An Update

Well, its Saturday night and I thought I would just update you all on what has been happening. Our lives have been anything but boring lately. My false labor has still been going on, though getting more frequent and a little more uncomfortable. I tell you, I didn't have anything like this with the other two. Oh, I had some "Braxton-Hicks" with them both, but only for a short while - not going on a month like I am now! It is quite annoying, but I am almost to the point that I am pretty much used to it. Every now and then I will have a pretty sharp contraction that causes me to pause for a second, but that is it.

At my dr. appt. two weeks ago and they recommended I go on an unofficial "bed rest," so that is what I have been trying to do these last two weeks. Last week my mother-in-law sorta moved in with us for 6 days. And I am SO glad that she was here. She did all the cooking and cleaning, as well as helped with the kids. I hate not being able to take care of everything myself like normal, but I just physically cannot do it until I have this baby. I am so thankful for having a loving family that is willing to help out.

Anyways, it was also nice to have my MIL here because last Wednesday, Leila came down with a stomach bug. It started out as just throwing up, then turned into the dreaded diarrhea. Poor baby girl, it was so bad! I just did my best to see that she was drinking lots and trying to get her to eat as much as she could. Thankfully, she bounced back after about 4 days and now she is perfectly fine. But on Friday night, a couple hours after Liam went to bed, he woke up, sat up in bed and threw up. Liam has only thrown up maybe 3 times in his life, so he still isn't sure what is happening or what to do. Well, I had to take him straight to the bath and rinse him off while my MIL changed his sheets and everything. And that was the beginning. We were both up with him probably every 20-30 mins that whole night with him getting sick, and then it turning to diarrhea. I felt so bad for him. Plus, ever since he has been potty trained, he completely freaks out when he sees a mess in his underwear. I am not totally sure why. So that was really upsetting him. But I just kept telling him that it was okay, that he didn't mean to, and that we can just clean it up.

So, that was a LONG exhausting night - not only dealing with that, but also having Leila wake up every time Liam woke up sick because he would cry pretty loudly. Plus, I was having a few pretty strong contractions that I was trying to deal with! But, the next morning I just did what I had done with Leila and had him resting on the couch, let him watch Thomas a lot more than he normally gets to, and kept having him drink and trying to get him to eat. At first we just assumed it would be like it was with Leila, but after a day of him only drinking but refusing to eat, I sensed that it was different. His eyes started looking very dark and bloodshot, and a little sunken in. I called a nurses hot line to see what they said, and they gave us some direction, which we followed for the next two days. But by Monday night, Matt and I could tell that Liam looked a lot thinner and he was still not getting better.

So Tuesday morning I called to get him into our dr. but she didn't have an opening until Wednesday morning. I went ahead and made the appt. and we kept trying to get Liam to eat and drink, which he now was starting to refuse drink too. I was really sad to look at him - he would just sit there and stare, and always wanted to "just lay down." When he talked you could barely hear him. He just had no energy and it broke my heart. My mom and sister got here Tuesday afternoon. Well, after supper that night, Matt headed out to youth group, but left early because we just decided that we shouldn't wait until the next day for him to be seen. My mom said that how Liam was acting was reminding her a lot of when my brother, Andrew, had to be hospitalized for a few days due to dehydration.

So off to the hospital Matt and I went at about 8 p.m. We had to wait a while before being seen, as is usually the case with an ER. They took us back, and wanted to do some blood work. To tell you just how out of it Liam was, he only barely blinked his eyes when they poked him to get the vial of blood. Usually when these kids see a needle coming they start crying or screaming or something. And actually, three nurses came in prepared to hold him down in order for the one to get the blood. But they didn't even need to do anything. That right there confirmed to me that Liam was not okay and I was so thankful that we brought him in that night.

The blood work came back and the dr. informed us that he was dehydrated, and that his potassium and sodium were low, and they wanted to admit him to the Fredericton hospital. Fredericton is about 45 mins from here. It is the capital city of New Brunswick and has a much larger hospital. We live in a small area, so our hospital is much smaller, and does not have a pediatric ward. So, they got our paperwork all ready and called the Fredericton hospital to let them know we were on our way.

So now I had a decision to make. First of all, I was exhausted. I had barely slept in the last week with the kids sick. Second, what if I went into labor? I know that I would have already been at a hospital so it would be okay, but I would much prefer to have my baby in a place that I am familiar with and with drs. that I know. But I wanted to be with my little boy. I was so torn, I didn't know what to do. Plus, I had a dr. appt the next morning, which they really like you to keep when you are so close to your due date, and I wanted to see if anything had progressed and if these contractions were doing anything productive. After I prayed about it some and talked with Matt, we both felt that I needed to go to the dr. appt. and that I needed to TRY to get some rest, which most likely would not happen in the hospital.

So I decided to stay home, but I asked Amanda to go with Matt and Liam. I felt very good with her going because then if anything came up, she could help Matt make decisions, etc. since she is an RN. She told us that most likely all they would need to do is run a few things of fluid through IV through him, and he should be okay. So off they went to Fredericton and I went home at about midnight. I stayed up until I heard from them and knew that he was all settled in a room and hooked up to an IV and everything was fine. Then I went to bed - maybe around 2:45 a.m. (By the way, I was here at home with my mom and mom-in-law to help me in case of anything happening.)

I prayed most of the night for several things, mostly for my sweet, precious little boy, and also that I would not go into labor since Matt was not here. I had to laugh at myself. For the last week or two I had been praying that I WOULD go into labor, and in the blink of an eye, I was praying to NOT go just then. :-) I did get some sleep that night, though not much.

The next morning Matt called to say that Liam wasn't much different from the night before and they would probably keep him all day and another night at least. So I went to my dr. appt. and then we headed to Fredericton. I was NOT going to let my boy spend another night in the hospital without my there. Plus, I wanted to let Amanda be "off duty."

Now, here I must explain something. I am not used to being the one who is healthy and visiting someone in the hospital. I am used to being the sick one in the hospital. So this is all new to me. Also, I was going to see my child, my baby boy. We couldn't get there fast enough. When we got to the hospital, we found his room and as soon as I walked in, I just started crying. He was sound asleep, looking so sweet. But when I saw him hooked to the IV it just got me. They put it in his hand and wrapped it up really good so he couldn't pull it out. I know, it was "just" and IV, but no parent wants to see their child in a hospital bed hooked to any kind of machine for any reason.

I just leaned down and kissed him, then hugged my husband so hard. I felt like there was so much weighing on me at that moment that all I could do was cry. I was exhausted - physically and emotionally. I was still having contractions, and my back was killing me. Once I saw them, I realized how much I had missed Matt and Liam. And I just wanted Liam to be better and back at home. I felt like I couldn't take it anymore.

But you know, it is at times like that that I am so thankful that I have the Lord right here with me, where he is standing there, waiting to take my burdens off of me. I don't have to carry them! My mom, Amanda, Mom-in-law, and Leila left after Liam had been awake for a little while and they got to talk with him some. When they were saying good-bye, Liam just said in a questioning voice, "Mommy staying here with me?" I told him yes and that was all he said, but it was enough to cause me to cry again. I began to doubt my decision the night before how I stayed home. But, I still think that it was the best decision, though VERY hard to make.

Well, this is getting very long, so I will sum it up to say that throughout the rest of the day and night he seemed to perk up a little bit, his color came back in his face, he talked more, started to eat some, and even smiled and laughed and played with his trains and cars. The next morning he seemed much better, so we explained to the nurse our situation in that I am just a couple days away from my due date and lived 45 mins away. The nurse told the dr, who said Liam was doing much better and fine to go home and we were in the car on the way home just 30 mins later. Praise the Lord! Liam was very happy to be going home. Today, he is pretty much back 100%, though still a little whiny, but we were dealing with that before he got sick. He did loose about 4-5 lbs., but we will get that back on him soon enough.

I am so thankful that he is better, and pray I never have to see one of my children in the hospital again. I thank the Lord that he is in control of everything and always there to help me when I need him. Its at those times that I am at my lowest and weakest point that he is there to be my strength. I know that what we went through is nothing compared to what millions of other parents have to go through with their children, due to premature births, cancer, and many other sicknesses, and this has caused me to pray for those parents more. I am also thankful for those of you who prayed for us. Thank you.

So, Liam is better, and we are all just eagerly waiting for this baby to come. I have been feeling a bit "different" and "odd" today, so we shall see if that means anything. Only 5 days till d-day, and we shall see what happens. I can't wait to hug and kiss and hold my little L........! :-)

(By the way - I don't feel like re-reading and proofing this right now, so sorry if something doesn't make sense or is spelled wrong or misused.)