Yesterday

Yesterday was just one of those days.  Just when you think nothing else could go wrong....it does.  And though it seems I'm journaling with a list of complaints, I'm actually writing with a spirit of gratitude (b/c it could have been a lot worse) and with a huge grin on my face (looking back it's quite comical).
So, on a great note, we're getting hardwood floors in our kitchen and the two downstairs bedrooms this week.  The workers were here bright and early Monday morning.  I knew it was going to get loud and dusty quickly so I was hoping to get out of the house with the kiddos.  The original plan was Avery's school field trip to the zoo, but of course, it was raining.  No, not just raining...POURING DOWN rain!  So we hopped in the truck and headed to Walgreen's for my weekly savings (couponing is my new hobby.  I'll save this topic for another post).  And then I told the kids we'd go get lunch and play at an indoor playground.  Well, I got done at Walgreen's and it was a MESS outside with the rain.  Despite the fact that we all really wanted to go play (myself included), we headed back home.  The floor guys were busy working so we headed upstairs to the playroom.  And then I noticed Carter was wheezing...very audibly wheezing.  I actually noticed it in the morning, but I just thought it was upper airway and he needed to cough or sneeze.  He wasn't missing a beat; he was playing and crawling and climbing, his usual happy self.  I took his shirt off and right away I noticed he was pulling and retracting with each breath.  I sure didn't want him to tire out breathing in the middle of the night and have to take a trip to the ER.  So back in the truck, in the pouring down rain, off to the pediatrician.  All four of us.  In the exam room for two hours.  Carter ticked off and screaming with every attempt at the nurse's or doctor's assessment.  Fighting two breathing treatments, with the nurse, who surely recognized my struggles, told me to just turn the nebulizer off when the breathing treatment was done and closed the door.  Carter is in my lap, fighting me, I'm holding down both of his strong little arms with one hand, holding the breathing treatment with the other, A & P were stir crazy, and the nurse offered no helping hand....ok, so maybe I am complaining here, but I wasn't happy about her lack of help.  So when the doctor said we needed a chest xray over at Methodist G'town I called for reinforcements.  And Daddy came to the rescue.  Just in time b/c once again it was POURING DOWN rain when it was time to go over to the hospital.  And just to upset Carter one more time before leaving the doctor, a Rocephin shot, which hurt all of us.  I was almost in tears at this point; Carter is, of course, crying; and Avery & Parker are having sympathy pain and tears of their own.  The helping-hand nurse (ha!) told me to go to the ER, that the xray room was right there, the test was ordered STAT, so I'd be in and out.  Well....wrong.  The lady at the desk at the ER told me I had to go up to outpatient.  I could drive, or I could walk through the hospital.  Since it was still POURING DOWN rain, I opted to walk, even though I had my purse, my diaper bag, my umbrella, and one 23 pound chunk of love to carry. We found our way upstairs to outpatient (thanks to the sweet little man who guided me) and as I sat waiting to sign paperwork and so forth, I heard Carter grunting and tooting on my lap.  "Oh, I'll have to change him before the xray so it doesn't get squished all over him" were my thoughts.  Those thoughts quickly changed b/c I felt something warm and wet on my pants!  Yes, Carter pooped out of his diaper, all over his pants and all over me!  The front of both of my thighs were covered!  With my light, gray work-out  capris, there was just no hiding the poop!  Thanks again, to another sweet little person (a little lady this time) who helped me find the xray department.  She helped me carry my bags and helped me find the bathroom with a baby changing station.  Carter had poop all over him; I just threw his pants and one sock away.  I had no extra clothes...and then I discovered I only had one wipe!  Yes, I said it....Just one wipe!  The Lord was looking over me b/c right by the baby changing station was the automatic paper towel dispenser and the trashcan!  So off we go to xray.  Carter has on a shirt, a diaper and one sock.  I have two stinky, big, wet spots on my legs, and appearantly I have a big sign on my forehead stating "stressed out" b/c when I went up to the lady at the xray desk she said, "don't worry honey, I've got you all checked in.  The xray tech is coming to get you right now!"  Thank You!  The xray went quickly, but if you've ever seen how they take a chest xray of an infant, it's awful.  Thank goodness they don't remember it b/c it could be traumatizing.  I saw it plently of times when I worked at St. Jude....but it wasn't my baby.  Tears.  And then relief.  When I reached the exit of the hospital it had stopped raining.  I got Starbucks on the way home.  And the doctor called shortly thereafter to tell us that his chest xray was normal.  His wheezing was most likely exacerbated by all of the dust in the house.  Nothing a few more breathing treatments and an oral steroid couldn't fix...and did.  He hasn't wheezed the rest of the week.  And thank you, Lord, for the sunshine because we've had to spend most of our days away from the house while the floor guys are still here working.  Comical?  I'm still getting a good laugh.  And I sure do like my new hardwood floors, too :-)
On a side note, Avery and Parker did great at the pediatrician's office, despite their 2 hour confinement in the exam room.  They had to go to the bathroom twice, which one of those, I think, was made up...that's ok.  No big deal.  And they got a sucker out of it.  So when Daddy came for relief he asked me if I wanted to go home with A & P or take C to the hospital.  I knew right away that I wanted to go with C, b/c I just wasn't up for role playing Rapunzel and Mother Gothel all the way home from G'town!  Gotta love that Avery Leigh.  I was just mentally too exhausted.  Daddy, on the other hand, was up for the task!