Aunt Stefanie visited us in May...

As I mentioned in the last post, Stefanie came to visit us on Kindle's birthday. It was a fun trip, but it was full of drama. Poor Stefanie was here for just a few days during which time we had 2 Kindle parties, I had a PTO meeting, and we ended up with a very sick child. In fact, I spend much of the last 2 days with Stefanie here at the hospital with Ender. I was grateful to have Stefanie in town as she stayed home with the other kids when I had to rush Ender to the hospital. Probably not her ideal vacation, but what can you do?!

With all the craziness, I took very few pictures. Before I post the few pictures I did take, I will tell you about Ender. On the Sunday of Stef's visit (May 16), we took Stefanie to the pedestrian bridge that crosses over the Missouri river between Iowa and Nebraska. We went to the IOWA side to park (as it is easier to park there). Ender cried and whined the whole time that he was sick. This is not uncommon for him when he does not want to do something, so I initially ignored him.

As we got out and started walking, he was dragging more and more and seemed to be getting worse and worse. About 1/3 of the way across the bridge I realized he was really hot and he said he was going to throw up. I told Wes to continue on the bridge with Stefanie and the other kids, and I would take Ender back. I ran carrying him and we BARELY got off the bridge and on to the grass before he started to throw up...a lot. It was nasty, and I was convinced he was in fact sick.

We opted not to take him in to the hospital for this on a Sunday. The next day was Wes and my anniversary, and Kindle already had an appointment scheduled. So, I thought worst case scenario I would ask about his symptoms when I took Kindle in. That is exactly what I ended up doing, and based on his symptoms and the blood test they did, the doctor thought Ender likely had appendicitis. She wanted us to go immediately over to Children's Hospital and get him an ultrasound. As it turned out, Wes was at Children's and ON Ultrasound that day, so he was the doctor Ender was going to be sent to. Wes arranged to just get the scan done right away, and I took Ender over. Though it was an unpleasant surprise that he was so sick, it did make it so I got to see Wes on our anniversary so that was an unexpected surprise.

The scan revealed that happily his appendix was fine, but his kidney was not so much. After more testing (urine, blood) we determined he had a severe kidney infection. Weird for a 6-y-o boy, even weirder was the type of infection it ended up being. He was by this point really dehydrated and really sick and they wanted to admit him to the hospital. Wes convinced them we would hydrate him and be fine at home with him. SO, we took him home and came back to the doctor daily for a few days.

So, just know when you see these few pictures (some taken by me before Ender and I left the bridge, others taken later by Stefanie and Wes) that the one or two with Ender in them really show his misery...

Beautiful bridge, and lovely family if I do say so myself!!