Twas the night before...

...Greg's 2nd birthday...and we were in the ER...again...for the 4th time in 9 months! Awesome.

Greg and Mommy hanging out.

So...Greg is allergic to peanuts. He was in the church nursery last Thursday evening, and the ladies watching him gave him a peanut butter cracker. (In their defense, we did not know Greg was allergic to peanuts when he first went to the nursery, so it was not noted on his form. I really didn't even think about telling them as I assumed that all nurseries, preschools, and daycares were peanut free places...lesson learned...NEVER assume!)

So, I go to pick up my sweet boy as Daddy had already left for work. I saw that he had a red rash around his mouth and thought he must have fallen on the carpet...and then he came walking up, and I saw it...the orange cracker. Crap. I immediately picked him up, and ran back to the room to see if any other of the mom's had benedryl on them. And one did. Praise God. I now carry benedryl with me. I gave him the meds and his hives faded pretty quickly. I was unsure whether or not to give him the epipen, so I talked with some other moms and because he was getting better with the benedryl decided he would probably be okay. He certainly was not getting worse.

My friend, Pete, helped me load Maria and Greg in the car. As we were chatting, Greg started coughing forcefully with lots of mucus. Great. I was hoping and praying the hives were the end of it, and I would not have to worry about respiratory craziness or him going into shock. I called the pediatrician and they said to give him the epipen and head to the ER. Great. Not only have I done CPR on the poor boy, but I now have to stab him with a giant shot. (Perhaps, God is calling be to be a nurse and not an educator!)

At this point, Pete, his parents who lead our Young Married Group, and the Haywards were gathered around. The Haywards prayed. Pat held down Greg. Jon held down me while I held onto Greg. And Pete administered the shot. Yep. True story...I chickened out. When the shot was given Greg kicked so hard the needle slid about 3/4 of an inch down his little leg, leaving a lovely open cut. Better to have a bleeding leg, than a not breathing baby, right? I am forever grateful to Pete for doing this for me! So off we went to the ER. As I got in the car, Pete looked at me like I was crazy and told me I wasn't allowed to drive. Good thing someone was thinking clearly. Pete and Pat hopped in the car, and Pat stayed with Maria while she slept in the car as we went in to the ER. (Maria always sleeps through the excitement) Jon also came with us, and stayed with Pat and Maria...and they prayed!

Upon arriving at the ER, they took us right away. After vitals, and the usual...(funny, I call it usual? It's true.)...the doctor came in and did several things. Number one, assured us that we did the right thing. Number two, told us Greg would need to be on steroids for 5 days. The nurse came in and rubbed numbing cream on Greg's leg so they could dermabond it together. The cut was not deep, but it did spread the skin a little too much! As we waited for the numbing cream to work its magic, Greg cried a lot. He was tired and his whole body was turning into one big hive. When the doctor came back to dermabond his cut, she took one look at his face, and immediately ordered another round of epinephrin. His face, back, groin, and tummy were red. You could not even see the individual hives, they all just blended together. His hives came back down pretty fast, and they sent us off with prescriptions for steroids, new epipens, and lots of stickers for the sweet patient.

And breathe...

Little Greg finished his rounds of steroids yesterday...PRAISE GOD! Apparently, steroids turn your child into some sort of crazy person who forgets how to act like a human toddler. He was non stop...even more than usual. It messed with his eating, sleeping, napping, the way he acted, the way he talked to me, how he treated Maria...EVERYTHING. It was crazy. He was BEYOND defiant. It made me feel so much better as I talked with Moms of all ages to hear that their children reacted the same way to these crazy drugs! They are finally out of his system, and my sweet baby has returned once more!

I am so thankful for all of the support of those who were with me that night. My Mom and Dad were out of town and Linda and Greg were hosting a Life Teen Mission Night at their house, and hubster was at work. The prayers of everyone and their support for me and my babies were felt and answered!