I popped on quickly to see if my birthday post for Andre' ever showed up. I had written the draft on the 24th, but waited until last night to "publish post," wanting it to show up on his birthdate. Unfortunately, I found it. Blogger published it under the Sun., Feb. 24th date. So, sorry Andre' - it showed up on the wrong date. Blame my neophyte status, but know I meant for it to show up on your birthday.
I am only on for a few minutes today. The cough I mentioned turned deadly in the middle of the night. At midnight, I started running a vaporizer for my YS. At 3 a.m., I tried giving the baby a nebulizer treatment, hoping that would help him breathe easier. At 5 a.m., I realized he was really bad off because his chest was sinking in with each attempted breath. I had visions of pneumonia (see earlier post about my own experience as a toddler with pneumonia). This was my third trip to the ER in a month's time. It normally takes 30 minutes to drive there. I made it this morning in 15.
As soon as we arrived, they saw his distress and admitted him. He received a different breathing treatment, a steroid shot and a chest x-ray. They told me he has a severe case of croup and that they would observe him for an hour and then probably release him. After the hour, the doctor decided he still had sounds of stridor, and given his condition upon arrival, they admitted him to the hospital.
Thankfully, the shot seems to be clearing his airway restriction. He has been patiently trying to bide his time in that little room. The nurse told me I could take him on a walk through the halls if I wanted, but I have no desire to be near any other sick patients in the hospital, since the place is crawling with severe flu victims.
I was amazed at how timing has seemed perfect today. I placed the order for breakfast and the baby fell asleep, so I had a brief nap as well until the dr. came to inspect him. He ate breakfast and played quietly with a few toys a nurse had brought. John called to say he would come relieve me after giving my MS his lunch (ES had to go to a wrestling meet this morning at 6:00 a.m.). When YS's lunch arrived, the cleaning person did, too, so she was able to mop the floor while baby was seated on my lap eating. He played for a while longer and then I put him in the crib and turned on the TV. Just as he fell asleep, my husband called to say he was in the parking lot with MS (MS was not allowed in the hospital because of his recent viral rash and we didn't want him exposed to anything).
I'm just praying MS will take a nice nap, so I can get a bit of sleep before heading back to the hospital to spend the night with the baby. The dr. said he should be released tomorrow morning. MS is so sweet. He wrapped up a little treat he wants me to give to baby when he wakes up. Awww!
For now, I am really grateful that MS doesn't seem to be having as much difficulty with the cough. When I was hospitalized with double pneumonia at age 3, my infant sister was also in the hospital with pneumonia. I can't imagine having two small children at home and two infants in the hospital. I wonder if my parents had a sitter at the time??? Did they do this tag-team stuff and meet in hospital parking lots? I'll have to ask them some time.
2 comments:
Oh, I hope your little one feels better soon! I imagine you must be feeling stressed out. When my oldest was two he came down with pneumonia and then my youngest, at 4 months, was hostitalized with RSV that same week. I remember being so torn...I had to stay in the hospital with the baby because I was nursing, but I hated being away from the toddler since he was sick, too!
I remember a good friend told me during that difficult time that things always look better in the morning...and it was true. Every day my sons got a little healthier and things got a little better.
So, hang in there. Every day will be better.
Oh dear, I do hope he gets better and you get some rest soon... how frightening!
Post a Comment