Caution: Long Post Ahead.

The universe is conspiring against me! I can't seem to keep any of my committments or get anything done. It's maddening. Just to catch you up... We spent part of Thanksgiving with *B*s family and the other part in the hospital. The girl had been sick for a while and she just kept getting worse and worse. The day before we were to leave for the holiday she was really struggling so I called to get her into the doctor. We got an appointment for the next morning. Wednesday: Murphy's Law dictates that even the sickest of children will be fine in the doctor's office. She was all blue eyes and smiles. We went home with the okay to travel up the mountain and an antibiotic Rx just in case... even though he could find nothing wrong with her. She continued to be happy and smiling the rest of the day. I started to relax a little. That night we didn't get much sleep. I don't think she slept for more than 10 min at a time and *B* & I alternated sitting up with her. It was nothing obvious; a low grade fever, super fussy, and a really strange new cry. Thursday: More of the same fussiness. We tried to get as much sleep as possible in between the fun. She slept a lot more this day, but still having a really hard time. We tried to see if the Instacare was open but I guess they get Thanksgiving too. Friday: More of the same only much, much worse. She didn't have the energy to eat or cry or lift her arms. I can't believe I let it go that far. I have this misconception that the ER is for people who are bleeding buckets. We took her to the Instacare. They listened to her lungs, looked into her ears etc., would you believe, at first it seemed like they were going to tell me it was viral and there wasn't anything they could. Thankfully, we had a wonderful doctor that I knew from my stint at the Instacare here in town. She is very thorough and she thinks out loud. The Girl was slightly dehydrated, her oxygen saturation was a little too low. Her heart was beating too fast. The doctor checked and rechecked until she decided that she needed an x-ray to ease her mind (or mine). In the words of the good doctor, "she has a very significant pneumonia" and they needed blood work. We were sent to the hospital for labs while she contacted our family doctor at home. When The Girl's white blood count results were posted on the computer our doctor called and told them to send us home, he was going to admit her to the hospital. That isn't something you want to hear. Ever. And no baby should ever have to be poked with a needle or have an IV or get shots of stinging medicine. And they should be allowed to sleep... All said, we spent four days in the hospital and they sent us home because her IV collapsed and they thought she was doing well enough to try it from home. She had more blood work on Wednesday and mostly it's back to normal except for the CRP (C-Reactive Protein) portion. I guess it's still really high and our doctor is concerned that when she finishes the antibotic course she'll start going back down hill again. I guess we'll deal with that when it comes. More labs on Wednesday. I'll try to get back into the swing of things, but no promises. Life is running over me. We are currently trying to set up Christmas while simultaneously running damage control. I tried to do it systematically bet the boys beat me to it. I am not the only tornado in this house. Enjoy the Journey.