The worst birthday present

Tomorrow is Haley's 3rd birthday, and she will be spending it in the hospital.

Earlier in the week, Haley came down with a bug that was a combination fever and cough. Her fever finally broke after 2 days of being miserable, but the cough just hung on and became worse. My normally energetic, happy girl turned lethargic, weepy and somber, and it was so saddening to watch. After keeping her hydrated and giving her what meds we could, we decided last night to make a doctor's appointment for her this morning and promised her if she was brave through her checkup, we would take her to ride the merry-go-round (her favorite thing.)

At 8:45am, we sat in the doctor's office waiting our turn, expecting to hear that it was just a bug that was going around. They went through the normal barrage of tests, and Haley was uncharacteristically good through all of it, even with the finger prick and the nose and throat swabs. Strep, negative. Flu, negative. Oxygen level, low. Too low. Due to her cough and low oxygen, the doctor decided that she probably had pneumonia, but they wouldn't be able to tell without a chest x-ray. They tried several breathing treatments to help her levels, but they each failed to bring her level up to where it needed to be. After 2 1/2 exhausting hours at the pediatrician, they made the decision to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital because she needed to be put on oxygen immediately.

After doing a chest X-ray, she came back negative for pneumonia, but since all of her symptoms point to pneumonia, that's what she's being treated for. While pneumonia is certainly treatable, the feeling of helplessness that you feel when you know that your child is sick and there's nothing you can do to heal her is horrible. As a parent you always want to make it better but this time, mommy's kiss can't heal the boo boo. Poor Haley kept crying and asking to be "all done" but instead of  taking her on a trip to ride the merry-go-round and get a cookie, she was taken to a hospital and hooked her up to some machines to stay overnight in a bed that isn't hers. She will most likely have to stay there all day tomorrow as well, but we're praying otherwise.

My husband is staying with Haley at the hospital tonight since she's a Daddy's girl and also because Connor needs to sleep in his own bed. I've done what I can to distract myself but all I see are the boxes of unopened birthday presents and the pile of birthday cards on the table without a happy, healthy girl to open them tomorrow. We're praying and believing that she'll heal up quickly so she can be home for her birthday tomorrow and if you're the praying kind, we would appreciate your prayers as well.