Reagan's Time in the Hospital

Let me start by saying I had the best Mother's Day ever!! Both girls... healthy and happy. What more could I ask for? After spending four days in the hospital with Reagan...I appreciate that so much more.



Sydney wanted to get me a picture of the beach because she knows I love the beach!


Now on to the not-so-pleasant stuff. Okay, I'll be honest. It was down right awful. So why am I writing about it? I find it therapeutic in a way. It's also a great kind of "online baby book" to remember the big moments in my girls lives...good and bad.

It all started the day of Sydney's dance recital. As we were headed out to dinner to celebrate Sydney's job well done on her dance routine, Reagan threw up in the car. It seemed like an isolated incident at the time. Then on Sunday, it became clear throughout the day that she had an upset stomach. But she was still very smiley, like she normally is. She really didn't want milk but she kept eating solid foods. By Monday, she was very lethargic and not her happy self. I called the doctor and the nurse said I should come in if the symptoms got worse. She got a little better that afternoon but the next day was worse. So we took her to see the doctor. I knew what was coming next when they said she was dehydrated although I kept hoping there was another way. I knew that when baby wouldn't hydrate the only way to get better was with an IV which meant a trip to the hospital. And yet I still couldn't believe what I was hearing. Within the hour we were packing up our stuff and getting admitted to the hospital. I somehow managed to keep it together. I knew this was what we needed to do to get our sweet little girl back to health. Little did I know that I'd be looking at the same four walls for the next four days.

After we got settled in, I took Reagan to the little room where they would put an IV into her. I knew it wouldn't be pretty but I knew it was what we had to do.

The sweet nurses struggled to find a vein that could take the IV (and Reagan made it known that she was not happy about it) but after three tries, they found one in her foot that worked.

However, less than two hours later her foot was filling up with fluid and puffy so they had to remove the IV. So we tried again a little later. This time with an ultrasound machine. After several more pokes, and a very upset baby...no luck. So we tried to feed Reagan with some Pedialyte. The next day, we tried to get an IV in her again. This time with an infrared light. It was getting more and more difficult to hold Reagan down so they could look at her arms, hands, legs, and feet. But I did everything I could to hold her still so that the nurses could do their thing. But once again, her little veins were just too "flat." Even if they got a needle in one of her veins... she was so dehydrated that the IV had no place to go. It had now been 24 hours and my sweet little girl was so weak and we were both exhausted.

She was now taking some Pedialyte and I was so doubtful about ever getting an IV into her that I started to get hopeful that she would get better on her own. So the doctors and nurses decided that if, IF, she peed (which she had not done in more than 12 hours) that we would go without the IV. 11pm was the deadline. But she did not meet the deadline. So we went into the little room again. By this point Reagan started to scream the second we went into that room. A transport nurse came to help and after four more pokes (including one in her head) they finally got a working IV into her hand. Yay!! Tears of joy, frustration, and pure exhaustion came rolling down my cheeks.

I could already see improvement by the next morning! She really did need some fluids. And her blood work showed she was way more dehydrated than anyone would have guessed (which is why the veins were so difficult to find).

It took a couple more days to get her healthy enough to take home but we eventually got to go home on Friday night. Since then she has been doing so much better!! We're still taking slow on how much she eats but other than that she is back to happy self!

I really am so blessed to have two happy, healthy girls. My heart absolutely breaks for all the mommas out there that are taking care of sick children 24/7. I was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained after this four-day stint. I can't imagine what it would be like to watch your babies suffer and feel so helpless. I am also reminded how loved we are by friends and co-workers! Everyone was so supportive and helpful! And especially to my husband for taking such great care of Sydney while Reagan and I were not around. Sydney did great...and no one could make Reagan smile bigger than her big sis!!



Sydney's first dance recital

Sydney did GREAT at her first dance recital!! I really thought she may be too overwhelmed to dance (like at dress rehearsal) but she actually did most of the steps that she was supposed to do. :) I was one proud momma! 
What surprised me was how emotional I was. I was smiling as big as could be and tears were rolling down my cheeks. I guess it just seemed like yesterday when I was the one on stage, wearing a tutu, performing for my parents. I still can't believe that I'm a mom to two wonderful little girls and that my first born is old enough to be dancing on stage. What an awesome moment!!! A big congrats to all the teachers and staff at Shuffles and Ballet II for putting on such a wonderful show!
And a big thanks to my husband Dave, who drove Reagan around so she could sleep while I helped get Sydney get ready. Thankfully, they made it into the auditorium just in time to see Syd dance (and then she slept some more while the performance continued...perfect!). And we of course had to go out for ice cream after the show to celebrate!!!

This dancer has become a "dance mom"... Yikes!

Okay... not one of THOSE dance moms. Not like one of the ones on the reality show "Dance Moms" on Lifetime. Have you seen that show? It's pretty crazy. And I'll soon be doing a local version of that show for Channel 7...stay tuned for that. :)
That being said... now that my 3-year-old is taking dance classes I'm technically a dance mom. And Sydney's first dance recital is this weekend!! I'm very excited about it. So is she. And she looks adorable in her little tutu!

Some of you may know and some of you may not...I took dance classes all my life and took it very seriously. When I was 16, I considered moving away to Omaha, Nebraska to go to a ballet school. I didn't. And I'm glad I didn't. I had some talent but my feet weren't great and my "turn out" was mediocre at best (dancers will understand what I'm talking about). But I did love it. And made a career in the musical theater field for 4 years in Minneapolis.

Needless to say when my daughter showed a love of dance...I was very excited. But very cautious NOT to be a pushy dance mom. And I was very proud of myself this week. When my sweet little girl went on stage for dress rehearsal... she was so overwhelmed with the lights and loud music that all she could do was stand on stage and stare at the lights above her instead of doing the steps she had practiced. And I can honestly say I thought it was cute! Sure there's a part of me that hopes she'll do more than blow kisses (yes that's part of her dance) during the recital but I also focus on the big picture and making memories. It'll be more fun to tell the story of her NOT dancing when she's older than if she performed it to perfection. :) So we'll see how it all goes! All I know is that both of us are very excited!!

This is Sydney backstage during dress rehearsal. She could barely contain her excitement!



This is a picture of me at my first dance recital