One blessed year. Thinking back.

Last year.

Today.

Last year on Thanksgiving Eve (you know, the night before the big day) we all drove down to Tulsa for a big family dinner. We got a couple of hotel rooms that night, 'cause who really has room for 10 extra people, including one who comes with oxygen tanks, a sat monitor, and nebulizer?

That night was a long one, for me and daddy. Ralph's sats were really crummy that night and started to trend downward. He was snotty and wheezy and I had left home without the big green booger sucker that I love so much.

It was late and everything was closed. Daddy agreed to stay with Ralph at the hotel while I made a trip to a 24 hour big name drugstore for nose drops and a booger sucker. I was sure that I saw one down the street. Guess. Yep, it was closed. 

And so was the next one that I found. And the next. I must have driven 50 miles in a strange town before I hit the jackpot. It was around 3am when I got back to the hotel. Isn't that the way it goes? Never enough sleep, especially on an important day.

Thanksgiving day, Ralph was not himself. He was very lethargic and slept on the floor most of the day. We made the trip home that evening. As we drove through the city I remember thinking maybe we should just take Ralph to the hospital before going to the house. I figured I should put him to bed and monitor him for awhile before deciding.

I put him to bed and laid down myself. His crib was next to our bed. I had his sat monitor positioned under the crib so that I could see it without getting up or even lifting my head. (I'm certain that I had learned to check his numbers without even waking.) After progressively bumping up his oxygen to over a liter and not seeing any improvement in his sats we decided to take him in to the ER. Here is what I had to say about it last year.

Ralph spent his first Christmas in the hospital. His first birthday. Mother's day. Now Thanksgiving. It was getting to the point that a major holiday wasn't a major holiday if we weren't spending it in the "joint."

It was a short stay, thank goodness, less than a week. And he was discharged one year ago today. He has not had a hospital stay since then! Huge!

Thinking back on those scary, fragile days makes me feel so thankful. Ralph is such a big boy these days. Big and strong. And healthy. Wow, did I just say healthy? From my keyboard to God's ear.