2 Months OldToday my sweet boy is 2 months old. I have decided to do a portrait of him on his birthday each month that exemplifies an event or milestone from the previous month. This past month we spent a lot of time at baseball games, hence this picture.

Grayson has had a rough time so far. This past week we had to have him hospitalized for severe bronchitis. I took him to his pediatrician on Tuesday because he was having difficulty breathing. Both Morgan and I are extremely sensitive to his breathing because he has already been hospitalized once, when he was a week old, because he was turning blue. Our fears for his health played a big role in Morgan's early return from his last trip.

His doctors said that his breathing was not normal, and sent me directly to the hospital. We use German doctors and facilities, because as civilians we are low priority at the American hospital. So I sped to the hospital in Kaiserslautern. It's interesting, I avoid the autobahn usually, because it makes me nervous. But when your child's health is in question, those insignificant anxieties dissolve, and you do what you have to do. (I'll write another post on driving in Germany).

When we arrived at the hospital, they saw him right away. Their first guess was RSV and pneumonia. They admitted us. Because I am nursing they gave us a room with a bed for me.

We spent two days there, during which time he was hooked up to an IV, received regular nebulizer treatments, and got lots of rest. The doctors were great. The nurses were very nice, and we managed to communicate between their limited English, my limited German, and hand signals. I ate in the cafeteria, and couldn't help flashing back to high school as I sat there, all by myself, hoping no one noticed me. What is it about cafeterias?

Well, we are home now, and he is doing so much better. He is still on his medications, and we are doing inhaler treatments.

I know that it could have been worse, and I am so grateful that it wasn't. Nothing makes a parent feel more scared or helpless than their children being sick. I watched my mom as she spent countless hours and nights in hospitals with some of my siblings, and I couldn't help thinking about her, and what it must have been like. I don't think I ever really understood, and I still don't completely comprehend what she went through.

I am now keeping him sheltered from human contact outside of our home. The price I pay for that is cabin fever. Thank goodness for my virtual world in cyberspace!