whew, what a day...

Yesterday was one of those exhausting days in parenthood that you hope never comes, but you know one day it probably will.  Our oldest daughter Kyla had been battling a stomach virus over the weekend and hadn't been feeling too good.  She's always an amazing sick kid - she rarely complains, but rather just rests peacefully on the couch.  This time, however, things were getting worse and she wasn't keeping anything down. I actually took her to the ER Sunday night to get her checked out, but the ER doctor didn't seem too worried and didn't really do much other than run another strep test (we had one done at the doctor on Friday) and give Kyla a Popsicle that she didn't eat.  We got her home and in bed, but she got up several times throughout the night and threw up a bunch (even though she hadn't had anything to eat or drink).  When we got up yesterday morning, she was looking pale and extremely thin, and she could hardly move herself.  We knew she was dehydrated and it was honestly quite scary how frail she looked.

We took her to the doctor and he ran some tests and determined that she was close to being severely dehydrated.  They quickly got her hooked up to an IV and ran a liter of fluids into her arm.  Now, that might not seem like a big deal to those without kids, but that was the longest 3 hours of my life!  Sarah took Avery out of the room and I sat with Kyla on the bed while they poked her (twice) with the needle and she screamed.  And screamed.  And screamed.  For about an hour and a half.  Nothing I tried calmed her down.  I tried reading to her, singing songs, doing a finger puppet show, watching videos on my phone, nothing.  Finally, she conked out and slept through the last part.

The doctor came in and said she needed more fluids, but felt that we might be able to get them in her at home if we wanted to try that.  So we came home determined to keep her out of the hospital!  Thankfully, we were able to get enough fluids in her and she kept them down thanks to some medicine to keep the nausea down.  She slept really well last night and I think we might be in the clear now!  Within an hour of the time she woke up, she had already created several drawings and she's making some play dough creations as I type!  We're so appreciative for our kids overall good health.  I know there are so many parents out there who deal with much worse on a daily basis.  Times like these make us truly appreciate our family and the times we have together.