"If you don't see the real me, you won't see what love has won..." Vota

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Yummy, chicken flavored germs?

I have been tending to a sick little girl for 2 days now. As I held Sarah Friday night, I remembered the last time I held her when she was sick. She was only 6 weeks old and came down with RSV and was in the hospital for 6 days. I remember holding my tiny angel and being terrified that I would lose her. I have never been so scared in all my life. Her tiny frame lost a whole pound and she was down to right at her birth weight by 7 weeks old. She had no energy even to cry. Her cries sounded like a kitten's mew and her whole body shook when she coughed. I will tell you I have never cried as much as I cried that week. I couldn't breathe my nose was so swollen from all the crying.




Holding her through the night Monday as she periodically (every 15 minutes) vomited I couldn't help but thank God that I was able to hold her in this moment. We slept sitting in the chair in the living room and Ernie slept on the couch prepared for the periodic emptying of the puke pan. Today, she is still sick and actually punier than yesterday. She has been in my bed all day long unable to keep anything down for longer than a few minutes. I lie beside her and think about how blessed I am to be able to take care of her. How blessed she has been to have, over the last 3 years, been very strong and healthy. She has been given a gift of a great immune system that I think comes from her constantly challenging germs. Yes she stares down a germ and plays chicken. Well, you would think that. The other day we were in my doctor’s office waiting room and she picked up a magazine (in one of those clear plastic covers) and then ran her tongue from the bottom to the top of the cover. I am not sure what prompted this, but I can only imagine the sick hands that had thumbed through this magazine and that it probably was not sanitized.



That is mild compared to the day when she... well let me tell you. It was right after Thanksgiving of 2007. She had just turned a year old and was toddling around pretty well. Ernie was outside (it was pretty nice weather too) hanging Christmas lights and Sarah was toddling around the front yard. He watched her and several times she picked grass or a stick... and put it into her mouth. He would go and take it out and tell her "no". Well one time he saw her pick something up and promptly spit it right back out. When he got to her he found one of the dog poo's lying on the ground in front of her. So being the nice sharing husband, he had to come in to tell me what "my daughter" had just tasted, and that judging by the look on her face and the prompt removal of said poo, it did not taste very good.



Oh, I could have died never knowing that and been better for it. Thanks Ernie for sharing that. So you see she really does play chicken with germs. I am soooo glad I am not afraid of germs myself. I can only imagine the stress that would cause me. So, as my baby lies in bed sick, I praise God that He is here to get us through it and that He has gotten her this far in her sweet young life. I am thankful my tiny baby has grown into a tiny 3 year old. I am grateful that His hand is on her as she makes chicken out of germs. (Pun totally intended!)

2 comments:

  1. Poor Sarah. I hope she is feeling better in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hopefully she feels better quickly! kids who are exposed to a fair amount of germs have tougher immune systems. those sticks and grass (not the poop) were helping!

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