Curious George Goes to the Hospital

Three nights ago I read this book to RJ. It's one of his favorites. He knows every word, and if I try and skip a line, he quickly catches me. It's ironic that the very next morning, we would be re-enacting the book...

It was a normal Saturday morning and all was well. Kids were jumping around, eating, fighting, and playing. We decided to go to Mamas and Pop's to swim. After a nice swim, RJ started complaining of stomach pain, and it quickly went from slight complaining to screaming and bending over in agony. Mamas took him on her lap while I called the dr.'s office to find out where to go since it was a weekend and drs don't work on the weekends. A nurse called me back and told me that from where I was describing the pain coming from, it couldn't be his appendix (sigh of relief) BUT that it could be something else, so I should just head to the ER (!). We finally got him in the car-screaming, kicking and sweating profusely, and got him to the hospital. Pop came with me while G's took Jackson back to her house, and I called Ray and he was going to meet us there. We were all a bit panicked, mostly because RJ was in so much pain and we were all helpless. It came on very sudden.

The ER was a nightmare as usual. Thank goodness RJ wore himself out screaming and fell asleep in my arms shortly after arriving. He didn't have a fever and his vitals were normal. Now it was the waiting game to get back to pediatrics, because they didn't have a room (shocker).

After about 3 hours of waiting we finally got a room. RJ still slept, woke up occasionally to scream in pain and sweat, then back to sleep. Shortly after being in our room, Dr. Lou came in. She was great, and told us she heard a lot of gas in his stomach. Pop and Ray chuckled, and I just couldn't believe that this day of hell could be chalked up to a couple farts that refused to come out. Dr. Lou informed us that they would do an ultrasound, an x-ray, and take blood (needles-great!) When the nurse came in to take blood, RJ was sleeping and we decided not to wake him to do the deed. He was AWESOME. He woke up to the pricking of his hand and complained minimally, but I told him he was just like Curious George and he liked that, so he quickly calmed down. He loved getting wheeled to x-ray and ultrasound in his bed too, and told me he was going faster than George was. He did great with both tests and everything came back normal. Dr. Lou was almost positive it was gas and that he had to poop. Lo and behold, five minutes before discharge Ray took him to the bathroom and he let the problem out. On the way out he was shouting bye-bye to everyone, including Dr. Lou who wanted to keep him for herself, and we were off!

That night, he was excited to tell everyone he was just like George in the book, and the next morning he was running around like nothing had ever happened! We had spent a day in the hospital for a bit of constipation-which I'm thankful for;-) I overheard Ray asking him what he wanted to do yesterday and he clearly stated "I know! Let's go back to the hospital again!"