Today we had to take Avery to the children’s hospital to get blood drawn. She recently had a severe allergic reaction and we are needing to find out exactly what she is allergic to. The allergy specialist didn’t have all the right tests on hand so she first prescribed Avery with an EpiPen and then sent us to the children’s hospital lab. When we got there I instantly thought of all of the kids that had been in through the same doors with something much more severe than Avery had. We waited for them to register us, Avery was given a free stuffed animal from the hospital and then we went back to get Avery’s blood drawn. I was so worried that she was going to freak out especially because the person taking the blood was a guy and she usually hates guys. When we sat down she started to get upset but we were distracting her with stickers. We did tell her that it was going to hurt a little bit but that it would be over soon. The guy was having a hard time finding a vein so he tried the other arm. Avery was keeping an eye on the guy and it looked as if she was studying him. She began to get a little upset but still willingly put out her arm so that he could find a vein. I talked Avery through the whole thing and held her close in my arms. I wanted her to know that I will always be right there for her and help her through things that aren’t fun to go through. She was so calm during the whole thing and he was able to get 3 vials of blood in no time. I had never seen Avery be that calm in a doctors office especially when there was a needle involved. As we were walking out she said thank you to the guy and we headed home. Avery completely amazed me today. She was so brave and took things like a pro! I usually get nervous at the doctors when she is hurting because I want to make it stop but this time it’s like she helped me stay calm. She showed me how grown up she was and how she understood what needed to be done. This was so that we could find out what food she is allergic to and keep it far away from her. Leaving the hospital I was thinking about the other moms that take their kids into the same hospital but with diseases, life-threatening illnesses or even cancer. I couldn’t bare to think about if that was Avery. I don’t know that I could be as strong as I would hope to be in those situations. My heart goes out to all of those moms going through any tough health situation with their child. As moms we want to keep them from everything bad and something like that isn’t something you can take away. I want to make it a priority to pray for those moms. They have an enormous amount of strength! I am very thankful for my daughters health and I never want to take that for granted. I want to make sure I treasure every day to the fullest no matter what seems to happen. I am thankful that even though the situation with Avery is serious, it’s a lot better than what it could be. My little girl showed me what a big girl she was today!