Day One

Thursday Morning....
I wake up with the worst nightmare...two of the things I hate the most. I dreamed I was in the hospital, and they were drilling on my teeth!!!! Can we say stress dream or what?!
We woke up late. I was running around the house. Jeremy was running late for work. I was trying to get Hadley ready. Everything was a total wreck. :)

8:50
We arrive at Dr. Morrison's early. I thought I was going to stop by Chick-Fil-A & grab a chicken biscuit, but I was feeling nauseated, so I just decided to head over to the office. They call us back quickly. The nurse takes us back in the room and asks, "So why are y'all here?" I'm thinking...great question!!!!

9:10
We see Dr. M. He confirms that we need to go to the hospital right away. He said we had to go to his office because he had to admit Hadley & Dr. Knox could not.

9:30
We arrive at Baptist East. Erika is our admissions check-in lady, and she was FABULOUS!!! :) Super sweet lady. I really wish I had a picture of her. She gets all our our info, gives us our hospital bracelets, and tells us that our room will be ready shortly.

10:00
Still waiting...grandmommy bought Hadley the cutest Gund Puppy Dog. If you ask Hadley, What does a dog say...then she'll bark. So, grandmommy thought she really needed this puppy! :)

10:10
We see Kathy Gaston...the Quality Control Manager of Baptist East and a VERY close friend of our family. She gives us her work & cell numbers. I was very relieved to see her.

We get to the room & get settled in. At around 11:00 they take Hadley to put her IV in. I didn't want to watch. For 2 reasons...first, I didn't want to make Hadley more upset. Second, I didn't want to make the nurses nervous by hovering over them.

The nurses said that the room they were taking her to was close by, and I might be able to hear her screaming, so I went down to the cafeteria to get some lunch. I figured by the time I got back they'd be finished. And, sure enough, they were! :) They said Hadley was a trooper & didn't cry at all except when they were holding her down. BUT...when she saw me she starting crying & holding her little arm up...almost to say, "Mommy, look what they did to me!!!" Unfortunately, she has to be hooked up to her IV for 24 hours a day. This is a bit challenging with a VERY active almost one year old. I'm trying my hardest not to let her bite, chew, or pull it out. Hadley had a hard time napping yesterday. She only took 2 30 minute naps.

1:00pm Hadley finished her first dose of her medication. We noticed that her face started turning bright red and she was sweating. We called the nurse. They confirmed that this was "red man's disease." It's not really harmful (from what I understand), but they decided to give her the meds over a 2 hour period instead of a 1 hour period. Her red face is gone now. I wish I had taken a picture of it.

My mom was at the hospital most of the day with me yesterday. What a HUGE relief. I honestly don't know how I would have done it without her. She is amazing, and I'm grateful to the Lord for giving her to me. My dad left work early & came to the hospital too. This let me run home so I could do some last minute packing.

We had lots of visitors yesterday, and Hadley was SOOO excited to see everyone! She is such a people person, and it really makes her day to see a new face! :)

Of course, sweet Daddy came after he got off work, and he stayed until 9:00 last night. I honestly don't know what I would have done without him. He let me leave the room several times to have some breaks. That small hospital room gets even smaller the longer you are in there! Jeremy took care of our little Monkey while I got ready for bed...washed my face, brushed my teeth, etc. AND...he even gave me a foot rub. My feet and legs were so swollen last night. I'm not really sure why. It may be because I hardly sat down at all.

Anyway, I went to sleep right after Jeremy left around 9:00. Hadley gets her medicine in her IV every 8 hours. They came in at 10:00 to put the meds in her IV...of course waking me up, but Hadley slept. BUT...she woke up at 12:00 and would not go back to sleep. She wasn't fussing or crying, but she kept pulling up & walking around her crib. I was worried that she would mess with her IV, so after a while I put her in the bed with me. This was a horrible idea. We never sleep together so neither one of us is used to it. Finally, I put her back in her crib...well, I accidentally pulled her IV apart (not out of her arm though). I didn't realize it at the time, but blood was going everywhere. We called the nurse & she took care of putting the IV back together. This was at about 2:30am.

3:00am The nurse comes in to say that they need to do a baseline on Hadley. The medication they are giving Hadley can cause hearing loss or kidney failure. If I understand correctly, the baselines are done so they can monitor that this isn't happening. They took her blood before her meds & then again after her meds. My poor baby screamed & screamed. I left the room, so I'm not really sure if they were having to squeeze the blood out or what.

4:00am More IV meds. Finally, Hadley & I are both asleep. We sleep until 6:00 when her IV starts beeping to let us know that the meds are finished, and we call the nurse.

6:30 they do blood work again.

It was a very long and tiresome night. :) BUT...it's over, AND they don't have to do these baselines every night! Praise the Lord!! Dr. Trumble was on call this morning and he came by to check on us. He said that her baselines looked good, so that is a HUGE blessing!!!

Now, I'm at my mom's house. I'm washing all the bloody clothes from last night...taking a shower...blogging...and I hope I'll be able to take a nap (I always have a very difficult time falling asleep...day or night!). My precious mom is taking care of Hadley until I get back AND she is spending the night with her tonight! What a tremendous blessing. I'm so grateful. Jeremy is taking the night shift tomorrow night when he gets back from Birmingham, and after that, we'll be on the home stretch! :)

Thank you to everyone who has called, sent messages, texts, voicemails, brought food, sent gifts...I can never thank you all enough. It is very humbling to know that we have so many people who love and care about not just us, but our precious Hadley. Thank you SO much! We love you ALL!!!

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for YOU are my praise!
Jeremiah 17:14

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28


All of these pictures are out of order...so if you want to start from the bottom & look up...that would be the better order of things. :)




This morning granddaddy came to visit me!! We are playing with the keys and cell phone that Aunt Joy gave me!



Sweet Friend!



Napping




More sweet friends! Hadley was THRILLED to see Syndey Anne!!





YAY! This feels a little more "normal." (can you see Hadley's hand in this picture?)

Playing with my singing duck & balloon from Pike County Board of Education

We call this baby jail! She actually doesn't mind her crib too much.

This is where we'll be living.

Waiting for our room.

Last moments of walking freedom....

Waiting at Dr. Morrison's

At Dr. Morrison's