Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Prelude to Vacation

As is often the case, things did not go quite according to our plans as we headed into "big trip" to visit Auntie Krista and Uncle Kevin and the family in British Columbia.

Early last week, Victor (and Josiah) came down with a bit of a cold. We started neb treatments and hoped to clear the system before we left to visit our "Canada cousins" on Friday. The boys both seemed to be doing better Monday morning. Then Monday afternoon, Victor complained of his tummy hurting... bad enough that he wanted me to call the doctor. I did, and though they didn't have any evening doctor appointments open, we decided to go in for a strep test that night anyway. A half hour before we left, he puked. He tested negative for strep, but since we ended up in the ER after Victor's last 2 stomach flu experiences (he'd start puking more and more frequently until getting dehydrated) I pleaded for mercy and was able to get a prescription for Zofran just in case.

That night, Victor was up at least once an hour (often more) feeling sick and thinking he was "having spits"--though he never actually threw up again.

Tuesday morning he seemed better, ate some toast and sipped water with a peaceful tummy. Then the "my tummy hurts" started again. I made a doctor appointment for that evening. 

Curiously, he began feeling better shortly before the appointment. Doctor checked him out, said it didn't appear to be anything scary, and suggested we take a Zofran that night just to make sure we could get on top of things before our trip. When we got home, Victor very merrily drank Pedialyte, ate soup, and finished with some ice cream, then slept well all night. Wednesday was quiet. Thursday was quiet. I finished packing, got boarding passes printed, and Ben came home late from his final Jr High JAM, and we finally got to sleep a little after 11:30, prepared to leave for the airport the next morning at 7.

I fed Elliot at 1:30.

At 3:20, Victor called me. "My tummy hurts. I think I'm going to have spits."

I got him the bucket, rubbed his back, prayed for him (really thinking he was just nervous and excited for the trip), and told him I was going to go back to my bed. 

Before I got there, he screamed and, sure enough, puked thoroughly. Then fell fast asleep. I rubbed his back, feeling helpless and at a total loss for what to do... We were supposed to be driving to the airport in 3.5 hours (and our Canada family was also leaving home around 7 their time to pick us up at the airport). 

"What are You doing in this?" I prayed, "and what are we going to do?" 

Then I woke Ben up, and we pondered our options before calling my parents (who were already in Chilliwack with the family). 

The next couple hours were a blur of more prayers, conversations, and phone calls. We talked to a lady at Delta (who was surprisingly helpful for being 4am in the morning).

First option: switch to a 6pm flight on Friday, which would get us to the Lasers in the wee hours of the morning. The supervisor was willing to make the switch at no charge. 

Second option: switch to a 6pm flight on Saturday. But the supervisor said this could cost $200 per ticket plus any fare increase.

We opted for the 6pm Friday flight (though I was groaning at the thought of putting out littles through that). But there were no seats together on the flight. 

So we gulped and asked if the Saturday flight would still have the $200 charge. They were willing to waive it. But they only had seats available 2 and 2. 

"But we could do an earlier flight," the lady mentioned casually. 

What! (Why didn't you mention this before?) What earlier times are there?

In the end God amazingly allowed us to transfer our tickets to Saturday morning at no cost, with our seats still all together (though every single seat on the plane was filled), leaving at 11:30 and still getting to Seattle at a decent time. 

After the largely-sleepless night, we spent a quiet day Friday as a family, enjoying the beautiful sunshine and praying for peaceful tummies so that we could still make our trip.

And in God's kindness, that's what we had! So Saturday morning, we geared up yet again for a big trip to Canada!

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