16/05/2026
The ER… the place we all hate but hate to admit we know too well.
Every single time before I dial 911 and grab my hospital bags … I cry…. Because for most people it’s a “quick trip” to the ER… but for us it’s never quick. It’s usually a week to a month of our life.
Most of the time we arrive between 1–3 AM exhausted before we even walk through the doors. I answer the same questions over and over again while barely keeping my eyes open.
“What brought you in tonight?”
“When did the fever start?”
“Has she been vomiting?”
I literally already told the doctor, Then shift change happens and now I’m repeating myself again.. My eyes are bloodshot red, my brain is foggy and I’m trying to stay awake while my oldest daughter sleeps curled up in a chair beside me.
Then another nurse walks in.
More questionss
“She started a fever yesterday. I had it under control… then in the middle of the night she started vomiting”
And silently in my head I’m thinking why the FCK can’t they just write this down and pass the information on ???
I look over at both of my girls completely drained. Ny’eema is uncomfortable and exhausted. Ny’anna is tired of being poked over and over again!
Eventually we get maybe an hour of sleep before they wake us up again to move us upstairs. It’s 4:45 in the morning & my feet are dragging through the halls as we head from the ER to the NICU. I’m exhausted, my kids exhausted. but also relieved because at least there’s a little more space upstairs. Still I already know it’ll be another hour before I can actually rest.
Then the doctor comes in and asks the same questions all over again.
Then the nurse comes in.
Again. And Again!
By that point I don’t even know what answers I’m giving anymore because my body and mind are completely running on empty.
The scariest part is how normal this life starts to feel.
ER trips are hard.
Not just physically but emotionally.
The fear, the exhaustion, the waiting the repeating the uncertainty… it all takes a piece out of you every single time.
- Vitals & Valor