A Visit to the Hospital 2009 vs. 2010

If you are a friend of ours, you probably know something about what happened December 31, 2009. I spent the afternoon in the hospital ER with a Gallbladder attack. I was there for several hours and was drugged and medicated. I spent New Years with my 'rents... hen back in the ER the next night, for a three day stay with stones. This led eventually to a removal on Jan 15, 2010.

On December 31, 2010 I followed in the footsteps of the following year and spent the morning of this day at the hosptial, but this time in the Walk-in Clinic instead of the ER, and luckily not for me this time. I have had very limited visits to the hospital, besides Pregnancy related and check up appointments - and never for the walk-in clinic. However, on Thursday night Maddie decided to have a nasty cough. Having relatively healthy kids, I didn't know what to do. She's had a little one before and Lily's had a few in her two years, but never as bad as Maddies. It was too late in the day for the Dr's office, and as I figured would be the case, the Dr's office was closed on Friday for New Years. My only other option was the Walk-in, which was open for a limited time.

Ed always thinks I'm being silly when I want to take them in, but as a Mom, my mind starts running wild. She hasn't gotten her 6 mo shots yet (next thursday) so what are her chances for Whooping Cough? What if it's Asthma? What if it's something like pneumonia? Is it something that could blow up over the long weekend? She's almost never sick and neither is Lily... so when they don't feel well, I freak out a bit at times. I've gotten over the runny noses and basic stuff, but I know you don't F*&% with coughs. And I don't want people to ask me whats wrong, and not have an answer, even if it's just "The Dr. says it's just a cold" it is still an answer.

So I tossed the girls in the car w/ Ed (it's near his work). While normally it's pretty slow in the clinic when I've walked by before, this time it was PACKED! I guess everyone seemed to get something when the Drs were closed! During our 2 hr wait the girls were so good. Lily watched her Kai Lan movie on the iPad and was eating apple slices, where Maddie was happy playing with her toy or drinking her bottle. By the time we left it was 2 1/2 hrs. Yikes. We did leave with a prescription because it looks like she might be getting an ear infection, but as of Monday night we haven't seen any signs of it. So we might be in the clear. Her cough is still around though, poor kid. The Dr said her lungs sound fine, it just seems to be a cold/post nasal drip. Hopefully she'll feel better soon!

I learned one thing from this... be sure to bring IN the bottle of water before you check in with the clinic! I was able to find a nurse who would slip me some filtered water for Maddie's bottle. The desk people told me to use the Bubbler (water fountain for those non-Wisconsinites). You know, the one right next to the walk in clinic. Um, no. While not a germaphobe, that is NOT where I want to get my baby's bottle water from. Ugh!

Is this the Face of Illness?
The afternoon after Throwing up, drinking her Pedialite