I've been cranky, irritable. My birthday was Wednesday and it just felt odd. There's some things going on with someone that is near and dear to me, and all I can do is pray and listen. So I chalked it up to all that. Plus unwanted home repairs and really hot weather.
But then Facebook reminded me of 15 years ago.
Fifteen years ago last night I was also cranky and irritable, and antsy. I spent about an hour on the phone with the on call pediatrician trying to figure out what to do. You were "sorta" okay. I mean, you looked pretty good except something was bugging me. We decided to just turn up your oxygen when you were eating to give you a bit of a boost. Now at the time, "up" meant from 1/32 of a liter to 1/16, barely a whiff.
Fifteen years ago this morning, you spit up (not a lot, and not the first time) but I'd had it. I told your dad that I was sure I was neurotic and paranoid, but I needed a professional to tell me that so I was taking you to the ER in American Fork, maybe they'd do a breathing treatment and I'd be back in a couple hours, maybe longer if they were busy.
Now that statement should have given a clue to my clarity of thought. No four week old baby, and especially one that is compromised, is going to walk into an ER, get a breathing treatment, and leave. Yeah, it didn't happen that way.
They diagnosed pneumonia, and I was so confused! How could that have happened?? They weren't certain although some ideas were tossed around, but the long and short was they told us they were sending us by ambulance to Primary's to be admitted. At the time, the only thing I knew was that Primary's was somewhere towards the north end of Salt Lake County; good thing the ambulance driver knew where we were going.
We were admitted to the floor, antibiotics were started, and my head swam. The next morning however, things changed. Your heart patterns changed, the nurse heard things she didn't like, and we landed in the PICU with a new diagnosis: heart failure.Sigh...
And now I know why I was so on edge yesterday.
That ten-day stay left its mark on me. The learning curve was sooooo steep! And the lack of sleep was significant.
When we did discharge, I asked our attending what the outcome would have looked like if I hadn't taken you that Sunday morning. She gently told me that if I had waited until I could identify a problem, they would have been able to make you comfortable but otherwise....
That was the first time, but certainly not the last that I didn't know why I needed to get help but went anyway. Each time further reinforced how God knew your days and you would live every one that He designed.
Even that last admit, December 2023, we sought help in time. But that time, that time Flu A ravaged your already tattered heart. He knew it was your time. He called you home. And I still, still wish it had been different.
But even though I wasn't done (and never would be), you were. In His mercy, He took you Home. I trust that when it's my turn, you'll come get me. I miss you, Aaron. Thank you for all you taught me.
And I suspect that there will always be dates that my body remembers, even when my brain does not.
Love,
Mama