five star ER

Sometimes I am truly amazed by how much people love to "warn" you about how terrible your life is about to be. It seems the token response to every good thing in life includes a healthy dose of pessimism and the phrase "Just wait..."

When you get engaged: "Just wait. After a few years, you'll wake up, look at the person lying in bed beside you, and say, 'Where is the person I married?!'"

When you get pregnant: "Just wait until the third trimester. Believe me, you'll be huge. And super uncomfortable. And labor is really the most painful thing you can ever imagine. (Insert lengthy, detailed, gory childbirth story here.)"

When you have a really good baby: "Oh, just wait. Your next one is going to be a terror. Then you'll learn what motherhood really is."

It seems that people take evil pleasure in telling you every horrible story that happens to them and almost wishing it happens to you, too. So this week I'm going to do a few surprisingly optimistic posts.

My first post: the emergency room.

I feel like the typical ER story includes a 7-hour wait, lots of blood, and rude, unhelpful staff. I had never been the the ER until this past Sunday, but I knew I would have to go someday...The thought of going loomed over me with horror. How would I know when to go? Where is the "ER" anyway? Will I be up all night? How will we ever pay for it?

Anxiety is gone, and calm has come. Because all my questions have been answered.

Silas ran a fever Friday and Saturday. By Sunday his fever peaked at 104.1 degrees, and he was pretty congested and lethargic. I called our pedi while we were on our way driving back to Louisville, and they thought he should probably be seen that night. So we did some research, called a friend for an address, and decided to "stop in" at the ER before going home.

No one was in the waiting room. Insurance was simple. Staff was friendly. I'm thinking...Wait. Are we in the right place?

I barely had time to change his poop diaper before we were called back to the room.

Well...we were there for a while, about 2 1/2 hours. But nurses and doctors checked in frequently to update us on their progress with his chest X-rays, what medicine they were going to give him next, etc. Nathan watched football on the TV. I knitted some booties (which I'll post a picture of later). Silas enjoyed being naked and playing with the crinkly paper on the exam table.

It was a pleasant experience. I'm not kidding.

After doing X-rays and having 2 doctors check Silas out, they diagnosed him with a viral infection, gave us detailed instructions on how to keep his fever down, and let us go home. That was that.

I hope this story calms the fears of some anxious new mommy!