A Very Long Post

I am so thankful to be home. We were in the hospital from Sunday to Friday and I didn't even go outside during that time. I missed home and the sunshine so much!!!! I even missed cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry. Is that totally weird? I guess I just wanted to be back doing all the normal things of life. We have spent a lot of time outside over the last several days, trying to replenish our vitamin D. I don't think Gracen even remembers that old hospital. She has been so happy and seems to be on the mend. It is hard to tell though. She isn't old enough to tell me if she is hurting somewhere, so every time she randomly hollers out, I cringe, wondering if she is in pain...or just hollering out as babies do. I wish she could talk to me and tell me what is going on with her. That lack of communication is very frustrating during the baby years. Of course, when Reagan learned to talk, I longed for the quiet again....never satisfied, I know.

In my last blog entry I just talked about Sunday. Monday thru Friday were certainly not as scary as Sunday, but hard nonetheless. We were on a schedule of checking Gracen's vitals every 4 hours...8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., 12:00 a.m., and 4:00 a.m. Gracen was also given an antibiotic through her I.V. at 3:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. It was so hard to get any sleep and it was very hard to wake Gracen up for all those checks after it seemed like we had just gotten her to sleep. It seems like rest would be very important for the body to heal itself, but it didn't seem like the hospital shared that point of view.

We only slept about 2 hours on Sunday night and maybe 3 hours on Monday night. I woke up Monday morning in the wee hours to a loud beeping sound. In my half conscious state I dreamed that Gracen had "coded". My heart was racing and tears immediately came to my eyes as I jumped out of the bed. Thankfully, it was just a problem with her I.V. pump, and I just wasn't used to the sounds of the hospital. It is humorous now, but not funny at all in the moment. Monday was my birthday and I felt every bit of my 37 years. I felt like I had been run over by a truck due to the anxiety, nervous stomach, and lack of sleep. I certainly cannot say that my birthday was uneventful....definitely memorable.

Around 3:30 Tuesday morning, the nurse remember that he need to take blood from Gracen. He needed a tube so the simply finger or heel prick would not do. Again we had only been asleep about an hour from when they woke us up for the midnight check and they ended up sticking her 4 times before they were successful. Gracen was screaming which made me start crying. The entire situation sent me back to the bathroom. I think I lost about 4 pounds while we were there. Anyway, I was livid with that nurse and told him so. He was a horrible nurse with no bedside manner and no personality to work with children. I made sure that he was not in our room again. Thankfully, we had wonderful nurses who did a great job with Gracen every other night.

Tuesday's bloodwork showed a white blood count of 23,000. It had certainly come down from the original 34,000, but the doctor wanted it under 15,000. Our overnight visit quickly turned into 2 nights. I also realized that we would have to do bloodwork every morning to see if we could go home. Ugh!

On Wednesday morning, her blood count was at 18,000 so we were very hopeful that we would go home on Thursday. Wednesday was also a very good day. Gracen was happy and I could see her easy-going personality returning. Gene's mother also brought Reagan to see us, which made me smile. Gracen took great naps that day which allowed me to rest and to spend some time reading my Bible and praying, which lifted my spirits tremendously.

The days were long because Gracen is at the age (11 mths.) where she is wanting to go. She wanted down to crawl all over that nasty hospital floor. I just couldn't allow that so the entire day was spent holding her, walking her up and down the hallway when the I.V. was disconnected, playing with toys on the bed, or letting her play with toys in her hospital crib. Thursday was the longest day because we really thought that we would be going home that morning after such a great Wednesday, and at this point, I was going stir crazy. I also thought Gracen wouldn't do well being confined for another 24 hour period. The doctor came in and said that Gracen's white blood count had not dropped enough over night(16,000) and something in her urine had actually increased. He said they would like to keep her another night and he might as well have punched me in the stomach. It was raining outside that morning and it was just dreary...inside and out. I started to think that we might not ever get to go home.

On Friday, the blood count was around 13,000.....Praise the Lord! We packed at lightning speed and hit the road. I felt like I had been released from prison.

Well, I am rambling and I want to thank some people that helped us make it through that horrid week.

My mom and dad came almost every night and my mom spent at least 2 full days there... maybe 3...I can't remember now. They also kept Reagan one night. Thanks Mom and Dad for all you guys do and your constant love and support.

Gene's parents kept Reagan the other nights. They don't read this blog, but I want to say thank you anyway. Gene's mom also came and cleaned my house. It was nice to come home to a super clean house after the week I had.

Riley Anne Montgomery brought a precious gift to Gracen. Thanks Riley Anne.

Traci Varon totally lifted my spirits by bringing me a birthday gift on Monday morning and a set of blocks for Gracen to play with. I love the candle and I am using the prayer journal. Traci, thank you for thinking of me and remembering my birthday.

Cassandra Hicks and Leslie Dedon came on Tuesday bearing gifts from my momMEtime group. They brought a huge basket of snacks, coins for the vending machine, and gift cards to Chick-Fil-A, Starbucks, and Panera Bread. That was so nice and definitely brightened my day. Thank you to Cassandra, Leslie, Traci Varon, Christie Sellers, April Turner, Joy Williams, Rebekah Ismail, Monica Hagley, Tabitha Abele, Megan Crosby, Valerie Urnis, Emily Whitten, and Amy Cabaniss.....If I missed anyone I am sorry.

Thank you to Cassandra and Joy for the visits, the phone calls, and the constant FaceBook updates.

Thank you to my aunt and uncle, Sherry and Billy, for the adorable baby doll and balloon. Gracen loved both of them and I enjoyed my candy.

Thank you to the ladies in the EMBC church office who also put together a snack basket and thank you Kimberly Hunt for bringing it. I was so happy to see your pretty face that day.

Thanks to Martee and Dicky Windham, Joy and Tim Williams, Austin Barnett, Jeremy Moore, and Mark Otstot for the visits. Others tried to visit but we put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door whenever Gracen was asleep...which was random times throughout the day.

Thanks again to my sisters Lori and Lindsay and to Brian, Lindsay's husband, for the phone calls and visits.

We also received NUMEROUS phone calls every single day....too many people to name individually....and I had 264 comments on Facebook. That is crazy to me! I didn't know we had so many friends.

If I didn't name you and you did something for us, I am so sorry! I tried to write down things as they happened, but I know I am forgetting something or someone. If I have forgotten you, let me know.

Well, this has gotten ridiculously long!

Until next time....