The story begins right before Christmas. I got a pretty bad ear infection and it took me quite a while to feel better. I finally started feeling better about when we got to Jonathon's parents house for Christmas. Then there were a few sweet days of no sickness. Then we traveled to WY for a quick trip to see my parents and family. The day after we arrived (Dec 29) I spent the whole day on mom's bed or in the bathroom because I had some serious... well, we'll just say, I was sick. But, I was stubborn enough to not throw up (which I at times wished I could so I would feel better).
That night, I was feeling better, but only slowly. When we had gone to bed, I didn't get much sleep because Jonathon was tossing and turning. Finally he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Turns out he got sick as well, which became evident when he had thrown up about 20 or so times in the night. I at least didn't have to feel guilty that I was sleeping when he couldn't because Michael (who showed signs of being sick himself) decided to get up and join the party. So there we were, the whole Jonathon Climer family sitting up all night together because of illness.
But that isn't even the worst of it...Slowly over the next few days, because Michael didn't feel very good, the amount of food he was eating significantly decreased. By the time Jonathon left on Saturday, Dec 2, Michael was showing signs of a bad cold. On Sunday I was getting pretty worried because he was acting very lathargic. He hadn't had any solid food for a few days, and even his nursing was weak. He (and consequently I) weren't sleeping very well, and his nose was pretty stuffy (affecting his nursing). Michael's fever would spike up to 103 degrees or so whenever his ibuprophen wore off. I felt pretty alone with Jonathon on the other side of the country. Here we go again...
After quite a few phone calls to figure out what to do, we finally decided to bring Michael into the Emergency Room to find out what was going on. I wanted to figure things out in enough time for me to fly home on Wed. At the hospital, they took his temp, measured his oxygen saturation, and checked his ears. The doc said his ears looked kinda clogged, so he didn't know if he had an ear infection. After all of this, they told me that it looked like he had a cold, and gave us some benedryl, tylenol, and robutusin to help him sleep. After drugging him up so much, they thought for sure he would sleep pretty well that night... which he didn't.
We chilled out on Monday, but when he was still pretty sick on Tues, we brought him in again. I wanted to know what kinds of things I could do to help him on the flight home the next day. The new doctor that saw us did about the same things: took his temp, measured his oxygen sats, and looked in his ears. When he noticed that Michael's ears were clogged, he had a nurse use a water pick to clean them out so we could know for sure if he would have an ear infection on the flight home. I thought this was gonna be pretty bad, and that Michael would just scream through it all. But he was pretty lathargic and just lay still with his eyes closed through it all. Poor thing.After his ears were cleaned, the doctor looked again and said that he had an ear infection. Another thing this doctor did differently than the other one was that they swabbed his nose to see if Michael had RSV (a respiratory virus that can be pretty dangerous for infants). The swab came back positive. There is not much they can do, except let it run it's course and keep a close eye on their lungs and oxygen saturations. So, they x-rayed Michaels chest, and there was no sign of pnemonia, but there was some pretty thick lining. The checked his oxygen saturation again, and saw that it was pretty low. See, a healthy person would have sats of 96 or so, and a mildly sick person could get as low as 90. Once it gets lower than 90, they usually hospitalize and put them on oxygen. Michael was 86.
So, I thought I was going home the next day, but instead we stayed in the hospital for 3 days. They put him on an atibiotic for the ear infection, kept him on regular tylenol, and adminitered a nebulizer twice a day to help his lungs. He looked pretty pitiful.
After a day or so, Michael started acting a little more like himself. 
I took a video of Michael in his crib in the hospital. In the background, you can hear the beeping of his moniter telling us that his O2 sats were below 90. In this case, he was just moving enough that the reader on his toe couldn't get a good reading. But, before, even when he would lie still, it would beep and beep during all hours of the night. Kinda made me feel like he was gonna die or soemthing. :) Also, on the crib, you'll notice a red handle. Well, I didn't know how to put the side down so I could pick Michael up, so I played around with things until I braved turning this handle. It looks like it could be a handle that will release all the sides of the crib in the case of an emergency or something, but really it was just to put the side down. I'm glad, because I didn't want to set off any alarms or crash the bed or anything...I got pretty bored during the days. He would sleep, I would watch TV (if there was anything on) sleep, read, and do not much else. I was pretty lonely for my honey during the long days in the hospital. I was glad I was at least with my mom. Unfortunately, the hospital doesn't allow children under the age of 18 into our section, so mom couldn't come until the evenings when all the kids were home from school. But she stayed the night a time or two, to help when he woke up.
I missed my flight on Wednesday, Dec 6, and had to get a new one for Saturday, Dec 9. (luckily the airline company was flexible and we only had to pay $27 to reschedule the flight). The flight home was a nightmare. They said that it could take up to 6 weeks for Michael to be back to normal, but he didn't need the oxygen anymore, so I could at least go home. But he was still sick on our flight, which was pretty exhausting. I can't tell you how happy I was to finally be sleeping in my own bed at home.Although this was such a tough time, I have so many things to be grateful for. First of all, through all of this, I didn't have to pay a single thing for the medical support we were recieving. Thank heavens for the wonderful medical insurance we have. Furthermore, even though Jonathon was not there with me, I did have my mom and family. Supposing I hadn't gone to the doctor the night before my flight, I could have ended up in, say Denver, on a layover with a really sick baby... maybe even stranded at a hospital there, all alone. And really, Michael bounced back pretty fast with the oxygen. He didn't need an IV for nutrition, and he recovered quickly once we were home to Ohio.
I have definately grown because of this. I know now that I can do so many hard things by myself, and most of all that the Lord is watching over me and can help me through all of the things I have to do.
I was pretty sad that my mom couldn't see Michael when he was acting himself. I was looking forward to her seeing all of his cuteness, but instead, she got to see what he's like when he's ultra sick. I can't say whether or not I will travel alone with him again though. Maybe we'll pay to have my mom come out next time, instead of traveling to see them... All I can say, is that it was one BIG ADVENTURE.
