Long Day

We are in the middle of our fab southern cal trip to visit friends and family when the boys bust out in a major asthma episode! I was in denial for awhile not wanting to even CONSIDER leaving early. I threw everything I had at them, allergy medicine, pulmicort, albuterol, humidifier, and gatorade to keep them hydrated, but it just wasn't enough. So we ended our visit four days early. Payton cried, Jonah was furious, Davey was oblivious, and I was numb.
I'm a quality timer. I had lots of amazing visits and long talks ahead still on my trip that I had to forego. I had been looking forward to them forever. I did get a great Easter with family and got to see a bunch of friends already, so I was leaving with my love tank at least filled up partway. It was hard to leave without it on overflow like it usually is!
Lucky for us, my mum and dad said we could detour over to their house for a few nights here in Santa Cruz, a welcome distraction. It softened the blow of leaving. As Payton put it, "If we had gone straight home we would've been down in the dumps!" Who talks like that? She's so sweet and cracks me up.
It was a terribly long drive for me alone with the kids with my baby not thriving. Jonah improved with every hour on the road, but Davey was in awful shape the whole way. The inhaler wasn't helping. I pulled over and sat in the lobby of a hotel and gave him albuterol through the nebulizer b/c it has a bit more punch to it. It didn't help him at all. He was so weak and tired, could barely talk. I just kept praying we'd make it to my parents. Davey was so frustrated at one point he yelled at me, "Why did you just pick Payton first and make me the sick one!" Poor guy. It made me sad he thought I chose this for him...
Couple Davey's illness with me driving for eight hours in gale force winds the whole time. I had to keep a fierce ten and two on the wheel to keep us on the road, tumbleweeds flying everywhere, junk flying in your face and eyes when you get out of the car. One little girl asked her mom if we were all going to die at the hotel the wind was so scary. Payton voiced a hope that a tornado would touch down for us. I'm at my absolute worst when one of my kids is teetering on a hospital visit and I'm by myself, so I snapped, "I'm a little overwhelmed right now and the last thing I need is you wishing a tornado down on me while I'm trying to drive us home!" Good times.
Current status. Both boys slept peacefully through the night. Jonah's cough is loose and productive, he's over the worst. Davey's still asleep, I'm hoping he'll wake up to improved health as well. I'm just grateful we made it here, and things are returning to normal. I'm hoping I'll fill up the rest of my love tank here with family, long talks with my sister, and maybe catch a friend or two before we return home on Friday. It's a new day.