Normal Kid Stuff?

What? Is that even possible? Dave and I discussed what should be done and in the end the rule is this: If you have a central line and you spike a fever then you must go to the hospital. So first we ran by the local hospital and had her examined by a friend of ours who happened to be the ER doc on tonight. She has an inflamed throat and left ear that looks like a culprit that could cause a fever. The vomiting? Anyone's best guess. He spoke with our doctor in Shreveport and they decided we would bring her over to keep an eye on her through the night. Have I ever told you guys how much I love our docs here? They do an amazing job taking care of Ashley and they are the nicest guys you will ever meet. God has really blessed us with them.

So we sit in the PICU at Schumpert waiting our results. So far things are pointing the direction of an ear infection. That we can deal with. Dave deals with childhood ear infections on a daily basis in the office. She has already received an adjustment this evening and I have a suspicion that she will be getting another one before morning.

The symptoms she presented with earlier this evening have all disappeared. She has no fever, no vomiting, no rash at this moment. Her heart rate has returned to a normal level, her blood pressure has too. We are sending cultures, doing chest x-rays, and the normal run of the mill tests to make sure nothing else is going on. We will run some IV fluids overnight and then if she does well and things look good by morning we will be discharged and free to go home before the children are even awake. Oh my goodness! this will be our shortest hospital stay ever! Our doctor plans on speaking with Omaha in the morning to see if they would like any additional tests to be run, but if not then we are out the door.

So my heart has returned to its normal rhythm and my hands are no longer shaking. When will I ever get used to this life? If we had decided to wait it out at home sure enough she could have crashed in the middle of the night and we would have been in big trouble. Our theory with Ashley Kate is to check it out and hope for the best. It looks like we might actually end up with the "best" diagnosis possible this time. She's never had an ear infection so we get to add this to her list and the fact that it falls under normal kid stuff and not transplant is...well...normal.

Blake and Allie will be thrilled to see her back home tomorrow. As will my two nieces who are staying with us. The panic in their little eyes was hard to see as they hugged us tight and told Ashley to get better. They've never been through anything like this and their little hearts are very concerned. They didn't like seeing Ashley's bags all packed and watching her back out of the drive way after dark. One of them asked me to "Please don't take her to the hospital again. Its really scary when you do that." Allie stood by Ashley's crib tonight as I packed her bag and told me with big tears in her eyes, "I'm really glad you and daddy are willing to do all of this for Ash. I mean, I'm glad you will go through all of this stuff for her. What if she didn't have you?"

I had no idea she ever thought about things like that. Every once in a while I wonder if Blake and Al will ever resent their baby sister since we are gone with her so much, but then its moments like this one that reassure me how much they love this baby pickle and that their hearts were called just as ours were. How grateful I am to know they love her with such unconditional love. Blake's main concern tonight was rejection. Mine was too, and how he knew to be concerned about it is beyond me because I didn't discuss it with him. He wanted to know if I thought she was in rejection and I honestly couldn't tell him that I wasn't. I just told him that I hoped she wasn't and that maybe she just had a virus or a possible line infection. I didn't have any answers for him and I just told him we would know more by tomorrow and left it at that. He hugged me and kissed Ash's head and then went on to bed.

At this point Ashley's daddy is lying next to her in her bed and they are ending the day just as it begun with giggles and applause. For this I am truly grateful even when it happens in the PICU. A smile on her face puts a smile on my heart. Thank you so much for being available to pray for us tonight. It brings such peace to my heart. Your prayers have pulled her through some really tough stuff and I am confident they can pull her through some minor things as well. Thank you .
Well, I'm going to lay down for a couple of hours. Well take vitals again at 3 and labs at 4. So I think I'll be needing a little nap. Hope your fast asleep in your beds in you home by now. Goodnight my friends. Trish