Florida, we made it.

My Sophie always has had a knack for getting sick right when a holiday was coming, or a vacation or special day.  I don't know how she does it but it is quite amazing.  It was no different a few weeks ago when she came down with a cold and then, bam, the day before we were leaving for Florida she develops full on pneumonia.

Recuperating with Nana

I think I was in denial at first but I really did know that I had to take her in to be seen.  Her sats were really bad and her heartrate was even worse, all declining overnight.  So I took her to our local Urgent Care centre first thing in the morning.  Of course it didn't take long for them to diagnose pneumonia with the assistance of x-rays and I thought we would be on our way with some antibiotics.  The Dr. had other plans and let me know that she couldn't go home and they were ambulancing her to Children's Hospital.

Now, she wasn't looking great, but she certainly wasn't the worst I have seen her so I was taken off guard when all this started to unfold.  But it reminded me that Sophie is a complex little girl and many doctors just aren't comfortable or experienced enough with kids like her to have her in their care.

So off she went with the paramedics and I met them at Children's and we got everything sorted.  We knew the doctor that was on that day from previous visits and he got her sorted with antibiotics and other orders.  They would have kept her longer because of her heartrate (in the 150's) but they understood that we were leaving to catch a plane that night and we had a Dr. and night nursing set up for once we arrived.

Sophie did really well on the trip down south and was a real trooper.  She was sick for the majority of our 10 day trip but she was certainly able to enjoy her time in the warm weather regardless.  We had to add in a few breathing meds to help her out and she had a couple seizures but all in all she did amazing.

We had planned a trip to Universal in the middle of our Florida stay, which unfortunately wasn't great because she was so sick.  But we got through it, we had a wonderfully caring night nurse there and Sophie got to sleep in her first hotel!  All the staff at Universal were very friendly and very accommodating for us.

Lucas loved Universal, there was so much to do and see.  Of course this also meant it was very overstimulating and overwhelming for Sophie, but we did our best to make it enjoyable for her as well.  This really wasn't the best side trip for Sophie because it was just too much.  One day would have been just right for her instead of three.

Sophie loved the Dr.Seuss land and really enjoyed the show they put on.  All the characters had their photos taken with her after and were really sweet on her.  She got to ride the Suess carousel which I think she liked but it was hard to tell.  It was a lot of movement and sound for her and she was taking it all in, it may have been too overwhelming but we were just so happy we found a ride she could go on!  Sophie did not like Barney.  Enough said.

Our last day in Orlando was cold and a bit rainy so we didn't mind that that was the day we were heading out.  We had seen almost everything and had enjoyed two nice dinners by the hotel pool watching Little Rascals on the big screen one night which Lucas loved.  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was amazing along with so many other parts of the two parks.  I am glad that we were able to go and experience it all as a family!

We were happy to get back to Nana and Opa's house and relax with them.  Sophie was finally feeling well the last three days of our trip and was able to enjoy it more.  She did have another seizure the last night we were in Florida but I am sure that was just out of exhaustion by that point.

I can hardly wait until next year when we are back to paradise again.  Even though this trip had it's challenges we still had an amazing time and it sure beats being sick in -30C weather!