Unfortunately, he got a lot worse last week. On Saturday and Sunday he was almost 100% fine. We went on Saturday to celebrate Luke's second birthday and on Sunday we went to watch his cousin Ben play soccer. Well, Sunday night we noticed a bit of a cough and figured he was getting yet another cold. So, we sent him to Mary's house and just had her keep an eye on him throughout the day. We got a text from her at about 1:00 that he had a temperature of a little over 100 and that it wasn't a big deal but she thought he wasn't feeling great.
When I got there at 4:30 to pick him up his cough had gotten much worse and it did sound like he was having trouble breathing again. We knew the doctor's office had said to call back if he started to have an episode like the last time, so Paul was on the phone with the doctor's office to let them know what was going on. As I put him in the carseat to drive him home I could just see how hard his poor little body was working to breathe. His cough was horrible and his breathing was all shallow and belly breathing extremely fast. I told Paul that I thought we needed to take him to the ER and he said that the doctor's office actually had just said the same thing to him on the phone.
So, I called my mom since Paul was still about 30 minutes away at work and she was going to meet me at the ER since I had both kids with me. I normally always have the umbrella stroller in the back of my car, but wouldn't it figure it's not with me this time. Also, poor Ally doesn't have shoes but I found a pair of socks in the car. And Sam since he wasn't feeling well was in pretty old comfortable clothing. And of course he had a black eye from who knows what injury that he gave himself over the weekend so I was terrified they were going to call CPS on us!
I walk in and thankfully they take breathing situations with young children very seriously. They picked him up and watched his breathing, walked him right back to check his oxygen (it was at a 94) and then get us right into a room. A nurse carried him back for me which was so helpful because there was no way I was letting Ally walk around on the ER floor without shoes.
As soon as we get into a room we had 5 people come swarming in there. I am completely freaked out at this point and thankfully Sammy is not upset because I only had two arms and Ally was in them! The nurse thought she had heard something in Sam's lungs so they were really concerned when we first got there. Thankfully after an x-ray we learned his lungs were clear but they were covering all their bases. His oxygen level was low and he was working so hard on breathing that they gave him a round of steroids and a breathing treatment. That stuff makes them so hyper it is insane. He's obviously feeling horrible but at the same time his body is on go-go-go mode and he's just bouncing in place, tossing and turning while trying to sleep, and all the while hooked up to this oxygen monitor and trapped in a bed. He was such a good sport during it all. Every time they came at him to listen to his breathing he would hold still. I'm pretty sure they all loved him there.
So, right when my mom gets there, Paul comes in as well. Mom was great and took Ally back to her house. She got her fed and taken care of so Paul and I could focus on Sam. Here's a couple of shots of him in his ER room:
Technology is a life saver sometimes. Handing over the iphone when we have nothing to entertain him with and he has to stay in bed just makes things so much easier. We had not planned on him going to the doctor's or ER so we had nothing for him. He didn't even have a cup with water or any snacks. We found 3 matchbox cars in the diaper bag which kept him entertained along with the iphone.
We had to stay through 3 breathing treatments and another round of steroids. We got the x-ray results back and were informed around 9:00 that they were going to keep him overnight. Basically his body wasn't responding fast enough to the steroid treatments and breathing treatments. His oxygen level was still in the 94/95 range and for children his age it really should only be 99/100. We met the doctor from pediatrics (who funny enough was his same doctor almost 3 years ago when he was in the NICU for jaundice) and she said that until he could handle breathing treatments every 4 hours instead of the every 2 he was currently on he would have to stay in the hospital.
We got checked in to pediatrics around 10:00 at night. This was where we had a tough decision to make. I knew that I was definitely staying over night with Sam. Paul however could go get Ally and take her home, or he could stay with us at the hospital. Ally has never had a night away from home. She wasn't doing so well at my mom's house but this was because she a) didn't have her pj's and b) we had no milk for her and she has been nursed to sleep every night of her life. We thought that we'd have Paul run home and grab pj's for Ally and he'd bring back food for us (we hadn't eaten yet at all). Then after dinner if Ally hadn't calmed down he'd take her home. Well, she ended up just needing her pj's and a sippy cup and fell asleep on mom and slept through the night. So she got her first overnight at Grandma's house. It wasn't at all how I thought the first overnight would go. I assumed she'd have both kids and Paul and I would get a night away somewhere... but I didn't think the night away would be at IU West!
The pediatric unit is amazing at IU West. They made him some mac and cheese at 10:00 since the cafeteria was closed and were constantly bringing him any food or water that he needed. He was getting his breathing treatments every two hours. At 11:00 he looked at us and asked to go to bed. The poor guy was exhausted. We had just had a treatment so we set him up in his hospital crib and he was out in no time. I however, couldn't sleep. His oxygen levels at night were staying between 89/90. Which I guess when they sleep they can go down to 88, but still, I was just so worried about him. At 1:00 am they came in to take his blood pressure and give him a breathing treatment. They tried to do it while he was sleeping and sneak open a side of the crib. Well, he woke up from a deep sleep with someone he didn't know holding a mask over his face and a blood pressure cuff on his arm and they were holding him down. He was so scared and couldn't stop crying and trying to fight them off. We finally got him to wake up enough to see remember where he was but it was horrible. He fell right back asleep. Then they came in again at 3am. I asked if I could wake him up and put him on my lap because I knew it would go better, but they said they'd see if they could do it without waking him up. Well, guess what... it didn't work, he woke up terrified again. Thankfully it only lasted a few minutes and he went back to bed. I will probably never forget his crying during that time though. You could just see him so scared and not knowing who was holding him down and trying to fight them off. I really should have stood up more for him and woken him up to hold him during the treatment. Because he woke up for the day at 6:30 and when they came in for his treatment after he was awake he was 100% calm for them again.
Around 9:00 the next morning I left to go change clothes and go check on Ally. Mom was doing fine with her so I brought a change of clothes and just said good morning to her before heading back to the hospital. His breathing was still not great so they said they wouldn't decide what to do with him until after his 1:00 treatment. They brought in a car for him to play with and that thing was great. He rode the car around all morning just as happy as can be for not being allowed out of his room. Our morning routine was pretty much breathing treatments and blood pressure checks.
By 1:00 his oxygen was back to 98/99 and we spoke with the doctor. We were basically told that he most likely will have asthma. Most kids get about 8 to 12 colds per year and those will last 3 to 5 days. With kids who get asthma from illnesses he will get at least that amount if not more and they will take 1-2 weeks to get over. And most likely this will not be our last ER trip for breathing problems. Because his breathing was still strained we were told we could stay or head home. Honestly, at that point Sammy was so stir crazy and due to the fact we live across the street from the hospital we elected to return home. We were discharged around 2:30 and I went to pick up Ally while Paul went for all of Sam's medicine. We were sent home with steroids, asthma meds, and claritin to try to help with his allergies.
So, we were home by 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday my mom kept Sam so she could keep an eye on him. On Thursday and Friday Paul worked form home with Sam. And then we hit this weekend. We have been keeping Sam inside and trying to watch movies, play trains, and read books as much as possible.
Today is Monday, so we are almost a week after the whole incident and he still has a cough and he's looking pretty pale again. So, I see another doctor's visit in our near future unfortunately.
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