ER

We ended up in the emergency room with Anna Marie last night.

After two days of Benadryl, her hives still weren't getting any better. Plus, her coughing wasn't improving, something that surprised me since I thought all that antihistamine would surely dry up whatever was draining down her throat and making her cough.

We stayed home from church, but went to lunch with my parents and my brothers and their "women."

(I don't mean any disrespect by that term - but one of them is married, and one of them will be soon, and there's just no simple term for that. Or, if there is, I'm too tired to think of it at this point.)

Anyway - back to the story.

We ran a few errands, and decided to drop the stuff we were supposed to bring to last night's small group meeting by the couple's house. They have a 10-month-old daughter, and we really couldn't be sure what was causing Anna Marie's symptoms, so we didn't want to expose the baby to a possible virus.

Oh, and we also got the antibiotic prescription filled, because I figured she wasn't improving so I had the doctor's blessing.

After I put Anna Marie to bed last night, still coughing and hiving, my mother called. I was telling her how frustrated I was, how nothing I was doing was helping my child, and how I just didn't think it was natural for all that Benadryl to not clear up her hives. And, she was developing new ones constantly!

Mom suggested that I go ahead and take her to the hospital.

I asked her to go with me. Jason was working on getting a computer ready for my aunt, and, while he's a great dad, since it wasn't life threatening he'd just have been bored up there and thinking about what he needed to get done at home.

(Plus, I'd have just been on the phone to her every few minutes anyway.)

I dressed her in something comfy in case she fell asleep, grabbed "Favoritey" the blanket, Griz the bear and Bunny her Webkinz bunny (Thanks Sue!) and we headed over to the ER.

It really wasn't that bad of an experience, even though this is really not the most top-notch facility here. In total, we only spent about two hours, and got home a little after 10 p.m.

She received a steroid shot and a Benadryl shot for the hives, which started to work immediately. She also got a chest x-ray to make sure she didn't have pneumonia. Which, she doesn't - just bronchitis.

The doctor showed me up her nose, and there was a good bit of infection up there that's draining. That's what's making her cough, and building up in her lungs. He advised me to take her to see an allergist, because all the medicine I'm giving her isn't doing any good and she's ending up with these chronic sinus infections every three or four months.

He gave me a prescription for Zithromax, Prednisone, and Benadryl. I'm going to go to work in a little bit, and then run to the pharmacy at 9 a.m. when they open so Jason won't have to get her out. I don't think she's going to school today, which I kinda hate because it's her last full day of kindergarten. But tomorrow is the zoo trip, and I'm trying to get some of this medicine in her so she can feel like going.

I feel badly that I waited until last night to take her to the ER, but I was trying everything I knew (and that I thought the doctor had advised) to take care of this. I am glad that we didn't wait until later this week when school was out, because it very well could've been pneumonia by then.

Seeing my daughter's bones on that x-ray was such a surreal experience. I realized that those bones had begun their growth inside of me! It was another thing that made me feel a little more connected to her, something that I must admit has been somewhat of a struggle at times.

She's sleeping now - I think this is the best sleep she's had in days. I don't know how, but it seems those shots have helped her coughing too. Usually by now, she'd already be up and asking for some relief.

I think we may finally get some relief now, all of us. And not a moment too soon.