About a week after the spaghetti incident another saga in Sydney's short life was about to unfold. My wife and I had endured yet another messy one year old / two year old supperfest and were moving on to the bathfest phase of the night. We were going to give the kids a bath together, as we often did.
My wife set about stripping the kids of their food slimed clothes as I drew the bath water and got the towels and wash clothes at the ready. Syd was down to her diaper and sitting on the floor when she suddenly fell backward and hit her head; thunk. It was no harder than any of a hundred other spills I had seen my children take; or other children for that matter. My wife quickly scooped her up to calm the ensuing cries.
The cries commenced, but were soon replaced with that nauseating stare from a week ago. We immediately ushered both children out of the bathroom and set about covering Sydney with blankets to keep her warm as the staring continued. After a quick frantic call to the in-laws (who live close by) a call to 911 was deemed necessary and made. In short order the neighbor with child care/seizure experience was called upon again while I went to her house to keep an eye on her children.
I paced the floor while talking to the neighbor's kids; more to keep myself calm than anything. Time swirled into a sea of dizzying proportions leaving me stranded in the rip-tide of unknown minutes passing by..... the ambulance was finally there.
Before I knew it I was once again in the minivan tailing the ambulance like Earnhardt and Stewart bump drafting at Daytona. We arrived at the ER, were whisked into a waiting room, and....... waited. Waited, while they worked on our daughter for what seemed like hours. Finally, they said we could come in and see her.
The site that was to meet us was not an easy one. It is never easy seeing your child in a medically induced coma being bagged to keep up her breathing. We stood there, uneasy in our uncertainty as to what would happen next. As we live in a very rural area the medical facilities are by no means "state-of-the-art". The ER was ill-equipped for a pediatric patient in such a state, so a life flight to a much larger hospital in a much larger city was arranged.
It took the life flight helicopter about a half hour to get there, the whole time our baby girl breathing with the aid of what would later become known to us as an ambu bag. The life flight crew made short work of "stabilizing" her for the first flight of her life and they were off. As they departed the crew uttered some encouraging words and gave us directions to get to the hospital they were taking her to. In the helicopter it would take about 20 minutes to get there, by car it would take us 2 hours. Two of the most grueling, heart-wrenching, worry-filled hours ensued; all the time not knowing what sights would meet us at the other end of our ride.......
know most people complain about driving in these conditions. However, I have never really had much of a problem with winter driving accept in the most exteme of conditions. In fact, I quite enjoy it. I think where most people go wrong is in panicking. If you start to slide you can't just correct yourself like you are on dry roads. Yes, you may be staring the ditch down, but if you crank that wheel like a kid pulling taffy that is where you will end up anyways. Winter driving is all about slight movements and minor corrections. Yes, the snow/slush/sleet is going to move you around and throw you out of your lane. You can't expect to go as fast as on dry roads either. But, with the right amount of caution (especially towards "the other guy") a winter ride can be quite fun. 
