Admitted.

Last week was quite the week. Last Monday I had shared that Campbell was diagnosed with the flu. When he tested positive, he honestly didn't seem THAT bad. He had a high fever but it came down fairly well with medicine. He was pretty chipper and sat in quarantine all day playing with his iPad. I assumed him getting the flu shot in the fall was helping his symptoms not be so bad and thought he was handling the flu way better than I would be! On Tuesday his fever was lower than it had been the day before and again, he didn't seem to be too bad. Scott and I both assumed he would wake up on Wednesday fever free and that by Friday we would send him back to school.
Wrong.
He did a 180 on Wednesday and woke up with a really high fever again. This time he was looking pretty terrible. He wasn't eating or drinking much and he actually vomited right before bed. I had a bad feeling. It just didn't seem right for him to be going backwards. On Thursday morning he woke me up first thing by coming in my room, slightly crying. I flew out of bed as soon as I saw him standing there and asked him if he had thrown up. He just shook his head no. I knew then he was crying because he was feeling absolutely miserable. His fever was the highest it had been yet. I decided to take him back to the doctor just to be on the safe side. When we got there, they diagnosed him with pneumonia. So flu + pneumonia. Sounds pretty awful. She told us to go home and see if he could handle eating popsicles. She said he could have as many as he wanted and that hopefully they would bring his fever down and get him hydrated. If that didn't work, we would need to take him to the hospital. We got home and started giving him popsicles but he couldn't keep them down. I started getting worried so I called her and asked if we should go to the hospital and she said we should absolutely get him down there. She called ahead to let them know we were coming. I packed a little bag for me and Campbell--I had a feeling we would be there a while. Campbell cried on the drive down because he was scared. It broke my heart.

We got checked in to the ER and all of the doctors and nurses commented on how terrible he looked. They immediately gave him some IV fluids. Bless his heart, he cried while they did it but he was really sweet and still and just asked "are you done yet?" because of course they couldn't find the vein since he was so dehydrated so it took forever. He ended up falling asleep for a bit and after we were there a couple of hours, the doctor came in the room to tell us she wanted to admit Campbell. She said there was no way she would send him home and he needed to stay because of how dehydrated he was. By this point it was pretty late at night. Campbell looked exhausted. We got settled in and little did I know I was in for a loooong night. The nurses kept coming in about every hour to check on Campbell. It was one thing after another. His oxygen levels got low so they had to give him oxygen which he hated. While he was trying to sleep, it would come out so they would have to come back in, wake him up, and fix it. They were constantly checking his vitals, a machine was always beeping, and Campbell did not get the rest he so desperately needed. I sent Scott an email at 2:30 letting him know I hadn't been to sleep yet and that it had been a rough night so far. Then I sent him another email at 4:30 telling him I still hadn't gotten one minute of sleep yet. Around 5:00 they finally stayed out for longer than an hour and I think I may have slept for two hours. I also just had a lot of anxiety so I had a hard time falling asleep.
That next morning Campbell woke up seemingly better. The doctors decided to see how he would do without the IV and encouraged him to walk around a little. Unfortunately, it was just too much for him and he quickly took a nosedive. Scott and I knew that sealed our fate for another night in the hospital. However, that afternoon, he had a super sweet pick-me-up. His kindergarten teacher came by, as soon as school was out, to see Campbell. He was so excited when he saw her that it made him cry. She gave him cards from each of his classmates, all wishing him to get better soon. It made him so happy and gave him a boost of energy. The cards are so precious. I'm keeping them forever!

Everyone was being so kind to us while we were at the hospital. I asked for our friends to please pray for Campbell to wake up the next day feeling a lot better and for us both to be able to get really good rest, since we didn't the night before. I ended up taking my own sheets to the hospital and did my best to make my little bed as comfortable as it could be which I actually succeeded at believe it or not. Ha! We had different nurses that evening, and they were precious. SO quiet, so gentle....they were able to check Campbell's vitals without even waking him up. I woke up the next morning, in my comfy bed with my soft sheets, floored at how good we slept. The best sleep I've ever gotten in a hospital. I just had a moment of thankfulness because nobody sleeps good in a hospital--but we did--because we had so many people praying that we would. I love that feeling in your heart when you know something happened for you because you prayed it would. Campbell slept in late, I snuck down to the family room to make a coffee, and watched HGTV in my comfy bed with such a feeling of peace. It was a good moment to be still and give praise. Campbell woke up looking so great that by noon we were discharged and got to go home! The night before I honestly wasn't sure if we would get to go home that next day but because we had so many people praying for us we left before lunch! Amazing!!

Campbell immediately headed to his room to reunite with his dinosaurs. He was so happy to be back. When he walked in the door Bennett said "Campbell are you feeling better? I'm so glad!" and it was such a sweet little moment! I asked Campbell on the way home if he was ready to see Bennett and he said "Mmm hmmm...I'm going to give him a hug as soon as I see him!"
Campbell went back to school today! He probably could have gone yesterday but we wanted to make sure he had an extra day at home to be still and recover fully. He was so happy to see his friends and tell him his hospital stories. LOL. He looks and acts so good! You wouldn't even know he had spent last week in the hospital.
We had a stressful week but we have so much to be thankful for. It's amazing how many people rally around you when you're in a time of need. There are so many incredible prayer warriors in my life and I'm so thankful. I have so many thoughtful friends who provided us meals and gave Campbell get-well gifts....just so kind! It reminded me that I need to be better about that when others are in a time of need because it meant so much to me. Even though being in a hospital is never fun, I was thankful to be at Childrens where they took such good care of Campbell. I had such a peace of mind knowing he was okay since he was in their hands. I am also beyond thankful that somehow, none of the rest of us managed to catch Campbell's flu virus. That in itself seems like a miracle!! And finally, I'm so thankful that we are healthy. You realize, even if you just have a sore throat, how important good health is and I'm so thankful for good health for myself and my family. So many people go through so much worse than a short stint in the hospital for the flu and pneumonia and dehydration. I'm just very thankful that my family is back under one roof together and healthy.