Back Again

 It started again on Wednesday.
Ella got a cough and I just knew we were in for it.

We have a history of struggling with colds.

Every time Micah gets a runny nose I have to give him his inhaler. At this point he had not been technically diagnosed as asthmatic; we fixed that this weekend.
On Thursday he got the runny nose and by that afternoon I had to give him his nebulizer.
This was the first time I had to give him this. 3 times I tried with no improvement.

I was praying and praying and praying that we wouldn't have to stay another night. But as soon as we got there he was put onto oxygen. Not a good sign. Then we were admitted for the night. 

This ended up being our most difficult stay yet. 

He was exhausted and manifesting it by fighting every treatment. 

I'll tell you one thing about Micah; he is strong. Really strong. It took 3 of us to pin him down to take his treatments. If you've ever had to hold your child down you know what kind of torture that is for a mother. I'm supposed to protect and comfort him, and instead I'm holding his arms and head still. 

It was miserable.

He was then officially diagnosed as having asthma and given more steroids and a daily inhaler.

We were released 24 hours into our stay and I have never been happier to be home.

Then…

Just 18 hours later I was on my way back to Children's Hospital with Josiah. 

He seemed to be struggling to breath. I didn't know if I was being paranoid, but something didn't seem right. 

His oxygen was ok when we got in (93), but he was retracting (he was pulling from his abdomen when he took breaths) and his respiratory rate was right around 44 (normal is around 22).

So they began treating it like an asthma attack.
Seriously, Lord? I was just here. With a different child. Why? 
I was fried. My nerves were gone. I had nothing left to give.
When the Dr came in and said we would probably be admitted to for the night I cried. How awful is that? I cried in front of Josiah, who was being so strong. I just couldn't bear the thought that this was happening all over again.

It started to look better. Like we wouldn't have to stay the night.
Then it got worse. Much worse.
He spiked a temperature. And began to look really miserable.
He didn't complain once. Not once. He's amazing.
But he was having an allergic reaction to the medicine that made him turn red. BRIGHT RED.

They took him off of the continuous medicine and he improved drastically.
He was diagnosed as having an asthma attack due to an atypical pneumonia.
They gave him an antibiotic and tylanol and he was feeling like himself again.
They ended up letting us leave right around 1:30 AM.

But it's so strange to have two kids on the same medication for two separate visits to the hospital.
It has truly been one of the hardest weekends of our lives.
I am happy to be home; but I'm still struggling to recover.

Sometimes it's really hard to see the Lord's plan in certain situations. I know he is in control. But I won't lie…I'm a bit perturbed and tired.
But God is good. All the time.

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.