~When Life Gives You Lemons...Sometimes, It's Just HARD To Make Lemonade~

Just wanted to take a little time to update you on what's been going on in the Clements' household lately...and it's been alot!

We had a wonderful Easter, and I had a wonderful Monday. I was off with Bowdre, and had a great day! I had a doctor's appointment, which had great results, and just spent the day enjoying time with Bowdre and Elle'. A successful and fun day.

Well, as Tuesday was approaching, I was VERY excited. Warren and I have been car shopping for quite a while. We settled on a Toyota 4 Runner (Limited model-this is an important fact for later) a while ago. Warren has been shopping around trying to find the best "deal" which we thought we found a Franklin Toyota in Statesboro. We ordered the car, exactly like we wanted it, and went and signed the paperwork the week before. On Tuesday, I was set to go pick up the car at lunch time. It had arrived the day before, but they had to finish installing a few other things on it. Well Tuesday at lunch finally came. It was bittersweet, because I was giving up my Pathfinder, which I have had for 12 1/2 years...the car my parents bought me when I turned 16. I have to admit, I was a little upset, but excited at the same time. When I got to the dealership, they showed me to my new car. Once I got in, before I even put it in drive, I knew something was wrong. It looked like the right car from the outside, but the wrong car on the inside. See, we had ordered a Limited Model 4 Runner, and the one they ordered us was a different model. IT WAS THE WRONG CAR!!!!! Calmly, I told the salesman that we had ordered a Limited...there was absolutely no doubt in my mind. He said that we didn't, and I KNEW we did. Well a whole lot happened after that, Warren had to come from work, but needless to say, we cancelled our contract, got our money back, and decided that we would do business elsewhere.Warren and I both were so frustrated and felt defeated as well, especially knowing that we would have to start the whole process over again. Grrrr....

So after that total fiasco, our sweet baby had to be put into the hospital. My parents keep Bowdre on Wednesday nights, so that Warren and I can come home and check on our house, etc. My dad called me late Wednesday night telling us that he was riding with Bowdre in an ambulance to Memorial hospital, and that she was having a little trouble catching her breath. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Panic doesn't even begin to describe it. Warren and I got dressed, and headed to Memorial, trying to stay calm. My mom said that she went to check on Bowdre and that she was having some trouble getting her breath, so they took her to the ER in Millen. They proceeded to take Xrays, and her chest was clear, but her throat was inflamed and that it looked like croup. The doctors in Millen gave her a breathing treatment, and some steroids and were ready to send her home, but wanted to consult with her pediatrician before they discharged her. Dr. Ramos (Bowdre's doctor) wanted her transported to Memorial in Savannah just to look her over. They arrived at Memorial around 3AM and we were put into a room. She looked great but was extremely tired. The worst part was putting the IV in. That poor baby. After a couple of hours, we got moved into a hospital room, since Dr. Ramos wanted her to be admitted. We were moved to the pediatric ward, and waited to see Dr. Ramos. Since they originally thought it was viral croup, we were under isolation. That was scary. Once Dr. Ramos arrived, and after looking her over, he determined that it wasn't a viral or even bacterial croup, but spasmadic croup, which is brought on by reactions to certain things, such as pollen. Well Bowdre has been spending quite a bit of time outside lately, and it looks like she just inhaled too much pollen. I was very relieved that it wasn't viral or bacterial, and that we were taken out of isolation. Whew! Either way, it was still very stressful. We had lots of questions, and learned a lot about how to prevent this from happening. We were also concerned that this would mean that Bowdre would have allergies or even would develop asthma, but Dr. Ramos explained to us that this episode didn't indicate that at all. It's really that since she is still so young, and still developing, she was just around the pollen too much. Another relief because she loves being outside. They only had to do a couple of breathing treatments while she was in Memorial, but she was hooked up to an IV receiving fluids and steroids the entire time. She didn't seem to mind too much, but it was certainly hard on Warren and I. We definitely felt helpless, but we knew that God was taking care of her! Here are a couple of pictures of our sweet girl while she was in the hospital. She was such a trooper!

Just got admitted...

About to be released!!

Her foot IV :(

One of the hardest parts was trying to keep her from grabbing the IV in her foot. It was a full time job! Finally on Friday morning, we got released from the hospital, and we all were excited about that. The doctor didn't think any more medicine or breathing treatments were necessary, but that it just had to run its course. She started having a little tummy trouble on Thursday, so they ran some cultures, and they all came back fine. Poor thing had a time the next couple of days with that, but I tried to make her as comfortable as possible, but her bedroom rug is proof of how bad it was. Yikes is all I have to say.

Monday morning, we headed to her doctor to have her follow up. Thankfully, she is doing much better, and her tummy seems to have settled some. He wanted her to stay inside for the next couple of days, to use Flonase at night before bed, and to keep rinsing her nose with saline.The cough should go away within the next week or so. Any kind of croup usually takes about 10 days to run its course.

This has been an experience that's for sure. It was probably one of the most stressful and helpless feelings I've ever had. Being a mommy is hard sometimes. I hated watching her go through this, but the nurses and her doctor kept saying: "This is much worse for you than it is for her...she's doing great." Here is a picture of her at the doctor's office Monday morning showing exactly her awesome sweet little personality that I live for each and every day.

Happy Happy Baby

Although this past week has been quite difficult for numerous reasons, we MADE it through it. Warren and I leaned on each other, our family, and prayer to help us through this. Going through this hospital experience also made me realize how minor the car fiasco was. Boy was I focused on the wrong thing. Who cares if that happened? We can just go somewhere else, and we probably weren't meant to get the car from there anyway. Who wants to deal with people that blamed us for them ordering the wrong car? Not me!

What does matter is that I have a happy and healthy baby girl. What does matter is that I have a loving supportive husband who takes good care of his family. What does matter is that I have the best parents in the world that responded so quickly that night and who helps Warren and I daily with just life right now. What does matter is all the calls, texts, and posts we received to check on Bowdre. What does matter is the help we received from my mom, Aunt Joan, and our friend Rachael the day Bowdre was released when help was REALLY needed (while Warren was at work and I needed a bath, I needed some lunch, and I needed a MOMENT). What does matter is that we trusted in God to guide us through this.

These are the important things. So when life does give you lemons, because trust me it will happen, sometimes you just HAVE to make lemonade.