Big Scare

Yesterday started as a normal day. Daniel ate well and slept well. But towards evening as usual he started getting a bit fussier. He was gassy and fussy. Then he became very hysterical, crying as he never has before. We were at a loss to know why. Was he just having trouble soiling his diaper? We put him the bath, which helped him relax. But again he cried on. This went on and off all evening, him relaxing, then screeching in pain. About midnight I decided to change his diaper- it was completely dry. He had refused to eat since seven o'clock. I decided to massage him, and noticed he had a lump on his right side. I called Janis to come look. Again we tried to help him relax in the bath. I wondered if it could be a hernia. Nothing we could do would give him any long time relief. We had prayed and we couldn't understand what to do.
Janis then called the equivalent of 911 and on hearing his symptoms they came. They said he needed to be taken to Riga (the capital) to see a specialist. We were told to gather some things and were put in the ambulance.
First they took us to the local hospital. On the way I was thinking, "Why is this happening? My little baby, who I want to protect is now being taken to a hospital. I have tried to avoid hospitals. That's why I had him at home. What is going to happen?" I had never ridden in an ambulance before, and so many fears whirled through my head.
Upon reaching the local hospital a doctor was summoned to take a look at him. This doctor looked like he had just woke up. . . He poked our baby, pushing the lump I had noticed and agreed we needed to see a specialist. But he also said it was probably a hernia.
We then waited for about 15 minutes, not knowing what we were waiting for or if anything was happening. The room was quiet, one receptionist typed on, seemingly oblivious to our being there. I thought Janis should ask what was going to happen now.
Finally another ambulance came and ushered us and our baby to Riga. I wondered which hospital we would be taken to. The streets were empty as the ambulance, with flashing lights headed to Riga. It was now about one a.m. Janis suggested I send out a message asking friends to pray. I did so and answers started coming back that they were praying. Peace again began to enter my heart. Daniel slept in Janis' arms without a peep, a good sign.
On reaching the children's hospital I felt better, knowing at least these people would know about babies. They showed us to a little area where they took Daniel's temperature. At this point I talked to my Mom and she told me that the church was informed and would be in prayer. Then the doctor came and looked at him, she poked him a bit, the lump had now become smaller. She confirmed it was a hernia, asking me what I had eaten. I was reprimanded for not observing a strict diet and we were informed that gas had irritated the hernia, pushing it outward. They did an enema, and then we were told that we can come back for an appointment to discuss a surgery in the future. He was ok to go home.
By this time he was acting like his normal self. I noticed at the time that Mom told me the church was praying he started smiling and asking to eat, a very good sign. He also wet his diaper, another sure sign he was feeling more normal. How I praised God that our little guy was ok and feeling better. Thank you Father for answering the prayers of your people.
We then had to figure out how to get home again. It was 2:40 a.m and we summoned a taxi. the only transport that was active at that early hour. So a first ever taxi ride for our little man closed the adventure of our scary day.
PS: One great thing about Latvia is that we didn't have to pay anything for these two ambulance rides and for going to see the doctor. Isn't that amazing?