Adventures with baby

David's dad started getting a cough while he has been here. It was getting worse as the days went on and Robitussin wasn't helping. So it was decided he needed to see a doctor.

He called his insurance company on Tuesday to find out what doctor he could go see. He got names of some doctors in the town we live in, but we don't know anything about those doctors. He found out from the same person that he could see our primary care doctor in Chantilly. So we made an appointment for Wednesday morning. However, when we got there they indicated they do not take his insurance because it's an HMO.

So Jim called the insurance company back to find out what happened and to get the name of another doctor. Turns out he could only go to an urgent care center or emergency room. We needed lunch and I had a beauty appointment in Reston, so we had Chick Fil A in the car and then went to Christie Adam for my appointment. Then we went to the urgent care in Fairfax.

Rachel needed to eat and be changed, so I stayed in the car with her to do that while Jim and Diane went in to the urgent care. I had come prepared with a stocked diaper bag with one bottle of formula since we were only supposed to be out for a few hours. But again, they didn't take his insurance so they were in and out in 15 minutes. Frustrating since the names were given to us by the insurance company referral line.

So off we went to Inova Fairfax Hospital - the place of Rachel's birth. Jim registered and within 20 minutes was taken back - that was at 305PM. 415PM comes and Diane comes out with an update - they are doing an EKG and bloodwork. It would be at least another hour. I was starving so I got a Snickers bar. At 5PM Rachel started to get fussy, so I walked around the emergency room with her in the stroller. Keep in mind that I had only packed one bottle of formula since we only had a few errands on our agenda, and should have only been gone a few hours.

The walking only lasted so long. Diane had come out around 515PM to give me an update so she got some formula from one of the nurses. It is the same formula Rachel has anyway, since she started on it in the hospital when she was born. The update from Diane was that the bloodwork wasn't completed yet, they had given Jim a breathing treatment and were going to do an Xray. So it would be a while longer. I was trying to reach David, but kept getting his voicemail. So I fed Rachel and changed her in the waiting room bathroom. And we continued to wait.

I heard from David around 615PM and he was on his way to the hospital to meet me. He needed to go back to his office to drop off a coworker who had been out with him for the day. His dad was still being seen by the doctor and waiting for results. When David got there around 7PM he bought me some water and peanut butter crackers because I was getting grouchy from not eating!

At 730PM we could finally leave. Jim got the CD of his Xrays to bring to his doctor in Texas. His hospital diagnosis - cough! They told him to schedule an appointment with his own doctor when he returned to Houston. Before we left I asked Diane to score some more formula just in case.

We were supposed to make tacos at home, but since we wouldn't get home until close to 830PM, we went out to eat at Chevy's. Not that great, but at that point it was food!

We went across the street to CVS to get Jim's prescription filled. Jim decided that he would wear a mask for the rest of the week so he didn't cough on Rachel. So we bought those at CVS also. For the rest of the week we joked that Rachel would not recognize her grandpa unless he had his mask on, so we took a picture that we could show her!

What a day - I tried some new things and realized I need to have extra formula in case of emergency. I had never changed Rachel in the car or a public bathroom until yesterday and I had never fed her in the car either. So we learned a lot - it's good to learn something new everyday even if it can be a challenge!