Abby goes to the hospital

 (She sure loved the play dough, toys, and coloring books she got!)

Abby started getting sick a few weeks ago - runny nose, fever, and a bit of a cough.  The next day, her breathing was a bit labored.  That night, it was pretty bad so Garrett took her to the ER to get some breathing treatments.  I thought they'd be home by midnight or so, but around 2:30 am he called me and said that she had been admitted to the pediatric ICU.

Later that day she was moved to the regular floor, and she stayed there for another day and a half (I'll admit, it seemed a little overkill to us since she was doing fine after that initial night, but of course we were willing to do whatever the doctors thought was best,  Plus, it's July which means that there are a lot of new residents, interns, and students on the job, and naturally they are a bit cautious since they are brand new).

The final verdict: walking pneumonia.  Poor little thing... she had to keep doing breathing treatments here at home for the first week, but she has been just fine and back to normal.

I am so, so thankful for modern medicine and technology.  I'm also SO thankful for Garrett... I get so nervous when my kids are sick, so he is usually the one who takes charge when that happens (really, it's not because he's a doctor, it's because I freak out!).  He is the one who checks on them during the night, gives them their medicines (when he's home), etc.... I just can't handle it.  I hold them and love them, but I just can't take charge (it's the avoid-er in me, I think).  Weird, huh?

I'm also grateful for awesome friends! Some good friends we met in Virginia also moved here for residency.  Kristi watched Ellie for 10 hours on Friday while I sat in the hospital with Abby (she is a nurse but hasn't started her new job yet).

I'm also thankful for the people in Garrett's residency program - they practically booted him out the door when he showed up to work, telling him to be with his family.  Garrett's chief resident had actually been the one to read Abby's x-ray in the middle of the night when she was in the ER, and he had diagnosed the pneumonia.  It's so nice that Garrett has a job, where he can take sick days, and where people care about family stuff like that.  So much better than med school in that regard.... and it feels like such a luxury!