The Hardest Part of Being a Parent.

Is seeing your child hurting. Whether it be emotional or physical pain, you feel helpless as a parent. Today was definitely one of those days.

On Friday before Kelsie headed back to visit her Daddy, it was obvious she was going to be getting sick. Those little eyes were watering non-stop and she just did not feel good.

Fast forward to this morning. Her Dad called me to let me know that she was feeling like crap and to make sure I had medicine for her. Yup. All stocked, no worries. I asked about her behavior though with how he was talking. She had little appetite and wasn’t wanting to drink anything or eat. She hadn’t had a wet diaper since the middle of the night. GULP.

So I headed to get Kelsie and called Urgent Care. At that point, they said with the risk of dehydration I’d need to head to the ER. When I got Kelsie those little cheeks were RED and she was MISERABLE. She didn’t want to answer questions, she didn’t want music on, she wanted nothing to do with me. We took off for the ER.

Well, I’ve had my issues with the care provided here in town. I do not like this hospital but went because a doctor I trust told me too. We were in and out and told to hold out until 8pm to see if she would have a wet diaper. Prescribed some antibiotics and we headed home.

My mom came in the process of not knowing what was going to need done. When she saw Kelsie, we agreed we needed to get her better attention. While I knew what taking her elsewhere would mean, I refused to hesitate and wait. I couldn’t get her to sip juice, Pedialyte. NOTHING was going in.

When I got her to Story County Medical Center, she was on fire. A temp of 102.3 definitely explained that. After some discussion, I knew an IV was coming. How do you explain to a 2 year old?

She fought and fought but was a CHAMP and I was so proud of her getting her IV. Mommy probably cried more than her. Soon she was asleep on me as my Mom and I watched on. In that time, the fever broke and Kelsie awoke still sick, but back to the little girl questioning things and ready to go.

While there’s no way to put it other than it SUCKED to watch my baby girl get an IV, I was amazed at how quickly it helped her. Never second guess yourself when it comes to your children. If I would have went with the first doctor’s opinion, Kelsie would have sat in hell all day. Instead, she came home stuffed up and not feeling well but she was back eating and taking small sips of fluid. She was beyond pumped to color the Elmo pages her nurses gave her (THANK YOU TO YOU ALL) and stick her stickers everywhere to show me how much she was a trooper today.

The worst feeling is watching your child look at you hurting when you know what you are doing is for the best. You are your child’s advocate. You are the one that calls the shot and makes the decisions. If you don’t like what is said, SPEAK UP.

Kelsie put in perspective for me when she saw her little hands mark from the IV. “Kelsie got a boo boo” Yes baby, a boo boo that was worth it.