Random pictures, Bay City & a hospital stay

It's been a crazy week for us. Not that craziness is all that unusual at our house, but there's been much more of it. Before delving into the insanity, let's backtrack and show you a few pictures that were hanging out on the camera.

Zoe and Alyse, taken before I left for work one morning.

Rich and Aunt Steph took the kids to Timbertown on one of those rare, beautiful fall days we had a while back.

Same day.

Now, to begin the abbreviated story that leads up to a hospital stay for Alyse. A little background ... Alyse had been having some respiratory issues that started way back on Oct. 27. On Nov. 7, I went to the doctor with her for the third time and she started a second round of antibiotics to try to knock out what we thought was a case of pneumonia. After having experienced our share of respiratory problems with Zoe, we weren't all that shocked that we were repeating it with another child. Armed with new meds, we were off to Bay City for a pre-planned visit.

Mitchell, holding a rattle that belonged to Rich:

Zoe sitting with SupaBusia at lunch.

Alyse sleeping on Dziadzia. She spent most of Sunday sleeping, only perking up once in a while.

Mitchell and SupaBusia.

Alyse and Busia.

We returned home Sunday, early evening. Sunday night was rough for Alyse. I was glad she had a pre-scheduled appointment with our doctor on Monday since they were becoming concerned with her persistent problems. I was fairly sure that after the doctor saw her, he was going to insist she go to the hospital for a chest x-ray. She was still breathing rapidly despite being on the stronger antibiotic for days.

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After the appointment, Rich called me at work to say he was on his way to the U-M emergency room. I left work to join them, but had no idea I'd be spending the week there. Similar to Zoe in her sickly days, Alyse was in good spirits most of the time, so it was hard to tell how sick she really was. It was deja vu for Rich when, in triage, they labeled her low priority since truly sick kids don't smile at the nurses and play with their stethoscopes. Her pulse/ox (low 80s) and temperature (103.7) told a different story.

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After a chest x-ray, blood work and some monitoring, she was admitted. For days, we really weren't sure what she was fighting. They could tell us what it wasn't (not bacterial, not pneumonia, not RSV or a few other viruses that you can test for), but they weren't sure what it was. That's scary to hear. Thankfully, my mom was able to come stay with me in the hospital and my sister Shawn stayed with Rich, Zoe and Mitchell.

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Another scary thing was to find ourselves sharing a room with another extremely sick child. We were in isolation, so anyone entering the room had to be decked out in a blue plastic gown, gloves and a face mask with an attached eye shield. Not very comforting. To make a long story short, after days of testing and monitoring, we were told that they would just 'support' her through the illness with fluids and oxygen.

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Once she was looking better and could hold her oxygen levels up, she would be released. When that would occur - they had no idea. It was rather sudden that Alyse bounced back. From night to mid-morning, she was a different kid. She began smiling again and screeching at the strangers that poked at her. After a follow-up visit with her doctor today, she has a clean bill of health.

Here's a few pictures I took during the week.

Zoe in a dress-up costume Mom bought her.

Me sleeping with Alyse in her hospital crib. I know it's odd, but you have no idea how uncomfortable the alternatives was. The first couple nights, Mom and I took turns holding Alyse while she slept while sitting in the most uncomfortable wooden rocking chair on earth or getting some sleep on an undersized couch/bench thingy.

Our patient. She swung that arm (wrapped to protect the IV line) around like a club, and never really got used to the oxygen line in her nose.

Busia came to town later in the week and relieved my mom and sister. Once we were assured Alyse wasn't contagious, the whole family came for a visit. (And then we soaked Zoe and Mitchell from head-to-toe with hand sanitizer on our way out of the hospital.)

At long last, I was able to summon my pack mule (I mean, my loving husband) to make the trip home.

Take care,

ZMA's Momma