Small victories

Makena and Kessler have each taken turns being sick the last two weeks. Most recently it has been Kessler. He’s been throwing up the last few days—once or twice a day, so not too much. Friday night at about 10:30, after everyone was in bed, Makena started crying. She woke Kessler. While I was trying to get her settled Mark was trying to get Kess settled. I could hear Kessler wheezing in between each of his cries. He wasn’t hysterical. He wouldn’t settle until I put him in his crib—then he immediately fell asleep. I called the after-hours number for our pediatrician (for the third time in 10 days). The nurse asked me several questions. I asked and she confirmed that one of the questions was intended to rule out Meningitis. Kessler was able to touch his chin to his chest. She was very thorough and finally decided that it was nothing serious. Before I let her go I told her that I would probably wake him up just to see how he’s breathing. She told me to do it with her on the phone. I did—he took a deep breath and she heard the wheezing. She told me that I should probably take him in for an evaluation.

So, Kess and I headed to the ER, but not before realizing that I must have left my purse at Target earlier in the day. At the ER, we were left in triage for an hour or more. From there I was forced to listen to this mother yell and berate her two young daughters. “Don’t do that! Get over here! NO, NO, NO, NO! I’m tired! I told you NO!” It was excruciating.

When the doctor finally came, she said Kessler was fine. She said that he probably just had some irritation in his throat and to just put him in his room with a humidifier, but come back to the ER if his symptoms worsen.

We came home and Kess fell asleep right away. He’s been fine since. We went to Target to get my first and found that everything was there—including the cash. Hooray for small victories.