One Down, X To Go

We had our first ER trip for Lincoln on Saturday. Those of you who know me at-all-well know I like to set the stage for stories, so let's start with about last Thursday. Just sit back, relax, and try to follow the train of thought...

My cousin's status on facebook last Thursday was "Please include Jane and Jacob Smith* in your prayers. Their 3 month old baby, Jon*, died in Jane's* arms 2 nights ago." This immediately made me cry because Lincoln is almost 3 months, and I just couldn't imagine the sorrow.

Then we had a ward (church) activity on Friday night. Everything went well, and the last thing one of the ladies at church said to me was, "kiss your baby for me!" Little did she know that her own baby (ok, he was 19) would die tragically, suddenly, and needlessly in a car accident about 30 minutes later. When I got the news on Saturday morning, I once again immediately starting crying. (Just as a review, remember I'm still post-partum, so I think all the crying is normal.) And I continued to cry (bawl, really) about losing her little baby (even though he was 19, he was her baby).

THEN I went to get my sister-in-law, and we went to do the March for Babies (thank you to those who donated, by the way) which is just one more reminder of little babies who live too little in this mortal life, if at all.

So when, after the race, my brother-in-law and niece and nephew came up to meet us and my BIL told me Lincoln was sick (had a fever, and in kids that young, it's tough to tell why) and Tyler was taking him the ER, I basically flipped out. (For those unfamiliar with how I tell a story, we finally got to the good part.) So I hopped in my car, all of a dither, and raced to my in-law's house to meet Tyler and take Lincoln to the ER. (Side-note, my car usually prefers to go 70 on the interstate, where my last car (ah, Ruby, I do miss you so) preferred to go 90. WELL, when Lincoln's in trouble, Sophia ALSO likes to go 90.) Anywho, we left my car at my in-laws and took Lincoln to the pediatric ER at Huntsville Hospital. They poked and prodded him, trying to get an IV placed (unsuccessfully, though they tried about 5 places), and Tyler held ME while I cried, but in the end, his white blood cell count was ok, and they sent us home with orders to give him tylenol every 4-6 hours as needed for fever. And he's been ok ever since. I'm not sure what it was, and I hope they call soon when the cultures are ready to tell us they didn't find anything, but better safe than sorry.

However, here's the lesson I learned from this experience:
When the doctor orders an IV for your baby, if he's drinking/eating and peeing ok, tell them no. In the politest way possible. There was no need for that IV unless he was dehydrated or needed IV antibiotics. It was a painful lesson, but I'm sharing it with all of you. You all probably knew that though...

Tyler got a great picture with his phone that pretty much sums up how ALL of us felt, though:


Please remember to pray for mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and friends who lose loved ones. I know that those who die are not lost to us forever, but I can only imagine how much sorrow one would have because you would MISS a family member or friend.

*Names changed, just in case. In case of what? I don't know.