Ah, Christmas isn't Christmas without spending part of it in the hospital.
Yesterday afternoon, we all left for Erie and our Christmas celebrations. The plan was to attend the traditional Christmas Eve gathering at my grandma's, spend the night, and have Christmas Day with my mother and father at their respective homes. Little Evan had other ideas.
He'd had a runny nose and a cough all morning, but by the time we got to my Dad's at 2 he was listless and running a high fever. Mike and I debated for about half an hour before turning around and coming back home, stopping to pick up MTO's on the way (nothing says Christmas dinner like a chicken club).
I felt bad that I was missing the gathering at my grandma's--I don't think I've ever missed it, and I look forward to it every year. I am always in charge of passing out the presents and didn't want to shirk my duties. But Evan was just so sick, and we knew we had to take care of him first. So we spent the night in, talking on the phone to family and watching tv. Evan just laid on the couch like a wet rag, but he needed the rest so we just let him go.
We all went to bed around 11, and Ev slept with us so we could keep a closer eye on him. When we woke up at 3:30 to check on him, his 102 fever felt a lot hotter than it had. When we took his temp it was almost 105, and nothing was bringing it down after more than half an hour. So we all got dressed, bundled up, and headed down to the emergency room.
We were only there for about two hours, but the nurse was able to bring down his fever to an acceptable 101, and they checked his lungs and all that good stuff. We were sent home with instructions to keep him drinking, watch his breathing, and if he gets any worse to come back right away.
So the three of us tumbled back into bed about 6 am. We're still not all awake, and I don't know what today holds for us yet. I will say that life is never dull or predictable when you have kids. Merry Christmas.
Posted by jenny at December 25, 2003 10:05 AM
