3...2...1...PANIC!

Last Sunday started out as a great day! We woke up in Ft. Wayne during our weekend getaway and spent some great family time together.

Reilly had his first big weekend away, with lots of new things to see and do. He slept pretty well at the hotel, which I was very nervous about. We all would have done much better if the fire alarm had not gone enough at 1:30, but we survived.

Rei fell asleep at lunch before we headed out of town and slept for the majority of the ride back to Mishawaka. He did wake up for about 15 minutes so he and Aunt Keely could visit as I snoozed away.

When we got home, he continued to sleep for most of the afternoon. There were a couple of times that we tried to wake him up so he could eat, but he wanted no part of it. Throughout the evening, until about 9:00, he slept continuously, except for the 4-5 times that he woke up for about 5 minutes and just screamed. Then he would fall right back asleep. Although we were worried with how much he was sleeping, we did realize that he was out of sorts from our weekend away and blamed it on that. However, I did my best to wake him up at about 8:45, even having him sit straight up in my lap as I was sitting in bed, and he zonked right back off, almost falling over. This is when the worrying got bad.

We decided it best to call the Dr. to just get their opinion. Dr. Jagger was on call last weekend, and after giving my report to the call center, he called us right back. Although he didn't sound to worried in the beginning, after he heard about our day, and the fact that Reilly had only eaten about 9 oz the whole day, he urged us to take him to the Emergency Room right away.

3...2...1...PANIC!

Dave and I quickly dressed and made the phone calls to the family. We got to the ER, where Keely and Jeff met us and got checked in. The entire trip there and the check in process still provided sleeping time for the little man. While we were waiting to be called back to triage, Rei finally opened his eyes and kept them open. Of course!

We got called back and they did the necessary tests...temperature, blood oxygen level, etc. Everything appeared to be fine. To top it off, Rei was wide awake and looking at us like, "What are we doin' here guys?" One of those times that we can laugh at now, but felt rather silly during. We went from Triage to the actual room, where my Dad and Diane showed up as well. At this point, I think Rei thought we were throwing a party in his honor was was quite the guest of honor. He was chattering, giggling, moving...everything we had wanted to see the previous 7 hours, but didn't. He even got to wear the special hospital gown to his "party!"

One Dr. came in to make sure he wasn't an "Uh-oh" baby and needed to be seen immediately. He felt good with the way our little actor was acting and said that Dr. Speicher would be in soon. After waiting a bit longer, the Dr. came in, discovered Rei had the start of an ear infection, gave us a prescription and sent us on our way. Yep...an ear infection. (We found out the next day at our regular pediatrician, it wasn't even that impressive of an infection!) We're guessing that with his chicken pox, head cold and later stomach flu (we think!) maybe his body was just exhausted and was fighting off the illnesses with sleep. We made it back home around 11:00 pm.

Being sick is scary. Hearing a Dr. tell you that you should get your four month old to an emergency room as soon as possible is HORRIFYING. I can say that was the most scared I have been in a really long time. My family was amazing that night. Coming to meet us at 9:30 pm, staying with us until 11:00 pm, and calling to check on us after we were home.

Rei's much better now...finally back to his old eating habits and feeling much better. I'd be happy if he's never sick again.