ER Trip #2...

ER trip #2 in 48 Hours...

So Monday night, Alexander started off in his crib but by 1am, he was in with Mommy. But I could tell he had a fever because with him lying on me, neither of us needed a blanket. While he was breathing better than Saturday night, he still was having moments where he would gasp. So I figured it probably best to bring him back to the ER to get him checked out, another stronger nebulizer & potentially see if he needed another steroid treatment.

We got to the ER and thankfully it was empty again. The triage nurse was definitely not nearly as nice as the one from Sunday. First she went to take his temperature and when I suggested I hold him down, she didn't listen, moved his diaper and pretty much did it the most uncomfortable way possible. His temp was 103* and looked at me glaringly and said "did you know his temp was this high?" I said 'yes, that's part of why I'm here'. She was not nice by any means. In fact, I actually made a snide comment to her as she was gripping my son's head like a vice when I was giving him the Tylenol. I told her I would give it to him and if she didn't grip his head, he'll take it but she just grabbed it. She takes the Tylenol from me and puts it in his mouth. After she's done, she turns on her 'nice' voice and says "all better" to which I replied "he would have been much better had you not squeezed his head like a vice". She just walked off. We got into an exam room and the nurses there were so much nicer than the triage nurse. They checked him out, and the doctor came in soon there after. He explained that he read the notes from Sunday and what he was planning to do.

He wanted to give him epinephrine, another steroid (a stronger one), some chest x-rays to check for pneumonia, and do some blood tests to check for other things. He also noticed that he was on the dehyrdated side and since they were going to draw blood, he'd give him an IV to help with fluids. He apologized and told us that we would probably be there longer than we were there on Sunday but he wanted to rule out everything. Which I completely understood & was appreciative for.

They put the numbing patch on his arm and then we did the nebulizer/steroid treatment. After that, we headed down to x-rays. They had this little high-chair contraption that they wanted me to put him in. I put him in and then the technician moved the sides in which hold up his arms up into the air. The poor kid looked up at me so sad & nervous. But on the plus side, the contraption kept him from moving so she was able to get the xrays done in one shot.

After x-rays, we went back to the exam room to draw blood & start the IV. I had Dan leave the room since he is not good with needles. In fact, Dan's face turned pale at the mention of needles by the doctor. Although Alexander cried & was miserable as the nurses/technicians were doing the IVs & drawing blood, he did lie there without kicking & screaming which did make it easier. But the poor kid laid there, crying & looking at me saying "Momma home". Damn near broke my heart.

After a few hours of IV, the pediatrician came in to check him out. He told us that the xrays & blood work all came back fine. He has a croup (viral infection) which now seems to have run into another virul infection (cold) but they will run its course & he'll be fine. He also said that the steroid given to him today will definitely help keep the airways open which will help with the breathing. He then said that we would be able to go home and not have to be admitted. (THANK God!)

Here's a picture of poor Alexander with his IV soon after he woke up from a nap in the exam room.


After we were discharged, I took Alexander home and he immediately had a meltdown. He didn't want to wear a diaper but because of the IV he was filling up diapers quickly. He was not happy with him for forcing a diaper but I was not going to spend the afternoon cleaning up pee/water.

Thankfully he took a nap for 2 hours but woke up just as cranky. So I tried to keep the rest of the afternoon as lowkey as possible. He whined for Daddy during the afternoon but when Daddy came home he still only wanted to cuddle on my shoulder. Thankfully, he slept the whole night & in his crib. Let's hope he's on the mend now...

Trip to the ER...

We made our first trip to the ER during the wee hours of the morning. I'm sure it won't be the last either.

Alexander was wheezing pretty bad during the day and overnight, to the point where he was having troubles breathing a few times at night. He went to bed in his crib originally but woke up 20 minutes later because he couldn't breath. Then he slept with Mommy all night, did I found that he did best downstairs with fan and not upstairs with the AC. That made his breathing much more labored.

He had two bad episodes at 11p & 4am and just when I was ready to get in the car, he calms down immediately as if he knew and then was able to fall asleep. Finally at 5am I decide he needs to get more treatment regardless if he's calm and breathing 'ok'. We head to the hospital and check in at 6am. We picked the best time, there was only one other person in front of us so no waiting at all. The Triage nurse very sweet, and considerate with Alexander. She kept asking if Monkey felt sick too. She tried to weigh him but had to use the infant scale which said 12.1 kg (24.2 lbs which seems super low to me). Then she had to take his temp rectally which made Alexander very unhappy. His temp was 102*.

She brought us to an exam room immediately by 6:15am. We had the Doctor come in, check him out, explain what she wanted to do and we had a nebulizer treatment by 6:30am. They were great about him not feeling good. At about 7am, the new nurse came in to give steriod of prednisolone to help open the airwaves. As part of the plan, they wanted us to wait 4 hours to allow them to monitor breathing which didn't help the long evening feel. Between the steriod and the cool mist we were giving him, it allowed him to sleep a bit, which he needed since he only got small little chunks during the night.

He slept for about 2 1/2 hours and with some minor wake-up moments. He did start to sound abit croup-y again so we continued the cool mist while he slept. Then he was examined by on-staff pediatrician. Pediatrican agreed with other dr that it was croup and that we were doing the right stuff to help alleviate him. He told us to continue nebulizer treatments when needed, keep him in cool settings and mix up the temps if needed. If his breathing gets SUPER labored to bring him back in but that it will run it's course.

He had to have his temp checked again (poor guy) and it was now 99* and so we were discharged and sent home. Overall it was a very very long night/morning, but we got there at 6am, and left at 10:45am...and everyone was super nice & helpful considering he was 2 1/2 and felt like crap.

Calm Before the Storm...

Here is a picture of Alexander waiting patiently in the ER. This was one of the few moments where he was not bawling his eyes out. I'm sorry for the lack of details but will be posting the whole story later tonight once I get home.

Long story, short: he fell at school, was in a lot of pain, went to the doctor, then to the ER. Got X-rays, nothing broken, just a sad, sore little boy.