One Hundred Fifty Four: Germs

As I mentioned before, we had the unfortunate experience to spend a portion of our Christmas break in the hospital. Blake came down with a case of RSV at seven weeks old. Because of his age, his pediatrician wouldn't even see him and required us to go straight to the hospital which completely derailed our Christmas plans.

But in the end, our prayers were answered. We spent two and a half days in that very cramped space, but we were released on Christmas Eve right in time to slide into bed before Santa came.

Of course, that wasn't until after I opened my BIG FAT MOUTH and asked the boys one last time what they wanted for Christmas including what color DSI's they wanted.It took a good thirty minutes to convince them that Blue and Black are the two "most rare" DSI colors produced. I blame the lack of sleep on my poor judgement that night. 

Things I learned during our hospital stay:

* Apparently, two months is the magical age when infants don't need to be rushed to the Emergency Room at a slight fever (>100.4).

* I must have made one too many trips to the Dollar Spot at Target without using hand sanitizer.

* A heart rate monitor, when accidentally disconnected, sounds like the patient is flat lining. Scary.

* Always pack more than one set of clothes when packing for a hospital visit. You never know when you might get puked on.

* I should really stop rolling my eyes at moms who use those shopping cart covers. In fact, maybe I should even buy one.

*  I watched three whole seasons of Grey's Anatomy, so I'm basically qualified to give medical consulting advice to local hospitals. I will start with this: there is a need to revisit the order in which tests are done to babies. For example, instead of starting with the fourteen blood tests, x-rays, and catheter, maybe the nurses should start with the RSV test that only requires a simple nose swab.

*Approximately 9 out of 10 nurses are excellent. It seems 1 out of 10 are in on-the-job-training.

* The Mama Bear in me comes out when left alone with a choking baby if the nurses take their sweet time responding to my TWO panic calls. (Once I realized he was okay, it got a little tense. Tears. Tone. The works.)

* I drink lots of whole milk when I am stressed out in a hospital. Can you imagine how much weight I would gain if I had a family member in the hospital long term?

* When tired enough, I have the ability to sleep on tile floor if the other option is sharing a tiny cot with my husband. For the amount you pay per night in the hospital you'd think they could throw in an air mattress. (Consider that more free advice to the medical staff.)

* BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. After two and a half days in the hospital, it takes another two and a half days to stop hearing the beeps.

* Jeff and I can pack an entire hospital room in approximately 90 seconds once given the green light to go home.