THIS IS A TRIGGER WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS PICTURES OF MY HOSPITALIZED CHILD

I never knew how long 8 hours was until I counted every single second.

December 6th, 2021 was, by far, one of the scariest days of my life. What was suppose to be a normal lunch date with Daddy turned into a frantic drive to Mercy West. While getting into the car from the restaurant, Meadow hit her head against the car. It wasn’t anything she hasn’t done before and, after some kisses and wiped tears, we dropped Daddy off to his truck and headed back to Harrison.

She slept on the way home.

When we stopped at Home Depot and she woke up, I knew something was very very wrong. Meadow was lethargic, her pupils huge, and she wouldn’t speak. I’m glad I called ahead on my way there because the nurses were literally at the door waiting for me. In the middle of the chaos and wires and beeps, a nurse heard me between sobs ask if I could help, and she immediately brought me to a spot by her head where I’d be out of the way but I could still hold her hand. I wouldn’t hear her make a sound for four agonizing hours. Soon I was being told that Children’s was on the way to transfer her. I wish I could remember the names of anyone from today, but especially the three beautiful souls in the ambulance to downtown.

The two women handled Meadow like she was made of gold and talked WITH me, never TO me. The man spoke softly with Meadow and always explained his every move, even if she wasn’t responding. By now we know Meadow had a seizure. Pulling into Children’s, we were welcomed with a swarm of professionals that wanted to help Meadow AND me…lord know I needed them.

She’s in the neck brace because her CT results hadn’t came back yet and they didn’t want to take any chances on a neck injury. Meadow cried about it for a bit but quickly fell asleep.

Nurses swiftly assessed Meadow while doctors spoke with compassion, a doctor told me how much he loved her name…one surgeon asked me her nickname. I remember very much the smile in his eyes when I answered Do-Do. Never at any point did I feel small, useless, or like a bad mother. Never once did any member of staff approach Meadow with anything less than the love they show for their own children. Eight hours later, we were home.

We have a few more steps to take before we have all the answers, but the happy little girl we all know is feeling better at home.

Remember to be kind always, you never know if you’ll be someone’s saving grace that day.

Here’s Meadow two days later when the first snow happened.