the hurricane of our lives...

So... where to begin? Two Saturdays ago Bailey came down with a fever. Sunday it got a little higher, and by Monday night she was at 103.1 under the arm. Monday morning there was no improvement. I had been trying everything- baths, cool cloths, liquids, Tylenol- nothing would keep the fever down. On Monday afternoon Bailey's fever went from 99 to 103 within 30 minutes. She was sitting on my lap and I was trying to get some liquids down her with a dropper when suddenly her eyes rolled back into her head and she started seizing. Her breathing stopped. I put her on the floor and Sue, my mother-in-law, immediately started CPR. Bailey turned blue. I was frantically trying to call the American doctor that we know here. I tried to call the Chinese 911, but they didn't answer!!! Bailey took three minutes to respond. I was frantic. I thought I was watching her die. We were huddled on the floor trying to get her to wake up saying "Bailey!" "Bailey!!!!" Micah and Katie were dousing her with cold water to cool her off. The doctor arrived within 10 minutes. We went with him to the childrens hospital. After a 20 minute taxi ride, holding my burning barely lucid baby in my arms we arrived at one of the worst hospitals I have ever been to in China. Sick kids everywhere. No privacy. Kids peeing on the floor and nobody cleaning it up. This was a moment when I questioned my life here. What are we doing here when this is what I have when my baby is sick?!!! They took blood from B's head then handed us the vial of her blood with no lid! They don't even use lids to transfer blood. We kept walking around and around the hospital because people kept telling us different places to take the blood. We finally found it. We were told to wait two hours. There was no care. No bed to lay her in. No doctor looked at her. Nothing to cool her off. I held her. Sang to her. Poured out my heart to God for her. And waited. Chinese people who had never seen a white baby before kept trying to take pictures of her. GIVE US SOME RESPECT!! MY BABY IS SICK! I had absolutely NO cultural sensitivity. Finally the results came back. Nothing major- she can go home. Tuesday and Wednesday there was a little improvement. My days and nights consisted of holding Bailey and walking around and around outside. This was all she wanted to do. We had to force hydration fluid into her, and she wouldn't eat. By Thursday morning the Doc said that she must take the antibiotic and get better or we would have to go to Thailand. He had been holding off because it could damage her system. The antibiotic worked. It's now Sunday. Everyday Bailey has gotten better and better, and now we have our happy little dancing girl back with us. Oh God's faithfulness is so abundant! Our family was here to help. The American Doc was just down the street and able to get here quickly when it happened. We had the support and prayers from our friends back home in the States. It was truly a trying time for my spirit as a mother. I will never forget my blue little girl lying motionless on the floor. I'm so thankful for every moment with her. For every moment I have with the people I love.
While this was going on with Bailey there were many other difficult and trying things in our lives, but for now this post is finished. His peace. Liz