Our little Justus was quite a sick little boy for a few days. It was a very scary time for me, but now as I look back on it I am amazed at all the blessings God sent our way. Saturday Justus woke up with a fever and later in the day developed a croupy cough. Sunday I stayed home from church with him as he still had the fever and cough. Monday I brought him in to his doctor and he was diagnosed with croup. Monday afternoon Gabe and Gideon came down with fevers. Monday night I came down with the fever (which came with such niceties as chills, body aches, sore throat, basically feeling like death), oh, and did I mention Monday was also Ben's first day at his new job? So (as we found out later) we had the type A influenza. Taking care of sick babies is one thing, taking care of them while feeling like death is quite another! :) Anyway, we had the bug until Thursday when Gabe, Gideon and I started feeling better. Justus, though, was getting worse. I took him in to his doctor again and she sent us to the ER. This was not exactly how I had envisioned spending Valentine's evening. 
They were very kind in the ER to take us back right away, but we had all gone and once we realized that we were going to be there for a while Ben decided it would be wise for him to take the other two boys and go home. Thankfully my mom was sweet enough to come stay with me even though it was not only Valentine's day, but also her birthday! They ran tests, did blood work, took xrays and poked and prodded my poor baby until 2:30 AM and then sent us home with the diagnosis of pneumonia and a weird rash they kept calling petikia. The next day he was worse and his "rash" had spread so we again brought him in to his pediatrician. She sent us to Sinai hospital's ER and there he was admitted.
No one was really giving us any answers, we heard things like: "blood platelet count", "patikia", "infectious disease", "meningitis", "cancer", none of which meant much to me except to make me plead to God to give me faith no matter what. But God in His infinite kindness and mercy to His frail child strengthened me. I am so grateful for all the prayers of our families, church and friends, it meant so much to know that people were praying.
He was finally diagnosed with a rare blood disease called HSP or Anaphylactoid Purpura. It apparently can be brought on by a virus such as the flu (which he tested positive for in the ER). He was released around 10PM Sunday and is expected to make a full recovery. Now, on to our many other blessings...Because it was Ben's first week at his new job, we had health insurance!
Ben's sweet parents were kind enough to watch our other two boys while we were in the hospital.
Justus has become such a snuggle bug since his hospital stay...he was always such a wiggle he never really snuggled before...I LOVE it! :)
We had such an outpouring of love by our friends in ways like meals, notes, phone calls, prayers, stopping by the hospital to see us, etc...
I end this VERY long post with this, I am overwhelmed by God's kindness, I don't deserve all of these blessings. "Thank you Father, for your mercy to me and my family. Thank you for giving me another day with my children. Thank you for a wonderful husband and family. Thank you." This expeirence has also given me a new apreciation for those with really sick children. What a new respect I have for my cousin Jennie. She has a daughter who had cancer as a little toddler and went through months and months not only away from home, but in a hospital in another state! I can't imagine how one could get through something like that without trusting our Savior. God is faithful. He will not let us be overwhelmed. Jennie is such a strong, Godly woman. I pray God will give me the strength to bear whatever He has in store with the grace that she has. "Lord, give me faith"
