Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, & TUESDAY

2:00pm Friday
I headed back to the hospital. I picked up a grilled chicken sandwich and a water from Chick-Fil-A. It was a GORGEOUS day!! The sun was shining. All I could think about was…we were supposed to help Chrystal & Sydney Anne with their pictures at Jasmine Hills and we were supposed to go to the zoo today!! I decided that this beautiful day was too good to waste, so when I got back to the hospital I asked if we could take Hadley outside to enjoy a little sunshine. Our sweet nurse, Leanna, got “special permission” to take us!! Hadley was so excited. Leanna, mom, Hadley, and me headed out! On our way down the elevator, the hospital issued a “code pink!” They thought we were trying to steal Hadley! Ha! The nurse explained, and everything was ok, so we still got to go outside. After we got back up to the room, my mom went home for a break. She was coming back later that night to relive me…and she was spending the night with Hadley! WHAT A BLESSING!!!

Friday evening we had lots of visitors! Again, Hadley was thrilled to see everyone! She even got to see Baby Sam Dudley, and she was SO excited! She adores children! Jeremy & I took Hadley for another wagon ride around the hospital. Hadley has so much fun in that wagon, and she goes crazy every time she gets inside!

8:00pm
My mom & dad both came back up. Jeremy & I were there…Hadley was asleep, and we had just been praying & thanking God…for taking care of us…taking care of Hadley…and thanking him for continuing to show us HIS grace & mercy! Lord continue to draw us close to you!!

We left the hospital around 8:15 or so. It was a strange feeling for me…I had a lot of guilt. When I got home, I walked into Hadley’s nursery. I could still smell “her smell.” I almost broke down. SHE should be here. I SHOULD be with her! Lots & Lots of guilt…but, I think the Lord is teaching me to rely on him. He’s teaching me to put away my pride & to be humble…to allow other people to help me. I can’t stand not feeling like I’m in control (obviously I’m never in control…God is, but sometimes I like to think that I am). The Lord is teaching me lots of lessons, and I’m thankful & praising HIM!!

7:00am Saturday morning
I wake up feeling the most rested I have felt in WEEKS!! I could not believe I had slept so late. Jeremy had already gotten up, showered, and was almost ready to leave for Birmingham. I have no idea how I slept through the alarm clock & all of that. I jumped up & showered…make up on…hair dried & straightened…and I was ready in 30 minutes!!! I couldn’t believe I’d done it that quickly. I guess it’s a lot faster when you’re not taking care of a little munchkin & getting the munchkin ready too!

8:00am
I get to the hospital. My dad was already there with my mom. He brought us coffee & bagels from Panera. YummO!! I was so excited to see Hadley. Fortunately, she had slept a little better than she did the night before. Mom said that she was awake from about 1:00-2:30am. I’m just thrilled that she wasn’t awake all night long!!

8:30am
We take our first wagon ride of the day! All the sweet nurses and doctors just Oooo & Aww all over her, and of course, I love to hear it! J Mom & dad leave after the wagon ride & I put Hadley down for a little nap.

9:00
Dr. Simon comes in. I ask him a million questions…including…how do they know when the infection is better? Is there any way that we can leave sooner than 5 days? Obviously I don’t want to leave before my monkey is all better, but if she IS better, then we are BOTH ready to go!!! Dr. Knox, the ENT, said it was possible that we could be here for 7 days. I’m praying that this is not the case. Dr. Simon was honest with me and basically said there isn’t really any way that they know when the infection is gone. Any of you nurses or doctors out there have any light to shed on this? They cultured her ears when she had surgery on March 5th. I’m assuming they can’t do another culture of her ears unless the do surgery again, right?? I thought Dr. Simon was wonderful, and I appreciated him spending so much time trying to explain things for me.

11:45
Chrystal came to visit! She brought me Zoes’s for lunch! Delish!! I was excited to have some company. And, Mary came shortly after that! J TWO visitors! Mary brought us lots of fruit, snacks, and other goodies too. They were so helpful with Hadley. They helped feed her lunch and then after we went on another walk & wagon ride.

1:00
Hadley was ready for another nap, so our visitors had to leave. I can’t remember how long she slept. The afternoon was very long, but eventually we had more visitors. Yay! We are so happy to see people.

9:00pm
I leave the hospital. My amazing husband spent the night with Hadley, so I could try to get some rest at home.

Unfortunately, I didn’t rest well. I had been so anxious. I woke up Sunday morning with a very sick feeling. I was nauseated. I was anxious. I needed to put my trust in the Lord. I was driving to the hospital, and I was just wondering what the day would hold.

10:00am Sunday….
Nurse Amber comes in & tells us that we need to change Hadley’s IV out. I think this is why I had been so upset all morning. I knew this was coming. I don’t think I ever truly understood when parents said they wanted to trade places with their child, if they were hurting. This became reality for me today. I WANTED to be the one they were holding down. I wanted to be the one they would have to stick over & over again. I wanted my child to be able to run & play outside…not have to sit in this hospital.

10:30am
They take Hadley back for the IV. I can still hear her screams in my head. I was sitting in our dark hospital room with my sweet mom, and I could hear Hadley’s shrieks down the hall. I cried like a baby. Still, in my mind, I kept trying to tell myself…this COULD be worse. Other children have gone through so much worse. But, when it’s your child, it’s still hard. You still don’t want them to suffer any pain. It felt like they had her back there for hours. I was getting really worried. They had told me before that it was possible that they might have to put the IV in her foot. This means no more walking around the hospital. This would mean that she would have to get used to an entire new IV site. She hates to keep socks on her feet!! How was I going to keep an IV inside her foot?!!

11:15am
They finally bring Hadley back to me. Thanks be to God!!!! They were able to put the IV in her other hand. I didn’t know it at the time, but they had to stick her 4 times before they finally found this site. When we were discharged from the hospital, her little hand was just black & blue. This is not something you want to see on your almost one-year-old baby!!

The rest of this day was really rough. I think it had just been really emotional. I was tired. Hadley was tired.

Since we didn’t have Internet at the hospital, I tried to type most of what you read above in a word document so that I wouldn’t forget. I didn’t get to finish Monday & Tuesday, so these next few days won’t be quite so detailed.

Monday morning Dr. Glover was on call, and he came to check on Hadley. He told me that we would have to be in the hospital for 6 days. I was SO upset. On Thursday, Dr. Morrison told me that we would have to stay for five 24 hour periods…this would mean that we could leave on Tuesday, so when Dr. Glover said 6 days…I was thinking we would have to stay until Wednesday. I was devastated. I didn’t think that we could do it one more night. It was all so overwhelming to me. I was SO upset. Then I got to thinking…so many parents are probably begging God for one more night with their child…just one more night. And, here I was freaking out because I didn’t want to make Hadley stay one more night in the hospital. Throughout this entire experience, I’ve been trying to change my way of thinking. It’s been hard. It’s been challenging. I would most certainly say this has been one of my biggest trials. AND…it has most certainly changed my life.

The Lord tells us not to worry and to CAST our cares on him. I shouldn’t have worried. We were discharged from the hospital Tuesday morning at 9am! I wanted to run out of there as quickly as possible. Hadley was so happy!! I honestly think it was one of the happiest days of my life.TO ALL OF YOU who called, e-mailed, sent messages, visited, brought gifts, brought dinner, brought snacks…I am forever grateful to you. You will never know how much this has truly meant to both Jeremy & me. TO us…this was about Hadley. You were showing that you cared about OUR daughter. I honestly could never put in words how this has touched our lives. Thank you. A million times over…thank you! WE love you all!!

Just up from a nap! See my crazy hair!! :)

On top of everything...I'm teething like crazy! Hadley would just drool & drool all over everything!

On Friday, we got "special permission" to take Hadley outside! She LOVED it!!!

Cuddling with Nurse Leanna!

The sweet nurses gave Mr. Duck an IV too!! They didn't want Hadley to feel like she was all alone!

Cuddling with daddy

Nurse Michelle (on left) and Nurse Amber (on right)

With Nurse Amber

I wonder if I can make a break for it!!

I cannot say enough good things about ALL the staff at Baptist East...and I mean all of them!! This was the BEST bad experience of my life. The nurses were phenomenal! I loved each and every one of them, and hopefully we will get to visit soon!