Rough Night

My story. 6.15 pm I met a friend, hopped in her car and headed to yoga class. 7.40 I fell off the curb as I left class, knees and ego bruised. 7.50 I was in the ER meeting Spence and John. 6.25 am I am watching John sleep fitfully in a hospital bed waiting for his turn in the operating room.

John and Spence's story. They went out on our nightly bike ride with the girls. John and Katie were on their bikes, Allison and Claire were in the trailer behind Spence. Half a mile from home they stopped to look at something. When it was time to go on from there John managed to get his feet tangled in his bike, fall off stiff armed and sit up screaming for Mama! It was obvious to Spence that John's arm wasn't right so he stashed John's bike in the tree line, loaded John into the trailer with the girls and went home. Our wonderful neighbors and friends her John screaming and went out to help. The neighbors took the girls and Spence loaded John into the car. It was 6.33, my class was just starting and my phone was off. John was still screaming for me as they drove towards the ER so his sweet daddy called me over and over again. When I didn't answer he had mock conversations with me just to reassure John. And when he couldn't find the hospital he called 911 for directions which I think was quite clever.

Our story. I arrived after the x-rays were done and the plan in place. John broke his funny bone (again, opposite arm) at his elbow. Instead of simply cracking it he broke the end of it completely off and the broken off bit is floating around his elbow space. He was splinted at the local ER, then we loaded him in the car and headed to KC Children's. The waits throughout this part of the process have been long yet bearable. He was finally in his room and mostly settled around 1 am. He fell asleep for the first time almost immediately. A nurse woke him at 2 which he tolerated. When she woke him again at 3 his poor tired body couldn't handle the mix of sleeplessness, interrupted sleep and narcotics. He kicked and screamed and howled about his legs tingling for an hour before he settled - with the help of one kind nurse, a dip in the bath and ice on his legs and feet. (Weird, I know. Ice packs, directly on his legs and feet are what he wants and they seem to calm him. The nurse who woke him - his assigned nurse who we can refer to as Nurse Hatchet - wanted to load him up with more morphine even as I insisted that he wasn't in pain and that the medication was causing the behavior.) He finally fell back to sleep and another came in a awoke him again. Repeat fits. ANGRY mama bear. Asleep again, and seemingly calm, I decided to shower. When I stepped out to ask for a towel at 5 the nurse took the opportunity to come in and fiddle with his bed, arousing him yet again. He fell back to sleep quickly that time, though more fitfully. 6 the doctors came in to do rounds, they woke him up to ask him how he felt, were unable to answer my only question and walked out, leaving me with a highly agitated baby boy. Grrrrrrrrr! More ice to the feet and legs, some mama cuddles and a few Chris LeDoux songs later he is sleeping peacefully and I am letting my own agitations go so that I can be his mama and advocate through the rest of this day.

God grant me patience.