconnected, and breed so much conflict, as being on call 24-7 and being forced to devote every second of couple interaction to the business of co-parenting. We had to cancel a date last weekend and reschedule for this, and now I’d say we’ve lost it this weekend, too. But at least this time we’re local, and I can actually leave for a couple hours and help get kids up (as I am doing this morning, which is why I have internet access).
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This week, as I wrangled a very sick baby and a recovering toddler, it occurred to me how creative we moms of young’uns become. For instance, how many of you, like me, use your mouths as an extra appendage?
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And last but not least: Here’s a video of an interview I gave about Bring Lent to Life. I look at myself, hugely pregnant, and I wince. It’s amazing how much the human body can stretch. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a signed copy!
UPDATE: Should’ve done this much earlier, but Michael came home on Friday afternoon–he just needed some oxygen & fluids to help him over the hump.
Kathleen M. Basi 
I had 3 in 3.5 yrs….. for some reason mine were rarely sick unless you count the numerous ear infections of eldest son.
But there was this one stretch (after I was up to 5) that I was at the ER every month for 4 mos (with only two kids)….
I had my 3 in about the same span as Renee. And the first two were constantly sick. They are NEVER sick now. We went ahead and got the whole “building up immunity” thing out the way. The youngest, however, aside from one ear infection, a few non-descript colds and one wretched case of roto-virus has not been ill in that way. Of course he’s also the one who had to be air-lifted to UNC’s Children’s Hospital for an intersuscepted (sp) bowel. Oh and we did the ambulance ride for #2 for respiratory failure…but they are all healthy now…one day it’ll happen at your house too!
I am SO with you. We’ve have five months of non-stop illness since my daughter was born in late August, and I’m just done, done, done. I can’t handle it anymore, especially after the siege of a stomach virus that ripped through the house this week. We’ve had great health until my daughter’s birth, then WHAM, sick all the time. Plus my daughter has on-going health issues that don’t help matters any. But I’ve had all the thoughts you are having–should I be bleaching every surface, did we have our kids too close together (probably), is our diet a problem, etc. So frustrating not to feel like you can do anything normal, like go to the store, or out for a few hours.
We had a rough winter last year with illness. We were never hospitalized, but we had seven weeks of stomach bug, two separate times, and the mysterious fever in three kids for a total of ten times. This year, we’ve had nothing but a runny nose. I feel for you! Hope your little man recovers soon!
Hang in there! Don’t blame it on your dirty dishes…I think it’s the crazy weather we’ve been having that’s making the kids sick…really! My youngest has bad allergies around springtime that are popping up in February.
Yeah… I can’t say that I’ve wanted to photograph all the ambulance rides. 🙂 (A good chunk have been my own.)
You didn’t do anything wrong. This is the time of year that Teh Sick happens and you’ve got a young baby with lung issues. It’s not surprising that he ended up in the hospital. My precious sweetling did too at Thanksgiving when I had the mutant death cold and managed to beat any kind of fever I could have spiked on my own.
Oh yes… I find my chin to be an invaluable appendage. 🙂
I hope your family gets over the sickness soon, and little Michael gets to come back home quickly!
You are all very kind. We are home this afternoon, at least 24 hours than I had any expectation of!
So sorry your week (or a few weeks?) has been so hard. Praying for Michael’s swift recovery and a better week ahead.
I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with such a long bout of sickness with your family. I pray Michael gets out of the hospital quickly and everyone comes to good health again real soon.