THIS GIRL!!
That's my darling niece, by the way. (If you were confused to see pictures of her looking happy and not SO! SERIOUS!)
But wait, Elizabeth! Why was your serious(ly adorable) niece in the hospital??
She had her well baby appointment last week and her heart rate was 1/3 what it should have been and then dropped to 1/3 of THAT over night and BADA BING, my very serious niece was getting a very serious pacemaker and a vay-cay in the ICU at Stanford.
The whole ordeal was horrible and scary and stressful for everyone but now that sweet Baby AJ is safe and sound at home, I have some observations to make:
1. A volunteer came out to talk to us while Baby AJ was in recovery. He mentioned that sixteen years ago to the day, his grandson had been there with a head injury and had brain surgery. He continued on going through the stuff he was giving Ben and Sarah and at the end, my brother Ben, whose baby had JUST had heart surgery, thanked him and then asked about his grandson.
The grandson, we learned, had just graduated from college and was going to be a teacher but the part that warmed my heart the most was that my brother, in all his personal agony, thought to ask.
2. My other brother, Baby AJ's uncle, can sing her Elvis songs and show tunes and she'll stop crying and stare at him.
3. After five nights in the ICU, Baby AJ was moved out of the pit of despair and up to a regular room, which was far less awful for all the expected "the kids there seem to be on the mend and not as horrifyingly sick and surrounded by eight thousand BEEP BEEP BEEP machines" reasons, but also because the room came with a recliner and a couch. If you heard a guttural groan of comfort echoing throughout the universe around 5PM on Tuesday evening, that was the noise Sarah made when she sat in the recliner and reclined -- her first comfortable seating in five days.
4. The nurses, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants at that hospital are all totally young and hot. Just about every last one of them, anyway. Word on the street is that this is because working at a children's hospital and seeing all the horribly sad things that happen to children takes its toll early and the caregivers tend to burn out lickety split so there's always a fresh crop of 20-something nurses.
I can totally get that because the 20 minutes I spent sitting in the lobby waiting for my dad one morning was like watching a really horrible parade of sick, bald children.
Sick adults are bad, but so many sick children in one place made me wonder why God would be so cruel.
But our family has been granted a reprieve, and for that I'm very thankful.
And saying "I'm very thankful" is like the understatement of the year.
Oh, I'm so glad she's okay, but your point #4 makes me really sad because my brother's sweet (21-year-old) girlfriend just got a job as a nurse in the ICU at Akron Children's. As much as I hate thinking about what those kids go through, I also feel for her! She has a hard job ahead of her, and I hope it doesn't crush her soul. :(
ReplyDeleteOMFG I am SOOOO very thankful that she's ok too!! Thank goodness!! What a very scary thing and I feel for Ben and Sarah. Hugs and kisses to them (and everyone), but really to them most of all.
ReplyDeleteVery happy to know that Baby AJ has been patched up and is all better now. I question a lot of the things God does, all the while telling myself "all things for a reason" and that it all works out the way it's supposed to in the end. Somehow, though, that doesn't seem to make the horrible things less horrible.
ReplyDeleteOh! I'm so sorry she's been sick and SO RELIEVED that she is feeling better!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrifying ordeal. We are so, so glad to hear that the baby has weathered this like a champ. As usual, your family has been a bright light of strength, togetherness and positive energy. Please send our best to Ben and Sarah. -- Bart and Susan.
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