A Christmas Eve to Remember...

This year's Christmas Eve is definitely one that will go down in history for me. It was quite the day/night. All starting with Gretta throwing up 3 that morning....and not stopping. Like I said, a few posts below...she had been throwing up for a few days, but stopped on the 23rd. She was fine all day drinking and eating. We were relieved and thought we would be okay for the holidays....boy were we wrong. At around noon on the 24th and after quite a few throw ups and a blessing, we decided we had better take her in to the instacare. We were told the wait would be about an hour. We were all starving, but knew we needed to wait it out. It turns out, we were actually in that waiting room for 3 hours! Holy Canoly! My kids were absolute troopers (more to come on that later). Those entire 3 hours Gretta didn't throw up once. I was wondering if they would do anything for her since she had gone so long holding everything down...

We finally got called back at about 4 pm. We told the Dr. everything that had been happening in the last few days. He looked her over and discovered she had a nasty ear infection that was contributing to the problem...poor thing! He told us that he didn't really want to start an IV on her especially since she hadn't thrown up for so long. He thought it would be best to try to rehydrate her orally with some popsicles there and see if she could hold that down. He let us know that she definitely needed some antibiotics for her ear and asked if we wanted to think about whether we wanted to give her a some oral medicine or a shot (worried she might not hold the needed medicine down). He was just about to leave the room to grab a popsicle when Gretta started throwing up all over the floor. It was a lot to come out of such a tiny thing. I answered the Dr. that I guess we should go with the shot of antibiotics, but he shook his head and said that maybe we should go ahead and start an IV and give her some antibiotics thru that. Luckily, the most wonderful nurse from Primary Children's ER happened to be working that day and got an IV in on the first try.

Broke all of our hearts watching Gretta get poked and prodded, but she was such a brave little thing. I kept praying that she would be okay and not scared...she always seems so fragile to me and I think it nearly killed all of us to see her in so much discomfort.

We hung out in the room with her for the next hour and a half or so while the fluids went in. During that time, Gretta threw up 4 more times. I could tell the Dr. was finally seeing what we had the past few days, and he was getting a little more uneasy about sending us home. He was baffled, because kids usually bounce right back after getting some fluids IV. Gretta seemed to be doing worse. He informed us that he was thinking about admitting us to Primary Childrens. He really was such a caring and attentive MD and we were really lucky to have him seeing her.

Finally around 5:00 (after 5 hours at the Instacare) the Dr. made a decision to admit Gretta to Primary Childrens. I have to admit I was really struggling. Of course, I wanted whatever was best for Gretta, but I was also worried about my 2 other kids who had been counting down the days til Christmas since September. My heart was breaking that they were going to miss out on all the magic of the night. Both our families were out of town, so we didn't know what to do with them. Luckily though, we have the best neighbors around and April (Hansen) text me to see what was going on right at this time. I let her know we were headed to Primary Childrens and she insisted that the kiddos come to their house for Christmas Eve. I nearly burst into tears with gratitude. It just touched my heart that she would do that for us. (a million thank you's to you april). I left Shawn and Gretta to finish up and ran the kids home to pack and take them over.

I had the kids hurry and open their Christmas Eve gifties...slippers for the Rockstar and a night gown for Lex. Glad I got to see a little bit of their excited jitters. Then we headed across the street to drop them off.

Kissed the kiddies goodbye, packed a bag for me, and headed to pick up Shawn and Gretta to go to Primary Childrens. Gretta was absolutely exhausted and scrame the entire drive. We finally arrived. The Dr.'s and Nurses were wonderful and so on the ball. The Dr. overseeing her wanted to see if she had a UTI, so poor Gretta had to get a straight catheter to get a urine sample. Oh my goodness, it broke my heart to see her so bewildered and upset. They tried to give her some Pedialyte, but she continued to throw up. She was begging for a bottle, but they didn't want her to have anything else, but her IV fluids until she could hold down the pedialyte. The bottle really is her only comfort, so it was super hard for her to calm down. She also seemed to be in a lot of pain (I could just tell) and Shawn and I were praying with all our hearts her little body could be at peace and she could get some much needed sleep. The only thing that seemed to calm her down a little bit is if I rocked her and Shawn and I sang lullabies really loud. We did this for a really long time in between uncontrollable fits of screaming. It really was heartbreaking to see her so uncomfortable. In the meantime our phones were going off the hook with family, friends, neighbors, our bishop, and ward members texting and calling to see what we needed. It meant so much to us that so many people were ready and willing to serve on such a special night for them and their families. Our families were keeping close tabs and saying lots of prayers Gretta's body could heal. Uncle Chris even offered to drive up from St. George that night and pick up Lexi and Roscoe to take them back to be with all their cousins in Southern Utah. We decided against it (for selfish reasons), but it touched our hearts deeply that he was so willing to do that. April, of course, was also keeping me updated that the kiddos were having a wonderful Christmas Eve at her house and she would put them to bed there (bless her!) Gretta scrame and scrame until the Dr. was able to come in for a minute and I told him that I really thought she was in pain. She also threw up 2 more times, so he gave her Zofran IV, Tylenol, and some ear drops. It seemed to help a lot and finally at around 11 pm she fell fast asleep in my arms, with the rocker, and Shawn and I singing "I am a Child of God" until our throats were sore.

Shawn decided to head home to pick up Lex and Roscoe, so one of us could be with them Christmas morning. The nurse rolled in a bed Gretta and I could share and I got situated right beside her for the night. I had to lay perfectly still or else she would let me have it. She had to sleep on my chest, and I didn't mind that a bit. I turned on the TV and watched the L.D.S. Christmas Devotional. It was perfect. Now that things had settled down a bit, I was able to do a little reflection. I felt the Spirit really strong and just had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for all the blessings in my life (5 major ones for my family's health). I started the night out feeling a little sorry for myself that all this was happening on Christmas Eve, but let me just give you all a heads up that the next time you are feeling a little down...go stroll the halls of Primary Childrens. It is the best cure for a pity party and will put you in your place real quick. I definitely realized within minutes of arriving that we were not the only patients in the hospital that night and that, in fact, we were lucky 24 hour admits. I cannot even imagine watching my child suffer for weeks, months, or years. My heart absolutely reaches out to any mother and daddy who have to endure such a trial.

Shawn sent me a text at about 11:45

Merry Christmas Kristin.

Just think 2010 years ago Mary was laying with her baby.

We are blessed to have that sweet little girl in our lives and such amazing kids.

I love you and miss you.

Looks like we were on the same page. :)

At around midnight, Gretta was woken up by the nurses doing some Vital signs on her. She of course started screaming again. Her temperature was really low, so they started checking her rectally (poor thing!!).  Around 1 in the morning, it finally stabilized and I told the medical staff that I wanted to refuse any more checking of vital signs. The girl just needed some sleep! They agreed as long as I kept tabs on her temperature and kept her wrapped up.

Finally, she was sound asleep again on my chest. I just laid there exhausted, but completely wide awake stroking my baby's face, reflecting on Christ, and feeling an overwhelming sense of Gratitude. These next couple of hours are some of the most special and sacred I have had as a mother. I really felt like Heavenly Father gave me such a gift to allow me to see things much more clearly and bond with my special little girl. It was a beautiful experience.

Somewhere around 3 in the morning, "Santa" came in to leave Gretta a little gift for the morning.

a handmade blankie + a stuffed moose.

This made my whole night. There are so many wonderfully good people in this world. I wish so badly I could thank the stranger who gave of their time, money, and love to make sure a little baby whom they would never meet had a gift Christmas morning. I will forever be grateful to them and I will make sure that this next year I give some hours to this wonderful hospital.

Finally around 4, I fell asleep to my favorite Holiday movie, "White Christmas" curled up to my little girl who gratefully was sleeping peacefully most the night.

It really was a Christmas Eve I will always remember and though, I don't want to relive it, Shawn and I really are grateful for the experience. We were on the receiving end of such beautiful generosity and good will. I hope we can always strive to be on the giving end of it from now on, and serve a whole lot more. It really doesn't take much to completely lighten another's burdens. Sometimes just a little blankie and stuffed moose can work a miracle in another's adversity. A life lesson I will never forget.

More to come...