All in All...A Great day!!

I'm not quite sure where that phrase "all in all" actually comes from....or if in fact, I even used it correctly, but...all in all it was a great Christmas Day! I was going to download some pictures of the event, but I got distracted looking for the camera cord and ended up eating a chocolate coin from my stocking instead. So pictures from Christmas will have to wait until Jared gets home from skiing.

Christmas Eve found Jared and I saying to ourselves, "Things likes this don't happen to us, they happen to other people!"

I was all set to leave work early on Christmas Eve when the fire alarm went off. "Who's dumb idea was it to have a fire drill on Christmas Eve?" I still had a ton to do so I decided to ignore the alarm (don't tell my boss). Ten minutes later, irritated that the alarm was still blaring I got up to see what was going on. The south wing of our building was in a panic! People were running up and down the halls carrying towels and pushing the patients out of rooms down to the lounge. It didn't take long to figure out what all the commotion was about. A 12 inch pipe just outside the courtyard door had burst and was shooting water everywhere. The corridor to the courtyard was quickly filling up with inches of water...as were the surrounding patient rooms. Fire men were rushing around, patient's families arriving for Christmas Eve visits were panicking and the occasional idiot was standing around taking pictures of the whole thing (I'm sure newspaper will just eat those up) I can see the headline now

"Local nursing home floods; hundreds of residents left out in the cold on Christmas Eve."

It actually was not that bad and after a couple of hours, a few rooms moves, and a water removal company later...things were somewhat back to normal and I was headed home to deal with the next emergency.

Jared had picked Ella up from the babysitter and they were waiting at home ready to head to Grandma's when I walked in the door. I scooped Ella into my arms to give her kisses and immediately noticed this wasn't my normal happy little Ella. Her face was flush and she felt warm....really warm. A thermometer to the bum confirmed my motherly instincts (which I am appreciating more and more these days) A temp of 103.1. The nurse hotline through our pediatricians office recommended tylenol and a cold sponge bath and to call back if her temp didn't drop. Two hours later Ella's temp was reading between 103.7 and 104.1 and we were headed to the ER.
One of the most awful thoughts I had while Ella was in the NICU after she was born was that of the nurses holding her down while they put in IVs and catheters and stuck tubes in other places they shouldn't go. Now I was the one holding her down. An IV to give fluids, antibiotics and run blood tests, a catheter, nasal swab, and an x-ray later, cranky, tired Ella and a very tired mom and dad were sent home for what was left of our Christmas Eve (it was 3 am...so all that was left was a hope that Santa brought hours of peaceful slumber to our house)
Ella was diagnosed with an ear infection, dehydration and parainfluenza type 3 (thanks to wedMD we now know exactly what that is)
Christmas day about 2pm we all woke up in much better Spirits. Ella seemed to be much improved already..and actually took come great First Christmas photos!!

I am so so grateful for a healthy child. I am grateful that visits to the ER are a rare thing so far in her life and I pray that we will continue to be blessed with many happy, healthy years. My heart goes out to parents and children who spend more than an occasional visit in the ER for a flu bug. When I look at the little needle stick in Ella's hand I think of the many surgeries my little brother has had..and what a strong, brave kid he is...and then I think of my mother. How my perspective has changed since becoming a mother. I now know that a piece of her heart actually broke off and shattered into a million pieces each time one of us was sick or injured---and especially each time she had to hold down a child for a needle poke... knowing that what really hurt for that moment, needed to be done for their good. Thank you mom!!

Although it was not the First Christmas we pictured for little Ella she handled it all like a champ and loved the fun toys Santa brought (honestly? -she loved the boxes and wrapping paper just as much!)