Our Pets' Heads Are Falling Off

No, we do not have pets, and their heads are not falling off.
This is a phrase we have adopted into our language here at home from the movie, "Dumb and Dumber". We say it when it seems one unpreferable thing happens after another. It can be as silly as getting behind a slow car when we're already running late and we've forgotten something we needed at home. Or, it can be as serious as what we're going through now. My husband is always the one who says it, and typically it can put a smile on my face.

Today was one of those days. It started last night. I began to grow increasingly concerned with the rate of Bella's respirations. We counted, waited, counted again, burped her, fed her, counted again, let her sleep, counted, and finally called the pediatrician. We belabored the decision to call because in the past with the boys, typically those calls also accompany a trip the ER in the middle of the night. And, of course, we did not want to unecessarily take our baby girl,who we just got home days ago, back to the hospital.

Thankfully, we did not have to go to the ER, but her respirations remained rapid into this morning. We called our pediatrician again who happened to be having Saturday hours. We were surprised and gave thanks to God for this provision, making a trip to the hospital much less likely. I took Bella in to see the head of the practice we go to, and he took our observations very seriously. He spent a lot of time with us and was very patient, having to wait so that I could nurse Bella (she wouldn't take a bottle) and change her diaper so that she would calm down enough for him to get a good listen of her lungs.

He said her lungs sounded good. Thank you, Lord! But, he was nevertheless concerned about her respiration rate. He suspects she may be what he refers to as a "closet refluxer" since I haven't noticed the typical signs of reflux yet. He put her on Zantac and said that if she didn't improve by early next week, we would need to see the Pulmonologist a.s.a.p. He told me to watch for signs of infection as well: fever, not eating well, goobly gop coming out of her nose or throat, etc. If it turns out to be a cold or something along those lines, he said she'd have to be hospitalized again.

So, I left with prescription in hand, very overwhelmed by this turn of events. We had been down this road with the boys, and they did not do well with the Zantac at all. It's a medicine the baby is to receive a half hour before she eats. I remember this being a difficult way to administer with the boys as they would want to eat as soon as they woke up from their sleep. I could never let the medicine sit in their system for a half hour, let alone 10 minutes because they were so eager to eat. So, I'd feed them and they'd throw everything up. I feared going through the same routine with Bella.

And, admittedly I was faithless for how I would make time to give Bella this medicine three times a day, have her wait to eat and then, potentially be cleaning up throw up to boot. I was pretty discouraged as I headed to the Pharmacy. And, I remained so for most of the afternoon.
I got home with Bella just in time for Lawrence to head off to the office to put in some much needed time there and was left having to get the boys down for a nap and give Bella her first dose of the Zantac.

She did much better than I expected with the Zantac and even went back to sleep for a half hour! She nursed and did well. Her breathing seemed to be improved today, but tonight is up again. She took her 2nd dose of Zantac well, too, and I am grateful that it seems it will work for her.

Lawrence and I will be waiting and watching over the next couple days. Our pediatrician called tonight to see how she was doing and will check in with us again tomorrow. He even gave us his cell phone number so that we could get right in touch with him should anything change with her status. We see this as God's kindness to us and are grateful our baby is receiving such good care!

Please pray that Bella will continue to take the Zantac well, and that it will help improve her respirations to a more normal pace. Please pray that we will continue to be anxious for nothing. With sleep deprivation, this is becoming increasingly more difficult. Please pray that God will renew our strength with each day and throughout our days. They feel long and hard right now, but we have seen God be faithful to us through times like this time and time again.

We know that each morning brings new mercies. And, we know that we can approach the throne of grace to find mercy and help in our time of need. We know God will provide for our every need according to His riches in Christ. We do believe these things; we're just really tired and face the temptation to grow weary rather easily in the last couple days.

Thanks for your continued prayers. We will be sure to let you know how things go for Bella over the next couple days.