ER

Well, I did.  I had to make my first Emergency Room visit with one of the boys.  Nothing like a little scare to get a girl in motion.

Last Thursday (YES, it happened a week ago!), the boys and I were having dinner at home.  TH was working late so he wasn't in the equation.  I was feeding BB and trying to eat a little myself.  LM wasn't really into eating so I just let him play and was going to address him once I finished with BB.  While BB was eating, I noticed his eye starting getting red.  He kept rubbing it with his little fist.  I thought he was just rubbing it because he was tired.  We kept eating.  Then I noticed it was even redder and now little whelps were popping up below and above his eye....and it was swelling to the point of being almost shut.  I called his pediatrician to see what I should do.  He said give him some B.enadryl and take him into the ER.  He was concerned because it was his eye.  His words, "If it was his elbow, I wouldn't be worried.  But since it's his eye, we don't need to play with that.  If you go now, the wait will be a lot shorter than if you wait til later." 

I don't have any B.enadryl b/c I had sent it to my mom's in case she needed it for the boys.  I called a neighbor to see if she had any.  Well, I was changing clothes to head out the door.  I had tried calling TH and got bumped straight to his voice-mail.  He had called me earlier in the evening to tell me what he was doing so I wasn't really surprised when I got the vm.  Anyway...... as I was throwing on some jeans, BB started acting weird.  He was looking at me and watching me, but really wasn't responding very much.  I got worried!  Called neighbor back b/c I had hung up on her when I was talking to the doc, she said just bring LM to her on  my way out.  At this point, she's picking up some of my panic. 

OH! Did fail to mention what my children are wearing?...... BB is in a diaper and tshirt.  LM is in a polo and a pullup.  As I was rushing out the door with both boys, I had the foresight to grab a pair of cargo shorts and a pullup for LM.

As I pull up in neighbor's drive, she's waiting on me.  (Do I need to say that I have kick-ass neighbors?!!? And she was just one of several I could have called.)  She gets LM out of the car and looks at me.  I say, "Look at BB.  Does he look like he's getting worse?!"  She looks and says "I'm going with you."  And proceeds to grab LM, take him into her husband, and come out and jump in the car with me.

I'm seriously concerned at this point.  My child is just not acting right.  He's not "talking" at all.  Just sitting in his car seat with snot all over his face and his eye is almost swollen shut.  I call the pediatrician back because I know I've got an Epi Pen with me if things get that serious.  I get disconnected while I'm waiting on the doc to get on the phone.  Neighbor ask me if I've called TH.  DUH!  I totally forgot about him.  I call him and tell him what's going on.  Luckily, he had not gotten started into the whole reason he was working late.  He's headed to the ER too.  Pediatrician is calling me back.  He's now picking up my concern and tells me the Epi Pen is only to be used if BB is in dire straights.  I pretty much hang up on the man b/c I'm pulling into the ER at this point.  Girl might have been teary and sounding like she was loosing it but I was in control..... barely! But I was!

Get to the ER and walk in to get BB admitted.  2 minutes later TH walks in.  AND GUESS WHAT?!?!  BB is starting to act normal and his eye is going down.  Neighbor says, "I'm your witness.  He was acting weird and you had every right to be seriously concerned."  She waits another few minutes with us then takes my car and heads home.  I have to say at this point and really through the entire ordeal..... I was NEVER worried about LM.  I knew where he was; I knew he was safe; I knew he loved the people he was with.

BB's eye is slowly getting better..... all on it's own!  Once we get back, a nurse looks at him then the on-call doctor looks at him.  I go over that he's eaten nothing out of the ordinary.  Bottom line...... hands thrown up in the air b/c we don't know what caused it. 

Two hours later, we roll back into the subdivision to get LM and head home.  Put both boys to bed and say an extra long prayer b/c both my boys are healthy and okay.  My pediatrician calls to follow up and see how everything is.  At the end of the conversation, he says "I knew you had it under control when one you cut me off and said 'I'm pulling into the ER' and two when you were asking about the Epi Pen."  He says he would like to see BB the following day just to follow up and make sure everything is still okay.

At the end of the ordeal, I felt kind of foolish because I thought I had almost overreacted.  It wasn't the eye that starting freaking me out..... it was the way my child was acting after I had loaded him into the car.  Just another day at being a mom.  And another day of being thankful for awesome friends.  When the s$&t hits the fan and you look around, those standing beside you are irreplaceable.