It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

I'm one! I'm one! I'm one!

Well, in a completely fitting celebration, Sophie decided to spend her first birthday right back in the place where it all began -- the hospital. Yep, that's right. This week has been awesome. And yes that was heavy on the sarcasm. First it started with Ethan having a fever on Monday. Which meant that I couldn't let him go to preschool. Which meant I had all three kids at home all day long. Which meant I was going slightly crazy by Wednesday. Which was already going to be a super long, busy, crazy day due to the fact that 1.) I needed to go running at the gym, but couldn't take the kids because they were sick, so I needed Scott to watch them when he got done with classes at 3:30, 2.) I was supposed to help with decorations for a baby shower that evening, 3.) I still needed to get a gift to bring to that shower, 4.) I needed to make some refreshments to bring to the shower, 5.) my sister Emily was flying in town and needed to be picked up at the airport at 5:05 PM, and oh yeah, 6.) Sophie had woken up that morning with a fever as well, along with the same cough that Ethan was sporting.

Let's just say that I realized early on that a lot of those things were going to need to be dropped. By the time Scott got home from school, I realized that Sophie's wheezing was getting a bit worse, so I figured I should probably take her in to the doctor to check her out. I had already been waiting in the office for about an hour when I realized I probably wasn't going to make it to the airport. Scott came to the rescue and went to get Emily with Ethan and Grace, while I continued to wait and wait and wait. After a nasal swab that tested positive for RSV and a quick breathing treatment, we went on home with a prescription for "deep nasal suctioning" for whenever she needed it. Sounds fun, right?

Fast forward almost 24 hours and 2 nasal suctionings later, and there was poor little Sophie getting checked into the hospital on her very first birthday. As of right now (Friday), we think she'll be in the hospital for another day. She was really dehydrated last night so they had to put in an I.V. (THAT was not fun to watch), and she had to be suctioned out a few more times during the night (that was even MORE not fun to watch). She's also on oxygen and since the doctor is now thinking that the RSV has kicked some asthma into action, she's also getting some steroid treatments.

To top it all off, I feel super guilty that Emily is spending her time here watching Ethan and Grace by herself at home when this was supposed to be a fun getaway for her this weekend so we could hang out and have fun. So lame! It has been a blessing, though, to have her here so that Scott can be with me and Sophie at the hospital as much as possible. My brother Freddie and sister Laura have been pitching in as well. I'm starting to wonder what in the world we're going to do when we move after graduation and I have no family around -- I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to handle my life anymore!

Here's the birthday girl right before being checked into the hospital.

After getting her oxygen tube.

And here she is looking like a cute little boy in the hospital jammies. They gave her the bear because it was her birthday (along with a cute fleece blanket and some tinkerbell jammies that might fit her in a couple of years).

Well, folks, there's been plenty other stuff going on, but I'll have to recap that later. I'll close with a picture of Ethan and Grace when they came to visit Sophie this morning.

They had to wear the masks because they're kind of sick, too.

Hopefully we'll soon be able to celebrate Sophie's birthday for real! Until next time...