Merry Christmas!

I know I am behind on posting, but things have been crazy around here. I thought something was going on last week when both of my girls were acting up. They were driving me crazy! Friday the 17th Kinnison started complaining of a sore throat. That night she threw up all over her room and some more in the bathroom. She is normally really good at hitting the toilet or a trash can, but for some reason decided to puke all over her floor. We didn't get much sleep. I woke up early and called the pediatric clinic. Kimber had a low grade fever and a cough, so I made them both an appointment. The whole way there Kinnison threw up. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with Kimber, but diagnosed Kinnison with strep throat. We went to Wal-Mart to get Kinnison's medicine. It took the pharmacy forever. While we were walking around she puked all over the floor and half the stuff in our cart. We finally made it home and I got the girls settled in to take a nap. Kinnison proceeded to throw up all over herself, her bean bag, a pillow and a couple blankets. Oh, I forgot to mention that Friday night my washing machine broke. So, everything that was puked on had to be taken to my mom's house to be washed. Saturday night Kimber's fever spiked to 103. We were worried she had gotten strep from Kinnison. We paged the doctor on call at the pediatric clinic. He finally agreed to call us in an antibiotic. Luke drove to Fayetteville at 10p.m. to pick it up. Sunday Kimber didn't do much better. We had Luke's Mom and Grandpa over for Christmas lunch and Kimber really started going down hill. We had the Tyree Christmas Sunday night. Kinnison and I went and Luke and Kimber stayed home. Kimber's fever stayed at around 103 and wouldn't go down, so I made her an appointment with Dr. Lee on Monday. Dr. Lee did a chest x-ray and diagnosed her with pneumonia. He prescribed Abuterol, Omnicef and Zithromax. Monday and Tuesday she didn't improve. Tuesday night she started breathing really fast and was up all night coughing. We didn't get more than 3 hours of sleep. I woke up Wednesday and made her another appointment. I had a prenatal appointment in Lowell, so I made her appointment in the afternoon. She fell asleep on the way to my appointment. I thought she was just trying to recover from our rough night, but soon realized that she couldn't stay awake. She was very lethargic. She slept through my whole appointment. On the way back to Prairie Grove she cried and complained of her belly hurting. Gammy met us at the doctor. As soon as she saw Kimber she knew we would be heading to the hospital. Dr. Lee told us we could come in daily for antibiotic shots or we could take her to the hospital. While we were trying to decide he made up our minds for us. He decided it would be best if we went to the hospital right then. Gammy and I agreed, and made our way to the hospital. Charity made it there about the time we were checking in and Luke arrived not too long after that. The next few days were very scary. Kimber's oxygen level dropped, so they put her on oxygen. She received two bags of antibiotics a day and did breathing treatments ever four hours. She was pretty much lifeless Wednesday and Thursday. I drove home Thursday night to shower and get clean clothes and Luke called to tell me Kimber ate a few bites of food and walked around. This was the first time she sat up, talked, ate, and walked since Tuesday night. She had to be fever free and without oxygen for more than 24 hours. She went without oxygen for a few hours Thursday afternoon, but she had to be put back on it Thursday night. Her fever also went back up to 102.8. She finally made some real progress on Friday. She went the whole day and night without oxygen or a fever! Dr. Blankers came to visit us on Saturday and told us we could take her home for Christmas! Seeing Kimber in a hospital bed was scary. I think I had a breakdown once a day. I hated that she was sick. I hated that we were spending Christmas in the hospital. I hated that we were missing out on our family traditions. And, I hated that we were away from Kinnison for so long and on Christmas. But, I am thankful she got well and that is all that is really important.

We had so many family and friends call, text and email us while we were in the hospital. I can't thank you enough for the encouraging words and prayers. I also want to say "Thank You" to everyone who brought Kimber gifts in the hospital. You made her smile and helped her occupy her time. I also owe a HUGE "THANK YOU" to my mom and dad. My mom washed my clothes (and pukey blankets) while our washer was broke, washed our clothes while we were in the hospital, they kept Kinnison and Tator for 3 nights, brought us snacks, gave Lolly her shots, bought us dinner and much, much more. I also want to thank the doctors and nurses who took care of our baby. I am so thankful for Dr. Lee and Dr. Blankers. And, last but not least, I want to thank God. I know that he heard our prayers and we are so thankful that we got to go home and spend part of Christmas with Kinnison and our family. Kimber was still very tired and cranky. We had to make her open up gifts. It didn't feel like Christmas at all. But, she was better and we were all together and that is all that really matters.

Since we have been home we have continued antibiotics and breathing treatments. She went back to the doctor yesterday for a checkup. She has remained fever free. YAY! He still heard some stuff on her lungs, but said she sounded much better! Praise the Lord!

Since then Luke and I have had a stomach bug, I got medicine for a sinus infection and Luke broke his thumb! Luke and his friend Jason were hunting. They flipped the four wheeler. Luckily Luke was able to push the four wheeler away from his body in the air and it only landed on his hand. We are so lucky he walked away with only a broken thumb! Because it broke his thumb completely in two, Dr. Lee referred him to a surgeon. He saw the surgeon today and he is confident that Luke will only need a cast for 4 weeks and then he will get a splint.

I am hopeful this week will go better! I think I am finally starting to catch up on some sleep. Tuesday-Saturday I only had about 14 hours! This has been a tough year for us. We are praying 2011 will be a better year!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Love You!