We'll learn something with this post. Our software has changed so that, perhaps, the problem we were having where subscribers received in email the most recent post AND the one before that (even though they had already received it once) may have gone away.

Mainly: Here's the brief version: we went to Gallatin over the weekend for a memorial service for Zach's dad, and Hannah wound up in Vanderbilt Hospital.

Unrelated info, but an opportune time to mention it: Hannah turned one year old on May 6. We "celebrated" very quietly at home. She is not old enough to recognize any hoopla, certainly not to realize it has to do with her, so we will wait until next year to have a fancy birthday cake for her to muck around it (one of the rites of passage of American childhood).

Here's the longer version: Thursday we drove to Gallatin to get ready for the memorial service on Friday. It's about a three-hour trip, so we weren't surprised that Hannah was a bit lethargic when we arrived. She also had a fever--but she often gets those when she's stressed, and it clears up quickly. She was coughing more than usual, but again, not unusual after being confined to her car seat for so long.

We had picked up a new suction machine on the way out of town on the recommendation of our physical therapist and our doctor, so we used that quite a bit Thursday night.

Friday morning Hannah had an even higher fever (got to over 103 degrees at one point), so after a phone consultation with Dr. Fox we took her to Sumner Regional Medical Center, the hospital in Gallatin. They took good care of us, but they obviously weren't really set up to handle little folks. They took chest X-rays, along with blood tests, and confirmed that Hannah had pneumonia. It was relatively little, involving a relatively small part of a lung, so we had "caught" it early. They gave her some antibiotic through an IV (she's already had more IVs than Dad has had his whole life), and called an ambulance to take her to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital (because they're a teaching hospital that specializes in children, and therefore more likely to be familiar with chromosome disorders). So she has had her first ambulance ride (something neither of her parents has ever done as the guest of honor).

The Vanderbilt folks were just wonderful. She went straight into a well-furnished and well-supplied ER room with lots of attention from two nurses and two doctors. She was transferred upstairs to a beautiful private room that was more like an apartment than a hospital room. The new children's hospital has only been open since January, and compared to the physical setting we were used to at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, it was luxurious. (ETCH is going through a renovation and expansion, and we hope it turns out similar to Vandy's.)

The quality of care rivaled ETCH's also, so we feel fortunate that Hannah has had excellent care at two children's hospitals. The doctors and nurses took great care of Hannah, and equally great care of Dad, who stayed with Hannah, making sure he was kept up to date, and that his food and personal care needs were taken care of. (Since we went to ER at Sumner and then straight to Vandy, Dad had no chance to go to the motel room and get his overnight stuff.)

Janet went with Zach to his dad's memorial service, which was stressful on both of them, but it sounds like Craig had a beautiful service, and Zach did well. Despite the circumstances, it was good to visit with Craig's cousin Pat and her husband Tom as we cemented one of those odd relationships that characterize 21st century families. When we got home, we planted a tree in Craig's honor. Janet will tell you a bit more about that.

Anyway, Hannah got several doses of IV antibiotic, and then on Saturday they told us that she was stable enough that she could go home and us continue treatment with oral antibiotics.

The trip home was a bit hard on her, but she did well, and is getting several days of at-home pampering. As I write this, she is sleeping. When she sleeps, she breathes so comfortably and quietly. When she wakes, she coughs up a lot of stuff that we suction out--nasty sounding, but actually progress because she is getting the "stuff" out of her lungs.

Taking care of her has taken almost every waking minute since Thursday, but overall she has been so sweet about it. Of course, the antibiotics cause diarrhea, so just the "normal" care is taking a lot more time. But she continues to progress despite all this. For instance, on the way home she grabbed the tube that comes from her feeding bag several times (no danger of pulling it out--it was the end that comes out of the bag) and tugged around on it like it was a little balloon. She was obviously doing it on purpose, and looking at the bag as she jerked it around. Her "piano playing" continues to get more purposive also, as she pushes the button on her little five-button keyboard that hangs in her crib. With good support from our "team" and her own resiliency, Hannah is overcoming her challenges, and we are very grateful for all of it.