A Merry Christmas?

Christmas Eve started off fairly uneventfully. Jeff, Elise and I opened up our presents and stockings in the morning because Christmas morning we were to drive to Medina. Luckily Santa knew were leaving town and made a special stop over at our house a day early. What a guy! He scored a hit with his blue 'Wahoo' doggie-- something for Elise to sit on and bounce as she does this with her balls (or real dogs!)around the house.

We put Elise down for a nap but she had a tough time falling asleep but eventually did. Thirty minutes later she was up. When I got her up, I noticed she was having problems breathing- she was wheezing and labored to breathe normal. We got her up and she seemed to rally even though she still was wheezing. It sounded like her cold was settling into her lungs but she didn't know how to clear all the thick mucus in her throat and nose. We ran to the store and bought everything we could: a humidifier and Vick's chest rub. There isn't anything over the counter for a 2-year old to take. Because of her good spirits we decided to head over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for presents and dinner.

At Grandma and Grandpa's house we opened up stockings and some gifts. Aunt Amy gave Elise a talking tea set. After their tea party and a few more gifts, we took a break for a yummy dinner. During dinner, Jeff and I made the decision to head to the hospital ER as it was getting harder for Elise to breathe, especially when she was trying to eat. We figured it could be a long night at home if Elise didn't have something clear up her chest. So, we left without finishing up opening our presents or even anytime to play with our new toys.

So, at 6:30... we arrived at the hospital ER. To summarize everything up, Elise was quite a sport! She enjoyed playing all of the hospital games like: wearing the pulse-ox sticker on her
finger, taking pictures of her chest (x-ray) and breathing the cloudy mist (breathing treatment x2). Plus, she got to take some really yummy medicine for her fever and steroids for her chest. And who would have thought that they have tv's in the rooms that play Cifford.. our new favorite show. Our young resident even admitted watching Clifford as a child. Jeff and I realized that he was younger than us since Clifford wasn't on tv when we were little! Are we old or is he young? Hmm..

The diagnosis: Upper Respiratory Infection. We were sent home with multiple prescriptions and the name of the only pharmacy open at 10pm on Christmas Eve. And, we even were given our own nebulizer as a souvenir for the night since we have to continue giving breathing treatments here at home.

As the evening wore on and as our bedtime came and went, Elise finally started wearing down. By the time we got home, showered and in bed, we were almost 2.5 hours past our bedtime.

So, this essentially sums up our Christmas 2010- pajamas, Cheerio snacks, and movies. Merry Christmas and hopefully 2011 is a bit healthier and happier for us! We cancelled our trip to Medina but Elise needs a few more days of rest. She obviously isn't feeling well and still is a bit wheezy with a slight fever. We're sad to have missed the rest of our Christmas and hope this is the first and last year we are away from our families...

As for our Christmas dinner, we will pay homage to the 'Christmas Story' movie and order Chinese. It's either that or another meal of spaghetti-Os and lunch meat sandwiches!