Poor Little Leah

Yesterday I had one of those tough moments as a mom, where I had to sit and listen to my baby scream and cry-- knowing that it's the best thing for her & going to make her feel better, yet still very hard to remain the strong one when there's nothing I can do to comfort her. Leah somehow got an infection on her bottom (probably a staph infection from poop that got into an open cut) that turned into a full-blown absess. It was red and hard to the touch, and for a day or two she kept saying "my boo boo hurts..." It had gotten to the point where she didn't even want to sit down or have me hold her. She screamed every time she had to get her diaper changed. Finally I called the dr. and got her in yesterday afternoon. They had to use a knife and cut it open to let all the blood & puss drain out (I know, gross!). It had apparently gotten really deep so he had to really get in there & cut it. The whole procedure took maybe 5 minutes but I had to hold her on my lap the whole time as she screamed and cried.

Brett asked me later how I was able to do that, and I just answered that it was something that had to be done. I didn't think about it, I just did it, because I knew it would help her feel better. Now I have to give her a warm bath twice a day (or when she poops) and keep the area covered in a waterproof dressing. She is also taking an antibiotic (which, though she doesn't mind the flavor, she has to take a lot at one time, so it's hard for her to get it all down). She had a pretty high fever last night but was so exhausted she slept in till almost 8 today. She definitely was not herself all evening, but today she seems to be back to normal, although she still says, "my boo boo hurts." Hopefully the procedure took the infection away and we will not have to go through something like that again!

I must add, I was really impressed with her dr.'s office. Not only were they able to get me in within 2 hrs. of me calling, but they handled everything so calmly and treated Leah very well. They even got the nurses to hold Andrew while Leah was screaming, since he started to cry as well. And Leah got a little stuffed animal when she was all done.

I know my children will have to go through difficult and painful things, but I wish I could protect them from days like yesterday. I wish I could take the hurt away from them so they wouldn't have to suffer. Yet I also know that God uses days like those to grow us and make us all the more excited about eternity in a place where we won't have to deal with pain and suffering.