Emma's week

I don't even know where to begin to tell the story of Miss Emma's week. I guess the beginning is a good place! It all started last Saturday while John and Jacki were visiting. After Will's baseball game, Emma complained of a stomach ache and then decided to vomit at the Sonic while we were waiting for our drinks. We all thought it was a case of dehydration/sun poisoning/heat exhaustion. How wrong we were!

Emma continued to get sick throughout the night, into Sunday, all Sunday, all of Monday, throughout the night and into Tuesday. Along the way, I made several phone calls to the doctor. I was given a vomit protocol which called for 1 teaspoon of Pedialyte every 5 minutes for an an hour, then 1 tablespoon every 15 minutes, gradually increasing the amount and decreasing the frequency. If at any given moment she would vomit again, we would need to start the protocol all over. Guess what? She got sick around 2:00 am, Tuesday morning and we started all over. Eventually, we both fell asleep and never made it to the tablespoon. Do you know how hard it is to stay awake to administer a liquid every 5 minutes?! Hats off to anyone who can manage that!

Needless to say, we headed to the office first thing Tuesday morning after sending Will off to school. Doc said it was most likely a virus and decided to see how long she could keep down some water. She had lost 5 pounds between Saturday and Tuesday. He requested a blood sample to check her electrolytes. When Emma asked "just how are they going to get some of my blood?", I knew we were in for a fight. Because of being so weak, she ended up being more bark than bite. It still wasn't pretty. It broke my heart and scared the you-know-what out of Jack. Anyone who knows him, knows that he is a feisty little guy who doesn't care to sit for long periods of time in a stroller. He didn't say a peep that day.

After being in the office from 8 am until almost noon, Doc decided she could go home, but MUST return for an IV if she got sick again. Well.....that water came back up just as we were pulling into the garage. We never even got out of the car. Just turned right around and went back to Doc's. We got to stroll past everyone in the waiting room and into the procedure room we went. Emma being the smart cookie that she is, started screaming the minute the nurse walked in the room because she knew this meant another needle in her arm. I have to say, this got to me. The river was flowing and I can honestly say that I have never felt so distraught over another person's pain. It was over in a flash (in reality) and Emma calmed down right away (especially with the help of a Lion King video). Once again, Jack never said a peep during this whole process. Let me just say that my angel was busy that day!

So, we settled down for a good hour's worth of IV fluids while watching Lion King and my cell phone rang. I don't know why, but something told me to turn it on this time, even though there are death threats posted around the office for anyone caught with their phone on. It was the school nurse, letting me know that the they had been trying to contact me because Will had been vomiting at school all morning. Again, my angel kicked into high gear. I was able to contact my neighbor who works out of her home most of the time and she picked up Will while we finished the IV. A couple hours later, we headed for home and sick child #2.

I've heard stories of multiple family members getting sick at the same time, but never had I experienced it myself. Let's just say, it is a story that I don't wish to retell or relive. The bottom line is that Emma started getting better and Will started getting worse. It continued that way until the next day.

By Thursday, things were getting better and Emma had decided to make a "I miss you" card for her neighbor friend. While waiting for her to return home, Emma fell off a lawn chair onto the concrete driveway. I heard the hit and then the scream (I was on the deck with Jack at the time). Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. Our little Emma already had a golf ball sized lump protruding from the side of her forehead. I flew back up the steps and into the kitchen for ice. By this time, the neighbor mom had heard the cries and was at my backdoor. The minute she saw the now baseball-sized lump, she was on the phone calling all of our neighborhood nurses (we have 4). One happened to be home and she came to check Emma. She didn't feel the ER was necessary, so we kept frozen lima beans on it for the rest of the night and Miss Emma slept with me, once again.

This post is all about Emma, but I have to interject and add that I have NEVER in my life been so scared, so worried, so sick to my stomach, so worried. I had more emotions flow through my body the minute I saw my beautiful little girl's head, than I ever had in my life. I can't even describe them all. It was one of the worst experiences that I have ever had.

We decided to lay low at that point and just wait for Allan to get back from Brazil. I couldn't bear calling him with yet another report of the day's adventures gone bad. Did I mention that Jack was also sick at this point?

So went Emma's week. Allan finally returned on Saturday afternoon, to yet another story. But that one is for later.....

Here are some pictures of Miss Emma's battle scars - from the blood work, IV and concrete. Thankfully, these don't give an accurate picture of what she really looks like.

Here she is looking better, but now the bruising has moved down to her eyes.