Never Underestimate Your Children

That was the lesson I learned after spending three hours in the ER with all three girls this past weekend. Oddly enough, Savannah was the cause for the trip with a 104.5 fever, high heart and respiratory rate and listless appearance. After battling it all morning, I finally gave into my motherly instinct and took her in. All of my "go to" people were otherwise occupied which meant the twins were in for the trip as well.

Luckily, the ER wasn't crazy busy as it usually is on Sunday afternoon. Savannah was triaged and we were taken directly too a room (sympathy for the "you've got your hands full" mommy). As I carried Savannah and two bags while pushing the stroller with the girls, I realized that this is what being a mother is all about. You somehow find what it takes to do something that you thought impossible. Taking all three kids to the ER was on my list of impossibilities until Sunday.

First, Savannah was extremely calm, mature, and agreeable. No tears, no fuss just plain cooperation. She laid on the stretcher for three hours with no pillow or blanket and no mommy by her side for the most part. She was patient and told me about every fifteen minutes that she wanted to go but seemed to understand that a departure wasn't going to be in her immediate future.

The twins we amazing as well. Not thinking, I put them in the car about the same time I should have been feeding them lunch. I grabbed Cheerios but nothing more. After their initial complaints of being in a hospital - worrying that they were going to be the ones poked and prodded, the girls just sat in their stroller. I never took them out! I keep feeding them Cheerios and walked them back forth in front of Savannah's room. During the times that Savannah needed my help, someone else walked them or they just watched. No cries, meltdowns and no sleeping, of course, but who's complaining.

We were finally discharged with the intention of hydrating Savannah and bringing her fever and heart rate down at home. That didn't work as well as it was said to have. The anti-nausea medicine didn't work and after hooking her up to Adeline's monitor I watched her heart rate spike to an all time high of 175. Her sats weren't great and her fever was 104 again. Needless to say it was a sleepless night for both of us but we managed. Between the baths and vomiting, we caught a couple of hours of sleep.

Although, it was a stressful situation and I wasn't completely confident in my decision to care for Savannah at home, I feel I did the right thing. I am so proud of all three of my girls. They all rose to the occasion just when I thought things might become disaster. Thankfully, Savannah is better now and we have all caught up on sleep (thanks to Daddy's return home for a few days). We can just add this illness to the long list of nasty viruses we seem to pick up during the month of April.

Can I just say, April is my least favorite month?

March for Babies

We are looking forward to participating in the March of Dimes, March for Babies this upcoming weekend. This year, the girls are older and more active and will be a lot of fun to have with us. Who would have thought that these girls could do some of the "marching" themselves (more later on Adeline's first steps).

I remember feeling so proud of our girls last year. They made it, they were with me, we were on the road to recovery!! We are still on that road to some degree but what a great place to be. We will most likely walk with many families who lost their baby and are still working through their grief. I feel fortunate that I am a walker celebrating my girls and their success.

As this weekend approaches, we ask those of you who follow Adeline and Lila's blog to pray for those babies still fighting in the NICU, those babies who are fighting to stay in the womb just one more day, and for those babies who are home and working to overcome their start "behind the 8 ball."

If you would like to walk this year, you can use the March for Babies link on the side of this blog to direct you to our website and the March for Babies homepage.