April 18 - Day 5

Haze did really well through the night!  His levels remained where they should be.  The doctors came and took one look at him & said, "He does not look like a boy who should be in the hospital.  Let's get him home!"  Horray!  I didn't have pants for him, so he wore Andlie's spare leggings from the diaper bag.  They were pink.

We were sent home with orders to do breathing treatments as needed, five more days of antiobiotics, one more day of steroids, and continue daily acid reflux medication.  We were to call the doctor on Friday morning to report Haze's condition.

Though the doctor even advised that we should start Haze on some asthma medication, we declined.  After talking with at least five additional doctors (as they came and went in Haze's room), we concluded that Haze was way too little to diagnose asthma.  We at least wanted to get a second opinion before we started him on medication.

Also, I still believe that the fishie cracker was a big factor in this sickness for many reasons.  His sickness did not start with a fever or runny nose.  The cough it started with was barky and not wet.  It sounded like he was trying to cough something up.  One of his lungs was swollen.  He started getting better pretty quick once they started doing physical therapy to get him to cough stuff up.  Most of his tests came back normal.  My Mom gut still says that the fishie had something to do with this and Mom guts usually aren't wrong.

Some things that Haze learned during his hospital stay: Learned to play peek-a-boo by himself.  He would hold his blankie up by his face & put it down quickly when we would start saying "peek-a-boo."  He has since learned to do it with whatever is near him - his hands, a cord, a pillow, etc.  He learned to "dance" (bounce up and down) at the sound of music.  As previously mentioned, he learned to have Mom & Dad play fetch with him.

He also got a new tooth at the hospital!  Not a fun combo - to be so sick and teething.  We kept Motrin in him for most of his stay.

Bryan was a rock through the entire stay.  He was calm and confident.  He was worried about our baby boy, but knew everything would be fine.  He held me while I cried.  He held Haze when he was sad.  He stayed at the hospital every night.  Looking back through pictures, there is one where he's holding Haze.  It made me think of how strong he is (both physically and spiritually) and how much he loves his family and is a wonderful protector.  I'm so grateful for him and the man that he is.

After we got to the car and buckled Haze in, we said a prayer of thanks.  We were overwhelmed.  Thankful for the hospital, for the doctors and nurses, for modern medicine, for family, for the Priesthood, for being able to be parents to Haze, and especially for good health and a full recovery.  We were both crying when the prayer ended.  There are no words to describe how grateful we were and are.  We love our Haze so much more than anyone knows and are so thankful for his strength and courage and smiles and health.

We know we were blessed to have patience and endurance and we know that Andlie was blessed to feel safe and calm.  We know many were praying for us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We felt the prayers.  The prayers helped.  Thank you.