Jeremiah's First Vacation

Some people take vacations to sunny beaches, or beautiful mountain ranges, or a cozy cabin the woods, but not our Jeremiah. He takes a vacation to Texas Children's Hospital. He's been treated to blood work, an IV, a urinalysis, a renal ultrasound, and a nice relaxing spinal tap. It's good times here at TCH.

Here he is enjoying his bedside view of a lovely jungle, complete with a happy monkey and a cute little froggie.

We did this with Sydney when she was a month old and knew we wanted to avoid it at all costs with Jeremiah, but his fever was relentless and we couldn't continue to pretend it wasn't there. So we are taking a lovely vacation here in the Medical Center.

He's being a champ, and today has been fever free. We'll be hanging out in the NICU for 48-72 hours until all the cultures come back and we find out what, if any, specific bug we need to get rid of. The one "bonus" is that he also has some congestion and a little cough here and there so we get to be in a private room instead of out in a "pod". This means that I am able to stay with him all the time. I was really upset when I found out this was the unit we would be in. I couldn't stand the idea of not being able to be by his side at all times, not being able to sleep with him or hold him all night long when he's fussy. So him being isolated due to flu concerns turned out to be a blessing.

Another blessing to us folks with kids in ICU is the Ronald McDonald House. I really didn't know anything about it before today. There is another facility that is off site that I visited about 20 years ago when I was a Girl Scout, so thats the limited knowledge I had. The house here is on the floor we are on and is home away from home. There is a living and dining room, kitchen, library/computer room, and "hotel" rooms. You can get on the list to stay the night in a room, or get on a list for a nap in the afternoon hours. There is free food and drinks, cable TV and best of all SHOWERS. Today I went for breakfast, lunch, and a nap and shower. It is hard being here, harder still having a kid in ICU, and I am just so thankful for the Ronald McDonald House. They are now officially on the list of places that get donations from the Delgado family.