Here we go again.

Well I am home for a little rest and so I get a chance to give the latest update. This time we are at Spring Valley Hospital instead of UMC. This is a good news/bad news situation.

The saddest news is that I cannot get any Internet service for my laptop there. At least I have not figured it out yet. Last time the hospital had a laptop that they let me use that was set up with dial up. So this will be the hardest part for me to be isolated from the blogiverse. I should get home at least once a day, and if anything exciting happens, I can always have my sister post again for me.

This hospital is not quite as kid friendly. In fact they do not have a pediatric unit. So no child life specialist with endless games and videos to offer. No Popsicles in the freezer. Boo hoo! The fact that we should only be there for a few days will make these small inconveniences bearable.

Originally the estimate was that Jared would come home on Monday. But this morning his right foot was still all tingly like it is asleep, and he is not able to bend it at the ankle. The doctor is concerned about this, but thinks that it just needs a little bit more time to return to normal. Jared's right leg was about an inch and a half shorter than the left because of bone deterioration from the infection. The doctor was able to stretch it back out so now his legs should be the same length. This morning Jared was in an incredible amount of pain, and that stretching could be part of it.

Physical therapy came and hoped that they were going to get him out of bed and sitting in a chair. But Jared was in so much pain that he could only move a little bit in the bed, so they could change the sheets. The therapist did say that maybe tomorrow he will be a lot better. That can happen with young kids. I am trying to prepare myself for them to say that he is going to be there longer.

The crazy thing about it not being a peds ward, is that they want a parent to stay with him at all times. It is too bad because Jared has been harping on me all week to not stay with him every minute. I wonder if he was lining up a steady stream of girls to come and visit him and didn't want his mom cramping his style. But now the hospital rule has foiled his plan, if he had one anyway.

So I spent another night not sleeping at the hospital, last night. The chair in this room does not go all the way flat. Think of sleeping in an airplane seat but with a foot rest included. The best I could get it to be was a V shaped sleeping surface. I think tonight I will bring my girls camp cot, so I could at least lay flat. Even if I was comfortable, there were people coming in and out what seemed like every ten minutes. At some point, I think it was 3 in the morning, they came in and proceeded to build an erector set thing over his bed. It had a bar that goes over the bed and has a little triangle thing that hangs down. Jared can use this to help lift himself up to move in bed. I agree that he needed it, but why it had to happen at 3 am, I can not for the life of me understand.

One good thing about this hospital is that it is only about 5 minutes from my house. It is so nice to be so close when you get out of the hospital and feel too tired to even drive home.

I am glad that I get to be there. There is something so comforting about laying next to your sleeping child, listening to them breathe in and out. It reminds me of having a newborn. You know when they are so helpless and dependant on you for everything. You feel so much responsibility and concern for them. I can remember just watching my newborns sleep to be sure they were still breathing and OK. So even if I don't get much sleep over the next few days, I am grateful for the reassurance that comes from being there.