It's gonna be a very merry birthday

Tomorrow is Skylar's 1st birthday.  Today we found out Skylar has the flu.  Which is great news, considering the fact that at first they were positive she had RSV.  Of course today was a holiday for the clinic on post, so I had to take her to the walk-in medi-center across from the WalMart, and sit in a room with the sickest people on the face of the earth, people who were coughing up lungs and God knows what else all around us, and had the nerve to give me funny looks as I sat there with Skylar's blanket covering her whole head, a la Blanket Jackson  (only there were no balconies involved).  And she's so sick, and it's terrible, and she can barely hold her head up, and some stupid, stupid woman sitting a few seats down says "Oh, the poor thing.  Have you tried tylenol?"  Um, have you tried to be a dumbass or is it just happening? 

We waited for an hour and then I was given a bunch of papers to fill out.  I did the best I could while holding a screaming baby and shortly after that they called us to do the screening part where they ask why you are there.  I explained about the runny nose, and the coughing, and the crying, and the more crying, and the fever, so they checked her fever via armpit and it was 102.8.  This allowed us to jump to the very front of the line of almost dead people in the waiting room.  We got a room and from there it went downhill quickly.  

Her heart rate was 200 bpm, which is waaaay too high.  Her respirations were 42 per minute, which is waaaay too many.  And her oxygen levels were 94, which is a little too low.  Both her ears were red--double ear infection.  They wanted to do a breathing treatment.  They wanted to check her for RSV.  Skylar didn't like the bandaid on her toe counting the oxygen, Skylar didn't like the cotton swab they stuck up her nose to check for RSV.  And then they poured tylenol down her throat, waited 20 minutes and then stuck a thermometer up her booty--103.7.  Well, that really got them moving.  The RSV was negative.  Another swab up the nose for the flu test.  Which was positive.  And the fast heart rate, high respirations, etc?  Those were signs she was dehydrated.  So she needed to be admitted into the hospital.  

Problem?  Of course!  The people at the medi-center can't admit to the hospital.  Dr. Nance, the pediatrician on post won't admit to the hospital without seeing the kid first, and she was off today.  So they sent me to Dr. Acton, a pediatrician through the hospital.  They called him and told them I was coming.  I was to go straight there.  He would treat her for the ear infection and get her into the hospital.  Only when I got there I was told they no longer accept my insurance and wouldn't see me.  They sent me to the ER.

I got to the ER and waited for over an hour, all the time thinking the longer we sit and wait the more dehydrated she'll get and then her kidney's will start failing.  (Because that's what I do.  I prepare myself for the absolute worst, so I'm usually pleasantly surprised.  I have lots of gray hair, but I'm surprised and happy.)  When they finally screened us I gave them the paper from the medi-center and boy did those people start moving.  We were given a room right away and the doctor came right in.  He checked Skylar out and said she did not need to be admitted, as she was producing massive quantities of tears at the time which lead him to believe she was not dehydrated.  But she needed medicine for her ears, so she got a shot in her leg.  Bless her heart, her fever was finally starting to break and she was feeling a little better and a nurse comes in with Dora on her scrubs and Skylar immediately recognized Dora and pointed, smiled and said "Oooooh!"  And then the mean lady poked a needle in her leg, which has no doubt cemented pure hate in Skylar's heart towards Dora the Explorer.  

So let me tell you, as if all this wasn't bad enough, I get home and find Scott doing the laundry.  By himself.  Which means that he decided on all the color breakdowns on his own as well as the water temperatures.  Which shoots my nerves all the way to hell again.  And I knows it's bad when he empties the dryer and uses his body to physically shield the bushel from me so I can't see exactly what is in it.  

If Skylar's fever spikes again before Wednesday I'm to bring her back to the ER immediately.  She also has to see the doctor next week for a follow-up on her ears.  What a way to turn 1!.  I guess we won't celebrate her birthday tomorrow night unless she feels better, but I don't think she'll get past all this quite that quickly.  So we'll have to wait until the weekend, and hopefully she'll be better then. 

Oh, if you want to do something special for Skylar because it's her special day and she feels like crap, send her a balloon.  Skylar loves balloons.  She grabs the strings and yanks them around for hours.  Or you could send her Guitar Hero II with the guitar for the playstation.  She mentioned a while back that she's really wanting one of those.  Apparently she was talking with Sgt. Hines and he was telling her how great and grand it was and now she just won't shut up talking about it.  So...yeah...a balloon or Guitar Hero II...your call.