Skip to main content

The Little Yellow Helicopter

I ran some errands on Friday after I got off of work because I had a little time before I had to pick Caleb up from  MMO.  We needed some things at the grocery store and I had to pick up four more of the never-ending prescriptions from two different pharmacies.  (Why, yes, it is that complicated!)

While I was driving, I saw a little yellow helicopter lift off from the hospital, rise above into the sky above me, and take off toward Baltimore.

My little yellow helicopter.

Just like that, a flood of emotions came pouring back into my head.  I remembered that night so vividly:  the painful contractions that wouldn't stop, despite the heavy medications; the roar of the helicopter engine as it sputtered to life; the naive, excited squeals of a three year old boy who had no idea how much his life was about to change; the fear that gripped me during that 20 minute ride that seemed to take 20 hours; the calmness of the very capable flight nurse; the song "I Have a Maker" that I sang in my head over and over again to help sooth my nerves.

I prayed for the person in that helicopter, because I knew how emotional that flight would be.  I prayed for the family, because I've also been "the mom" in the helicopter.  There is nothing more terrifying than the helplessness you feel watching your child struggle to breathe.

I don't think I will ever be able to see a medical helicopter in the sky and have it not be an emotional experience, but seeing that little yellow helicopter brought back a whole lot of memories.

Memories that seem very distant as I sit here in a pretty purple room watching my 15 month old daughter sleep peacefully.

Comments

My 4 kids said…
I saw that same helicoptor on Friday with Anna and immediately thought of that night as we watched you take off... :)

Popular posts from this blog

Cerebrocostomandibular Syndrome

If you happen to pick up the latest Reader's Digest, there is an article in there about Piper Breinholt , a four year old with CCMS.  If you've been around here a while, you'll remember wayyyyyy back when we first received Abby's diagnosis that I was able to speak to Piper's mom, Reagan.  The article is more about their story and not as much about the ins and outs of CCMS, but I think it's probably enough to get some people googling it and I'm hoping a few will end up here. Every once in a while, I give a blog post the title of Cerebrocostomandibular Syndrome so that it would show up in Google.  My ever-present hope is that people will stumble across my blog and 1) be encouraged by the hope we have in Christ, 2) feel a connection with someone in a similar situation as them, or 3) get excited over the miracles that have been performed in Abby's life!!  (a combination of all 3 is great too!)  :)   Notice that it's not to get famous and it never wi

The Potty Man

Caleb LOVES to go potty! I have never heard a potty training story like this one....Caleb tells us when he needs to go, we take his diaper off, and he goes! Now, is it perfect? No, not at all! We aren't trying to potty train at at all, but we figure every time he goes is one less diaper we have to change! The only time we consistantly put him on the potty is when we give him a bath (he always pees in the tub, so we know he needs to go!) He almost always goes on the potty now instead of the tub though. When he's not "really" going potty, he's pretending to go potty! He's such a funny kid!

Lego Party: Favors

I'm a little slow in posting the Lego Party pictures, but I think I have a few excuses I could use.  At any rate, I wanted to share what I did for the party!  It will take a few posts, so stay with me.  I'll start with how I did the favors. These are the goody bags I made.  I just bought solid colored gift bags and matched scrapbook paper to each bag.  Then I punched circles and attached them with the 3D foam tape so that the circles were raised. I used the keychain (explained below) as a name tag on the outside. These are Duplo blocks.  I put a round magnet on the back and...voila!  A magnet!  (note:  hot glue doesn't work so well...I ended up reglueing them with my apoxy because the magnets fell off.) I made crayons using Lego man crayons.  Yes, I know this guy has lost half of his leg.  The others were already packaged and I didn't want to open one up just to get a picture.  I used a Lego mold  to make the crayons.  Caleb put small pieces of crayon in each m