The Past Two Weeks

The past two weeks have been rather busy around our home.  I took Mason to the Doctor two weeks ago, because he had been running a fever, and it seemed like his breathing was not right.  It turned out that he had pneumonia, and by the time we were finished with his appointment, his oxygen level had dropped so low that he needed to be hospitalized.  What I thought was just going to be a quick check-up turned into a five night stay in the hospital with my little guy.  Because he has Down Syndrome, he's more prone to respiratory illnesses, so it takes a little longer for him to recover from these types of things.

He was a fantastic patient, though, and we had some wonderful times together just the two of us.

I copied these photos over from my husband's facebook page, so sorry for the poor quality!  I don't have a smart phone, so we only got a couple pictures when Bradley came to visit for a few minutes.

Sleeping sweetly hooked up to oxygen.

Smiling even with all those tubes and monitors on.

Most of my days were spent sitting in that crib with Mason.  Not how I would have chosen to spend time with my son, but we had fun together anyway.

Here are a few things I learned during my hospital stay:

1. McDonald's makes a good Caramel Mocha, awesome chocolate chip cookies and horrible salads.  {We stayed in a Children's Hospital, so naturally, the only restaurant available was McDonald's.  I think they need to re-think this, as most people who eat at the hospital are parents, not children}.

2. The Food Network channel is quite entertaining, specifically the show 'Worst Cooks in America'.  I was laughing out loud watching some of these people try to cook.

3. Blue Bell ice cream's new Mint Cookies 'n Cream is my favorite flavor and I have no problem eating an entire pint in one sitting.

4. Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo makes a good hand wash detergent.  The girls weren't allowed to visit because of flu season, so there were a couple days when Bradley didn't bring some essential reinforcements, aka unmentionables....

5. My church family is awesome {I already knew this but was reminded}!  They texted, called, prayed, brought food to my family, picked up groceries, and loved on us.

6. Our friends and family all over the world, literally, blessed us with their prayers, emails, facebook messages, and calls.

7. Our son is amazing!  He was on oxygen for 5 days and barely made a fuss.  He was hands down the best patient in the hospital, and definitely the cutest!

8. Our daughters are great.  Their world was turned upside down a bit and they handled it so well.  They rolled with all the changes:  no Mommy at home, their brother hooked up to tubes and monitors, late nights, napless days, and uncertainties.

9. My husband is pretty incredible.  He took care of the girls, worked, did 5 loads of laundry, kept the house in order, and managed everything with joy.

10. God demonstrates His love for us in so many ways.  Life throws us challenges and changes {remember this post}, but His love for us never ceases.  He carried us through that week and I felt His power in my spirit.  I had moments of despair, frustration, and irritation, but the Lord enabled me to get through each day with joy in the midst of it all.

Mason and I came home from the hospital last Sunday, and right away Bradley and I started gearing up for our church's annual Missions Conference.  We had a phenomenal time and I was challenged and encouraged in so many ways.  It was a busy week/weekend, but we loved every minute of it.

My birthday happened in the midst of all of that and I turned 31.  I had wanted to do a birthday post, sharing some blessings in my life, but that has been put on hold.  My down time these last few days has been spent napping and keeping my feet up.  I think I'm ready to tackle getting back to normal now, so hopefully you'll see some more on the blog these days.

There's a little re-cap for you of the past two weeks in my life!  And, now, here we are in March!  I can't wait for spring to come and I'm already feeling energized just thinking about the warmer weather.

Have an awesome day!