Friday, September 30, 2011

Wisdom of a Four Year Old - Rewards

Context: As part of potty training, we used to give K candy for successfully using the toilet.

K: Can I have another lollipop.... it was a really long poop!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Back to the Hospital

J is in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Stollery.

We had to call an Ambulance for her last night around supper time.

She has been sick for the last few days. She is at high risk for pneumonia. Because she doesn't move much a cold can quickly become pneumonia. Most children in her situation get pneumonia and die, eventually. I expect that one of these times, she will not be able to recover.

She seemd to be ok on Friday. We have a caregiver come in once a week, on Friday. She had a daughter in J's situation, so when she is sick I always get her as a second opinion. We were both concerned, but she did some physical therapy we do in these situations and she seemed better throughout the day.

Several time I have taken J in to the doctor concerned that she might have pneumonia, only to have her be ok. Other times we waited too long and had to go to the hospital. This was one of the latter times. Yesterday she was coughing a bit and sleeping more than usual but I thought this just might be due to the cold and her body trying to get over it. I checked her again later and she was very pale. I picked up her arms and they dropped to her sides like a dead fish. Her breathing was very shallow. I knew this was not normal and more than just "cold" sick.

They sent us the paramedics and had to send the ambulance from Tofield as all the others were on calls. After putting in a breathing tube, we took the ride to the Stollery, siren screaming, the full meal deal. Thanks to everyone on Whyte Ave who moved quickly out of our way.

She seemed to be stable throughout the ride but as we arrived at the hospital, her heart rate dropped dangerously. As we started moving through the emergency ward, the paramedic monitoring her vitals announces "Heart rate dropping, 50. We have to move, now." Since her heart rate was around 120 at home when they were working on her, that is quite low. We start running through the ward with him calling out progressively lower numbers. "Forty-five. Forty. Now thirty-five. Thirty." I thought her heart was going to stop right there. They got her in and started working on her.

I have been the "Concered Parent" a number of times now, and I always find it interesting how the medical people deal with me. Not that they don't like the family/parents, but you know that parents can be add complications to their job. They are doing things that may not look nice to your child and you can see how a hysterical parent can be distracting. I find it interesting how they offer to get you to sit down (always in a corner where it is harder to see), and ask you all this background information such as name, date of birth, Alberta Health Card number (J spent a month in this hospital when she was born, what with computers I am sure they have all this stuff). The one thing they do ask which I like to answer is about her condition, is she usually this pale, what other hospital stays, etc. This information is useful, might help them and it does serve to distract me.

They got her stabilized and up to the PICU. The wife and K came to pick me up and we left at about 11 pm last night. I am about to leave to spend some time with her. We called this morning and she is stable although the nurse told me that her heart rate is down a bit. They think this is due to all the drugs they have running through her system. They are taking her off some of these slowly, so things should go up.

Thanks to all the doctors, nurses and EMT's who helped my daughter last night.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Wisdom of a Four Year Old - Growing Up


K: Mommy, what will I be when I grow up?

Mommy: Anything you want, Sweetheart.

K: OK. Then I will be a Grasshopper.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Wisdom of a Four Year Old - Reality

I am going to start a weekly feature here at MLWGF called wisdom of a Four Year Old.

K has said a number of things that are funny or profound. I will post a new one every Friday and include some context if necessary.

Wisdom of a Four Year Old - Reality

K: Daddy, how do I know that when I wake up I am not still in a dream?"

Me: "I don't know."

Saturday, September 17, 2011

You Don't Win Friends With Salad

The wife and I are fans of The Simpsons (the older seasons, when they were cutting edge, not the crap they put out now). Without The Simpsons, we might not have every been married, but that is another story.

About a year ago, we were watching the Lisa the Vegetarian episode, most famous for the above clip. Lately, I have been going a bit crazy and have started to sing all sorts of weird songs when driving with the kids in the car. Mostly jingles, kids TV songs, or nonsense, made up on the spot songs. K recently picked up on this habit and, out of the blue, started singing "You don't win friends with salad" while we were driving in the car. I, of course, joined in.

After a few minutes of this, I realized this may not be such a good thing. Four year olds tend to say the things they have learned at inopportune times. I could see her telling some adult "you don't win friends with salad" during a meal at their home. Also, I thought she may get the idea that friends are something you are supposed to gain by giving them somethings. So I decided that I best explain that this song was a joke and how you should make friends.

Her reply: "But Daddy, you should be friends with everyone, even salad."