One sick baby!

As most of you know, Mackenzie has had something of a cold over the past...well, two months. Last night, we could tell that something wasn't right. Mackenzie was extremely fussy (which is just not like her) and felt hot to the touch. After taking her temperature and getting a reading of 99.9 degrees, we figured she was teething, gave her some Motrin to help bring the fever down and relieve some pain, and went to bed. It's not that we weren't worried, it's just that we'd been told three times in the last month by doctors and nurses, that she just had a cold and she'd work it out eventually.

This morning, we woke up to a screaming baby (again, this is not like Mackenzie) who had 101.4 degree temperature. Being new, worrisome parents, we jumped in the car and headed to the Arkansas Children's emergency room.

The admitting nurse took her temperature and got a reading of 103.5! At that point, I was officially worried. I was really expecting her to say something more along the lines of "She only has a low-grade fever and is probably teething. It's good that you brought her in, but there's nothing wrong. You can go home now." Needless to say, that didn't come out of her mouth. She said that it may be pneumonia, which made my worries even worse and sent us back to a room.

Dr. Craft (super nice guy!) and the nurses did a great job of taking care of her...and us. They sucked her nose out with a vacuum-like contraption, gave her some nasal spray, did a breathing treatment with a mask over her face, put in a catheter to get a urine sample, and then took chest x-rays using a device to hold her still that looked like it may have been used for torturing people in the past! Did I mention that they also had to use a stick with a hook on the end to clean out her ears? That was probably the worst part for her!

The final word was that Mackenzie has an upper respiratory infection and a bilateral ear infection. She has some pain medicine and antibiotics for her ears and they say the URI will have to clear out on its own.

Matt and I are so thankful that it's nothing worse. We are so grateful to have a (mostly) healthy baby - especially after reading about situations like Harper's. Her parents have gone through so much and I feel like sometimes we take Mackenzie's health for granted. If you haven't already, please click on the link to the right to go to Harper's blog and read her inspiring story. She is doing much better now, thanks to all of the prayers her family has received, but it has been a long, hard road for them. Their story really puts things into perspective.

Well, I better get to bed - I am starting to run low and need to recharge for Friday!