Night (mare) in the ER

Nothing better than spending Valentines night (let alone any night) in the ER with ALL 5 kids.

For the last couple days, Noah has been complaining of a stomach ache. It has come on an off and then on Wed. he came home from school just not feeling well at all. On Thursday, he still felt yucky, but his stomach felt a little better. He said that when he would lay down or walk around, his stomach would hurt really bad, but if he sat up it felt better. Later that night around 6, he was buckled over in pain. Bill took him to Urgent care and they did a few little tests and said it was his appendix and to take him to the ER. So Bill calls and tells me he is heading to Primary Childrens. There was no way I was going to let him go without me, especially since he might be needing surgery. Bill said we have to take him now, so your just going to have to come as you are. I was right in the middle of feeding the kids-so we litterally threw on our snowboots and jackets and ran out the door. We get to the hospital and what do you know, it was PACKED to say the least. I knew this was going to be a long night. We still dont really know anyone well enough here, so I didnt feel comfortable leaving them with anyone, so thats why we had the WHOLE family. What a nightmare. My kids were so bored with nothing to do becasue it was so crowded. Noah was in so much pain and he just wanted to lay down. I felt so helpless, there was nothing I could do. As I was sitting there waiting, and after realizing there really was nothing I could do to get him back there sooner, i kinda just relaxed for a second. I took a good look at my kids and about had a heart attack. They all had dinner on their faces, their hands were dirty, and none of their hair was combed. I have never felt so white trash in all my life. We left in such a hurry that I didnt get the chance to fix Lanis half pony tail or calebs shaggy mullet (its hair cut time) or Tysons dumb and dumber lloyd hair. We really must have been a sight. We had had enough and since I refused to leave Noah, Bill took the kids to get a drink and watch a movie in the car. Once he got the kids settled, Avery pukes all over herself, her blanky (which is the ONLY thing that calms her down) and her car seat. Lovely. Now the car reaks and she wants her blankey. Meanwhile, Noah was getting worse and I really started to freak out a little bit. I went to the nurse to ask if there was anywhere he could lay down. She check him over again and agreed that he needed to be seen right away. They put him to the top of the list and FINALLY got him a room. An hour later we are still waiting in our room for the ONE doctor that is working the ER. Seriously, something has to be done about that. What is the point of calling it an Emergency room if it takes 4 hours to even be seen. What a joke. Anyway, when the doctor did come in, she said it definatly was not his appendix. They did the usual blood work and urine tests and because he was so pale, they put him on an IV. Bill was freaking out a bit, so we traded spots. I went out to the car and he stayed with Noah. At this point it was almost midnight and Lani and Avery were still awake. I drove around until they fell asleep. I parked in the Hospital parking lot just waiting for the results. Luckily they all came back normal. The Dr. said that sometimes your body can get a virus that appears to be something else. His stomach was still hurting him so bad when she pushed on it, so they decided to do one more bag and check him after that. If it still hurt, then they would do some more tests. He was still in so much pain that I figured that he would need more tests and would be there for the night. I took the kids home-and all asleep, unloaded them from the car and put them to bed. About 20 minutes after I had been home, Bill calls and says the pain in completly gone. They did a few more small tests and said he could go. I was soooooo happy that he was going to be ok, but not so happy that I had to load my 4 sleeping kids back into the car. I seriously think my back is broken. 3 of the 4 kids cryed half the way there because they were so tired. NIGHTMARE. Finally we got home at about 2:30, got all the kids down by 3, and fell into bed. I know that we had a lot of people praying for Noah and Im convinced our prayers were answered. What a night. Noah thought it was a pretty cool experience getting an IV and all.

The kids have all next week off of school and Bill is studying for the bar that he takes in a week and a half. The thought of trying to keep all the kids occupied all week and keep them out of Bills way is enough to drive me crazy, so depending on Noah, we are heading to AZ for the week. I know I am crazy for driving all 5 kids by myself, but we are going to break it up so it wont be so bad. The good thing is we have clear weather for the next few days. YEA!!!!

All is well at the Lomu house-crazy-but well!!!