I sit here on this quiet Saturday morning overcome with just how good it all is. My intent was to type out a quick line or two to let everyone know that Bayleigh is home and doing well. How hard is that? As I gathered my thoughts and arranged the words in my mind it wasn't long before I realized this wasn't going to be a quick one line post. Boy, I've really got to do something crafty so I can stop with the gushy emotional posts already. It has been an emotional week, a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. What is this grandparent deal? Why is it you feel everything you felt for your own children, only magnified? I can't say that I love her more than Alyssa or Casey, but I love her differently. I love her louder and brighter and just thinking about it makes my heart swell and sends waves through my chest and up to my throat and brings tears to my eyes. It was terrifying to put that thermometer under her arm and see the numbers rise so quickly. It was heart wrenching to hear the fear in Alyssa's voice when she called to tell me how worried the doctor seemed. I felt so helpless when Derek called because he had to leave the room as the nurses stuck and stuck and stuck his precious little girl, trying to get enough blood for the tests. Her temperature normalized with one dose of tylenol and was normal for the rest of her hospital stay. By Monday morning she was happy and smiling and wondering what all the fuss was about.
What was causing the big, bad fever? A urinary tract infection. Not a common finding for a such a little one, so she's going to have more testing (outpatient) to rule out something called VU Reflux.
I wonder now if Alyssa understands why we tried so hard to shelter and protect her, if she realizes it was out of love that we said no, or seemed too strict. This week she felt a fear greater than any fear she could have ever experienced and Derek who has been to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I dare say, this experience was just as scary. I'm very proud of these young parents and how they weathered this first storm of parenthood.
Now as I sit here on this quiet Saturday morning, reflecting on the week's events, a busy week of ups and downs, it feels so good to take a deep breath and relax in knowing, for this moment, it's all good.
There was another exciting event this week, but that deserves a post all its own.
