Yesterday morning was one of the longest mornings of my life. I had to take my baby to the hospital to have blood drawn and her chest x-rayed. The doctor believes her asthma is allergy related, and she wants to do the full allergy workup. Sounds simple in theory, but the hospital was crazy. It took us 45 minutes to register, and another 30 minutes of waiting for the chest x-ray. She was a champ, smiling for the "camera" while the technician took pics of her lungs. Then, we waited for over an hour for the dreaded blood draw. Nan played in the lobby, not understanding what awaited her. This was almost as painful as what was to come-- she got bored and antsy, and couldn't stop herself from touching the light installation that looked like a fountain. She ran from me when I called her, and raged at me when I dragged her back to our bench. The receptionist eventually took pity on me, and offered her a coloring book and crayons. This kept her busy for the last part of our wait. They finally called our name, and led us back to the "child friendly" draw site. There was a very nice phlebotomist awaiting us, and she immediately turned on the Curious George movie-- one of Nanny's favorites. Natalie wandered around the room, looking at the funny-looking benches, and chatting with the phlebotomist. Finally, the lady told us to sit on the bench-- I was instructed to sit on her right side, and hug her to me, effectively keeping her right arm trapped against her side. Nan cuddled against me, and listened as the phlebotomist explained what she was doing. She was fine until the needle actually went in her arm. There was a silence as Nan sucked in all the air in the room, and then she screamed, "OW, OW, OWWWWWWWIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And the sobbing commenced. She wiggled, and tried to slide off the bench. I rocked her and tried not to cry myself. They had to take THREE VIALS of my baby's blood-- the needle looked ENORMOUS in her tiny arm. When it was finally finished, she wept as the nurse put the bandaid on her arm, and she cried all the way down the hall. Grandpa had slipped me a ten the night before, telling me to buy her something at the giftshop after the tests were completed. Through her tears, she chose a little black and white stuffed kitty, and snuffled out to the car. Minutes after we left the hospital parking lot, she was passed out cold in the back seat, clutching her teddy and her new kitty. I'd promised McDonald's for lunch as the lady took her blood, so I swung through the drive-thru and got her a happy meal. She woke up crying, and ate her fries as she wept. She was ready for her nap after a few fries, and she slept like a rock. The doctor's office called in the afternoon, and told me that her lungs looked "streaky", indicating the croup. The doctor called in a steroid, and we're hoping the nonstop coughing will come to an end someday soon.