TX- Big Sick

Little One stayed up past Her bedtime for the Big Party, so we didn't think too much of it when She slept in the next morning. Well, other than: "Hallelujah we all get to stay in bed! Woo hoo we get to linger over coffee! Thank goodness She's resting up, She'll be in such a good mood!" Ha.
Eventually we thought we'd get Her up before She slept right though nap time. The second I touched Her sleepy Little One body I thought, "uh oh".
Here are some numbers, to demonstrate what happened next:
103.4-degrees radiating from my Little One.
And then, 105.
1- trip to the ER
1 -torture chamber device for an X-Ray, with Her body encased in a plexi-glass contraption that pinned Her arms over Her head and left Her feet dangling in the air.
5- wires attached
1-catheter
7- times it was explained to us that it was vital to start an IV because of Her heart rate.
2- parents who took turns holding Her down while
5- nurses tried
dozens- of times with
6-needles to start an IV. Which they never did.
3- People who asked me to leave Her so they could try again.
0-seconds either of us left Her alone.
1- J who never gets upset telling the staff not to touch his baby again or we'd walk out.
212- how high Her heart rate got.
4- flavors of pedialyte brought to us
2- flavors sent back because She is allergic to them.
10- hours altogether before we took Her home, for
5-Days of fevers vascillating between 102 and 105.4
6-sleepless nights
1-more trip to a doctor- peds clinic this time.
30-seconds it took the nurse there to draw blood and get the band aid on. Amazing.
7- days from start to finish, until She was back to Herself again.

Little One was so traumatized by this whole experience that for days after anyone holding Her arm- say to put it in a sleeve, or to wipe oatmeal off of it- caused little tears to flow while She shook Her head and pleaded, "No-no! No-no! All done. All done!"
She's a little leaner, tipping the scales at the same exact weight as She was on Her first birthday, which puts Her back into 6 month-sized clothes. But She's better, eating, singing, playing. One of Her new favorite toys is the pretend-doctor set, which She uses to look in everyone's ears and give Herself lots of "shots". Sort of interesting.
It's sobering when a baby gets sick, especially if things go sort of wrong, and I realize how fragile they really are. At the same time I realize how brave, and how strong She is. She never did get an IV, never did get anything but Tylenol, and Her teeny little body fought off the Big Sick all by itself. In the end it was just a virus. A really bad, nasty virus.

In Texas, even the germs are bigger!