Laura and I are back in the blogging spirit, partly because our child is peacefully sleeping right now and partly because Augusta, Ga has turned to a tropical rainforest.  So when you can’t go outside, and the inside of your house is cleaned up, AND your baby is fast asleep then you have a good recipe to write a little bit.  Now many of you know that last month was Father’s Day and many of you celebrated with extended or you new immediate families.  I was looking forward to that celebration with my new family, however as many of you know that was not going to be the case.  I wanted to make sure that we remembered this first father’s day (despite the late blog post) so that when Lucy is older she can look back and be like, “Wow, all that actually happend?” And I can say, “Yup”

So, the Father’s day weekend started off on Friday, in which our small group and I helped some friends move back to atlanta after work.  I met a buddy of mine at their house (they were coming back from atlanta to help move, but we wanted to get started earlier) and we went to go pick up their u-haul.  Once back at the house, we had an awesomely effective crew and stuffed that truck full.  In fact we were so efficient that we practically had everything loaded just as our friends were arriving.  Well played Matt and Emily :).  But after that it was off to the lake house for a restful, fun weekend.  Over the weekend, especially on Saturday June 15, Lucy didn’t seem to be all that sick or ornery, in fact she had a great time.  She even put on her tiny little life jacket onsie shorts and got in the lake; albeit with a death grip on me as this new experience was very stressful by the look in her eyes.  But that evening, changing her diaper I noticed this big red spot on her hip that looked like a bug bite on crack.  And it apparently was painful because when I touched it she cried and cried and pus came out of the bite looking area. We also took her temperature because by Saturday evening she has running a fever.  Fortunately we had a doctor friend with us on this trip and her correctly diagnosed the problems as a staph infection.

So then came that Saturday evening, and Lucy let us know that she was in pain, feverish and all around sick because we could not get her calmed down to sleep.  My concern level was rising and Laura and I began to discuss if we should leave and go to the local hospital (wherever that would’ve been).  Lucy finally calmed down and slept, but Sunday morning June 16 (Father’s Day) she was still no better, in fact she was probably worse.  So we packed up and went home.  She was still very feverish and we tried all the home remedies our mom’s could think of but not no avail.  Despite our efforts, Lucy was turning into a furnace and her “bite” (staph infection) was getting worse.  We finally decided to take her to the ER on Sunday late afternoon thanks to some additional counsel from another doctor friend after I texted a picture of the inflamed region to her (thanks smartphone!).  And I am really glad we did because when we got the the hospital the took one look at Lucy, took her temperature (which was still over 103) and immediately began to treat her.  A really nice team of ER nurses came in and started an IV which little Lucy did well with.  There was much crying, utter exhaustion, but she did not give them too much trouble.  They finally got some medication in her little system to to bring down the fever and when the Doc came and looked, he confirmed the diagnosis and they started some IV antibiotics.  We prayed and prayed and cried and prayed because we knew she did not understand what was happening and she would look at us as if to say, “make it all end”, but we couldn’t.  The best thing for her was to let everything in motion continue and to just hold her little hand, rub her little back, and pray which is Father’s day lesson/application number one for me.  Comfort and pray for your kids…always.  Anyway,  Lucy did not like the IV much but she eventually got used to it and was able to eat some food that evening with her left hand always giving big generous smiles when she could despite battling an evil bacteria.

Later that night, the doctor came back in and told us they were going to admit us to the burn/wound ICU and have that team take a look because she might need to have the wound lanced and drained which equals they would have to do surgery to get the infection out.  So here we were, on my Father’s day, in the ER, then the ICU, BUT with our bags packed!  That was one of the funny things because since we were coming back from vacation we still had all our clothes in the car with us.  Score!  That night Laura and I “slept” in the terribly squeaky recliner chairs provided by the hospital.  Every time we moved it sounded like Transformers colliding into metal skyscrapers as they battle Decepticons.  Needless to say Laura, Lucy, and myself did not sleep well but finally the sun rose and Monday was here.  I ended up taking Monday off because the doctors did decide to do surgery.  So early that morning, our little Lucy was prepped for surgery and wheeled away.  I can’t tell you all of the thoughts and emotions running through my mind that morning.  As her father I wanted her to get well, but I was scared for her, hopeful, anxious, wondering if I would lose her, wishing that I could take her place.  In situations like this you truly discover how much these little blessings mean to you and to others which brought me to lesson/application number two of Father’s day.  Cherish every moment with your kids and enjoy them because we never know the number of our days or their days.  So take every moment.  After waiting and waiting, the surgeon finally came out and said everything went just fine but he had sucked out 15 cc’s of pestilence…which is whole lot, especially on a tiny person.  He said the infection tract was pretty deep and they were going to have to leave it open to heal up.  Cue wound healing/dressing change skills I learned in PT school!  But we were just glad to see her on the other side and feed her food…which she hadn’t had in like 10 hours.  Hungry baby = upset.  Hungry baby + post surgery baby + baby with IV in right arm that she cannot move = angry, but food and milk made everything better.

The rest of Monday, we just hung out at the hospital and we had some dear friends from our small group take excellent care of us providing us meals, talking with us, and praying for since that night in the ER which is Father’s day lesson/application number three.  A good father will surround his family with other incredible, Godly people who will come alongside you and pray when you can’t, comfort when you are worried, and always point you back to the hope that we have in Christ.  Thanks again small group!  You will forever be in our family!  Monday evening, we all got some sleep but I had to go back to work on Tuesday, June 18th.  Fortunately, my awesome mother in law was willing to drop her plans, make time for us, and travel to Augusta, to be with Laura and Lucy while I was at work.  I am very blessed to have not only and awesome mom, but an awesome mother in law.  Lucy was glad to see her as well, because Gigi provided some necessary grand parent sugar by bringing love and new toys for Lucy to play with in her jail looking hospital bed.  This is also the day that Lucy started feeling much better, but the physicians wanted to keep us one more night to make sure.  So we played in the room and the nursing staff brought a fun wagon for us to take Lucy around.

Finally, on Wednesday, we were able to go home with Lucy with some antibiotics (that were like precious diamonds – only one pharmacy in town had it and it was 300 dollars, but fortunately the hospital had a coupon for us so we only paid 15 dollars).  When I got home from work, I asked Laura how the Lucy was doing with the medicine and said she was due up for another dose and that it was in the fridge.  I open the fridge read the box and promptly read “Do not refrigerate.” oops.  We decide that it is fine so I shake it up to give her a dose and then promptly read on the box “Do not shake” ugh.  So in panic mode and fearing I have just destroyed the one and only antibiotic that Lucy needed, I called the pharmacist and she assured me it was fine, just don’t do that again.  Lucy continued to improve and over the next few weeks healed up very nicely according to her outpatient follow up visits.  And finally had time to celebrate Father’s day which included a brand new electric razor and some excellent books to read for Lucy.  It was a  great adventure with lot’s of lessons and certainly a first Father’s day that I will never forget.