Wreck 'Em Tech (and the car)!

It seems like just yesterday that I was rocking Damian to sleep on my chest.  These days, our little boy will have nothing to do with that; he'd much rather be pushing his way out of my arms to get to his blocks, his cars, or the cat.  He's even crawling! Every now and then I truly miss those moments.  Last week, even, I remember wishing he'd let me rock him to sleep when he gets so tired and fussy.  I relished those moments we had together.  Unfortunately, I got my wish.

I woke up this morning with a pain in my side.  I was a little disoriented because I'd only been asleep for a few hours, but I soon realized it was Megan.  She had just kicked me (gently, of course) to wake me up around 5 o'clock - she was worried about Damian's breathing.  He'd had congestion for a few days, but now he was wheezing and short of breath.  Nothing too alarming, though, because his color still looked great, and he never gasped for air.  He was just working real hard.

Megan and I played with him for a couple of hours, and I encouraged Megan to lay down for a bit since she'd been up with him most of the night.  As he layed limp against my chest, Damian seemed less like the little man he's been growing into and more like the little guy we all remember coming into our lives just a few months ago.  He hung out with me for a little over an hour falling asleep and waking up with a whimper every time he coughed.

As soon as the clock hit 8, I called his doctor to try and get him in to the clinic.  Everything I'd read online said it was probably bacterial or viral so I wasn't too concerned.  The nurse, however, calmly suggested we go to the ER at Cook Children's Hospital.  We, not so calmly, grabbed and filled his diaper bag, got ready for the day, emailed my friend Hayley to take notes for me, and headed out the door.

Mystified as to why we needed to go to the hospital, I racked my brain trying to figure out what they were worried about.  Needless to say, I was distracted enough to turn too widely and run us right into the curb about two blocks from the hospital.  So there I sat, dumbfounded as to what could be wrong with Dami and dumbfounded as to how I possibly could have bent the front right wheel so far inward.  We figured it was a sign I was not meant to drive ambulances ;-)

Megan and Damian walked the final two blocks to the hospital as her dad came to the rescue and towed the car to the shop.  I managed to meet Megan and Damian at the hospital just before the doctor came in.  He told us it was a viral infection that had settled into his chest, and he wanted to give Damian some steroids and breathing treatments.  Although he resisted at first, Damian finally fell asleep getting his medicine, and when he woke up, he was brand new man!  He still has a little extra rattle in his lungs, but everything is A-okay!  After being discharged, JP picked us back up and dropped us off at home, but not before I managed to sit in a pile of bird poop while waiting for our ride.  Meg wanted to take a picture, but I wasn't exactly in the mood.  Megan and Damian tried to rest, her dad took off to work (since we'd taken him away from it all day), and I rushed off to take my quiz.

We're all home now, trying to rest, but we wanted to fill you all in on our eventful day.  And if that wasn't enough, Mat and John managed to get the car fixed and back to us already!  What a blessing.  We are so grateful for all the help.  Grandpa JP even managed to get in a driving lesson for Damian (since he shouldn't be getting them from his dad).

We also wanted to mention our trip out to McDodi's Farm on Saturday.  Current students and graduates from the medical school were invited out for a big get-together, and we had a great time.  Next year, we'll probably stay later, but Megan was headed off to join the family to celebrate her cousin's graduation from graduate school, and I needed to go "study " with some friends from school (aka watch Tech beat Texas  ~ although we really did plan on studying)!!!