Scared to Death, check, Pediatric ER, check

Chris and I were able to check a few things off our parent list Monday night: scared to death and going to the emergency room at Children's Memorial Hospital. Nothing like checking things off a list to make you feel like you've been productive! So here's a shortened version of the story (okay maybe not so shortened)...Monday night we put Becca down at 8:40p, she was a bit disagreeable, but sometimes she is. At 9:40p the monitor went on and we heard her moving a bit. She made a sound like she was clearing her throat and it was a bit weird, so Chris and I went up to check on her--Thank God!!! Chris went in and found her with her face soaked in vomit. It was on her face, sleeper and all over the sheet. We quickly swooped her up and began cleaning up her face with a warm wash cloth. It scared me so much in light of the recent tragedy of my friend and I was so glad that Becca was on her tummy. As we were cleaning her up, she started to throw up again. I've never seen a small baby throwing up and it was scary. Her whole body shuttered and up can more of her stomach contents and a bunch of mucus. We began to clean her again and changed her sleeper. I was holding her and she started to vomit again; I could feel it come up from the bottom of her stomach. There was no milk left in her tummy, just mucus. After this vomitting, he eyes started to droop and her body was more limp. I just about had a panic attack as my heart pounded, and I was the most frightened I'd ever been. Chris was right there, we threw on the radio and talked loudly to Becca. She stayed awake and I had Chris call the pediatrician. Becca vomitted again and the doctor called us back. She said to go to the ER because Becca had thrown up so much in such a short time, it had been about 20 minutes. We hurriedly got her into the car and off we went. The ER at Children's was PACKED!!! Chris dropped us off and parked the car. We stood in line to check in with the nurse and the little boy in front of us, who was crying, starting throwing up pink/orange chunks (hey, it's just words, at least you didn't smell it!). I was thinking to myself, what am I doing?! Becca is being exposed to more germs right this minute than she has been her whole life...but, I was too rattled to leave. Becca's color was still not back. She was so pale and she was very lethargic (granted she just puked her guts out and my abs were killing just from watching her) but I wanted to make sure nothing underlying was going on. We were sent down around the corner to the Urgent Care area and were seen 2 hours later. Becca had nursed briefly and kept it down, took a 45 minute nap (which Chris assured me she needed--I was a bit frightened to let her sleep) plus her color was back and she started smiling again. When the doctor came in to see us, Becca was all smiles and was curiously looking all over the exam room. Everything checked out okay and she had not vomitted since we left home, so we were sent away with a thumbs up and told to keep our eyes on her. Chris and I slept on the floor in the nursery when we got home, of course, and all was well...She's fine, aside from a little drippy nose and some congestion that's clearing up well...Mom and Dad are slowly recovering: Chris insisted on sleeping by himself on the nursery floor Tuesday night, and I have 6(!) canker sores...

Here we are leaving the exam room after getting the thumbs up (notice how one of them looks a little better than the other) :)

Back to it!

It's Monday again, and here I am!



We have had a busy and exciting last few weeks (minus the previously blogged about tragedy). Chris and I have bought a beautiful big house in northwest Indiana--Chesterton, to be specific. It's wonderful! It's on a full acre with a garden and apple tree, red brick facade, 3 1/2 car garage, full unfinished basement, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathrooms...2600 sq ft NOT including the 1500 sq ft of basement!!!! We should be moving in around the beginning of December and will need visitors to help us fill the big ol' house! (Go ahead a bring your own bedroom set please.) We won't be filling the house before January, but we have started to put together our 10 year plan. Chris will have an hour commute, which is a bummer, but a reality when moving out of the city of Chicago whether it be to a western, northern, southern, or northwest Indiana suburb. I did the hour-ish commute for the last 3 years and though not pleasant, is definately survive-able. Chesterton has great schools and we hope to be able to stay for 20+ years! :) Someone is definitely looking out for us because yesterday we secured renters to take over the lease of our townhouse!!! We are so lucky...


Becca continues to grow and shine! Our crush on that little girl gets bigger every day! She's pushing onto extended arms while on her tummy, grabbing her toes when on her back, and belly laughed for the first time on Friday night!



We visited the Joneses 2 weeks ago and had a great family getaway. Becca warmed up to Mamaw, Papaw and Aunt Sarah well (after the Mamaw scare of Friday night, that is) :)

We took our first lone girls trip to see the Monaghans this last weekend. Becca and I rode the Amtrak train without trouble. We loved seeing Gramma and Granddad plus Great Gramma, Great Aunt Joanne and Cousin Katie. Becca was certainly the star (speaking of which, all those planning to see and spend time with our daughter, please brush up on your Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star singing because as of now it's a magical tune that calms an upset Becca).

Halloween is coming up and we are getting our camera ready. The Jones Family will have its very own ladybug come Saturday so be on the look out for pictures but until those, here are a few new snap shots of our beauty...

Tragedy

Sorry I've been a bit MIA. Two weeks ago tonight, my girlfriend lost her 6 month old daughter, Gabriella. The story is unbelievably tragic and Gabi leaves behind her mother, father, 2 year old sister and fraternal twin. It all hits too close to home. There are no answers from the autopsy leaving SIDS as the unsettling and unfullfilling explanation (not that any explanation would be "fulfilling"). The memorial service was as nice as it could've been given the unthinkable situation and there was not a dry eye in the house. I sobbed for days, as did Chris, and our hearts and prayers go out to the family. Let this be a reminder to all of us to be thankful for what we have as it could be taken without notice or warning in an instant. We are so blessed and lucky for all we have...Rest in peace Gabi....