Our Weekend at the Hospital

We finally got settled in and the nurse brought some cookies.

Ella woke up at about 12:30 am calling for Mommy on Thursday night. When I went to check on her, her breathing was labored and she clearly didn't feel well. She'd had a runny nose the past few days, but nothing terrible. Tim and I were up with her most of the night holding her while she coughed, took quick breaths, and occasionally threw up. We felt so bad for her. Tim stayed home from work with Ezra and I took Ella into the doctor as soon as they had an appointment. They immediately saw she her breathing was labored and checked her oxygen level. It was low, so they gave her a breathing treatment. This helped, but they were concerned about her, so they admitted her to the hospital. Luckily, the pediatrician's office is in the same building, so we were able to bring her to the hospital with little fuss. She had to have oxygen, x-rays, and an IV - she struggled at first, but then relaxed a bit.

Ella did very well considering the oxygen in her nose and the IV in her hand. She took to calling the cords attached to her "snakes." She made friends with the nurses and other staff, singing songs and talking with them. The volunteer group Project Lynus gave her a Raggedy Ann blanket and she looked so sweet snuggling the blanky and her little bunny.

The medicine in the breathing treatments actually made her quite hyper at times and she alternated between being very talkative and wanting to be "all done" to being extremely sleepy. The doctor said her case of pneumonia is not severe and we were so grateful she only had to spend one night in the hospital. We were able to bring her home about 3 pm Saturday and are now administering antibiotics and breathing treatments.

This was definitely a scary experience as a parent, but I am so grateful for good doctors and nurses and for caring friends. We were so appreciative of the cards Ella's friends made, the dinner our friend bought for us, the friend who cared for Ezra, and the books and movies brought to entertain our little girl. While it would have been ideal to be near family at a time like this, we couldn't have asked for better friends!

I am so happy to have my sweet little girl home now full of energy and life. She is clearly happy to be out of the hospital bed and free to move around. Her 2nd cousin Brynne came by this afternoon to see her and she was simply in heaven. It is such a blessing that we caught the pneumonia early and that she is recovering so quickly!

I'm so glad we had the DVD player to provide a distraction.

After being poked and prodded, it was so sweet to see her smile.

Brynne drew Ella a picture and sent her a card. Ella loved it and kept saying "This is Brynne and Ella."

She wanted to color on the picture too.

Things weren't always this cheery, but she was such a trooper. She is settled in here and hyper from the breathing treatment.

This is one of her more relaxed moments, resting on Daddy's legs and watching tv.

I brought her fruit snacks and she was so happy!

These pictures are from her last breathing treatment right before heading home.

She was "catching" the air. Sometimes she would say "it smells good."

Now she's releasing the air.

She sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with Cindy, the specialist who helped with her breathing treatment. She then sang her, "I Know My Father Lives."


Here's Ezra hanging with Daddy at the hospital. He did so well considering the confusion and being separated from Mom more than usual.

Here's a few memories I have from our stay:
* Ella barely fussed about anything except having the oxygen in her nose. She didn't even make much noise about getting her blood drawn or the IV in her arm.
* She wanted Mommy close by and didn't like it when I held Ezra.
* She called the tubes connected to her "snakes."
* When she was energetic, she'd want to leave her bed and would say, "All dumb (done)."
* When she slept, she slept deeply. She slept right through most breathing treatments and getting her temperature taken.
* Her bursts of energy were crazy and hilarious.
* She's been talking well for a long time, but she spoke so clearly and in full sentences so much of the time.
* She was simply a sweetheart and did so well for such a little girl.