NOT how I saw Monday going...straight to the ER

As you know, we haven't left the house the past few days as we've been potty training.

Imagine my surprise (since there is no possibility of picking up somethingwhen you are around NO ONE, right?!) when I went to get Ryan out of bed this morning and he had a funny sounding breathing (like he needed to cough up some crap). No biggie, I continued with my morning (which thankfully had included a shower earlier). After breakfast his breathing had turned to "Darth Vader-esque" and I got concerned enough to give him a breathing treatment (albuterol). It did nothing. I called the nurse line to see if I should give him another dose, how long I should wait etc. I was holding him and she heard him breathing and said, "get him into a steamy bathroom right now, he sounds like he is in respiratory distress." So, I ran upstairs and sat in a humid bathroom (with freshly flat-ironed hair). For 55 minutes. She called every 10 minutes to listen to him breathe. Finally she said, I think you can make it here, come to the office, (as it is closer than the ER) they will be waiting on you. As I was supposed to host playgroup today, (and, had made cupcakes for a friends' birthday) as I walked downstairs, my friend and her son were there. She was sweet and offered to help, but just left. As I was pulling out of the driveway, Leigh-Ann was pulling in, she offered to keep Anna-Kate for me. Super.

When we arrived at the peds, I was highly irritated to be waiting behind 2 other people (there for well baby checks). Ryans breathing had gotten bad again and the entire office was looking at him funny...you would think other moms would have let me go ahead, alas, they did not. I tried to hurry my way through the registration process but the receptionist had her system. Fast was not part of it. I was regretting the decision not to go to the ER. The nurse called us back pretty quickly and did his oxygen levels...it was in the lower 80's so she took us back and the doctor ordered another breathing treatment (though informing me she didn't think it would help, but they didn't keep epinephrine in the office as it expired too quickly. Good to know...). Ryan got worse through the treatment. She gave him a steriod shot, called the ER and sent us on our way. By the end of the trip I was pushing 85 because I was so worried. I rolled in (and am SO thankful for complimentary valet parking in the children's emergency room!!!) and as I was registering him, the nurses were listening to him and doing preliminary stuff such that, despite the sign saying wait time to be placed in a room and seen by a doctor was 1 hour 55 minutes, we were in a room with 2 doctors and 3 nurses in under five minutes (though it scared me too). They immediately did an epinephrine breathing treatment which helped and gave him an oral steroid. His pulse/ox was up to 91 at this point. (100 is ideal, they don't like it below 95). Our nurse commented she was surprised that his pediatrician had sent him by car instead of ambulance. Super. He got so worked up (and had so much medicine at this point) that he began vomiting. I finally calmed him down.

At 1 he vomited again. (and the nurse, who informed me it was her first day) did not change the sheets. When I asked about it, she handed me a clean sheet. Thanks. Ryan fell asleep in my arms and about 15 minutes later, the nurse came in to give him another oral steroid and another breathing treatment (as his breathing was still highly labored and the strider wasn't lessening at all.) He slept on and off until about 4:30 when they moved us to a temporary pre-admittance room. They gave him graham crackers and he devoured them and a juice box of gatorade. We finally were officially admitted and moved to our permanent room at 5.

The doctor came in to talk with me and asked me a lot of questions about Ryan's medical history. When it came out that he had been intubated as an infant, the doctor was highly interested and said when he was well he needed to see a pediatric ENT regarding his airways/restrictions etc and to see if there was trauma and scarring (I guess?) from the procedures he'd had done at birth. Anyway. I also learned that there are 2 types of croup. (who knew?). There is the viral kind that you get on the heels of a cold or runny nose. Then, there is spasmodic croup. (I believe that is the word they used). Basically, he likened it to an asthma attack, something triggers it and croup is the result. It isn't viral, he isn't contagious. He is highly prone to get them, and possibly why he goes from completely fine to really bad so quickly is that he has restricted airways in the first place, coupled with the propensity to croup. Thus, (possibly) why he's had croup so much, been in the ER twice for it etc. They still aren't 100% sure.

He sounds MUCH better now. Chris took off early from work, picked up Anna-Kate and took her to ballet and then a friends' house for dinner and to play while he brought stuff to us at the hospital. I told Chris how much better Ryan sounded and he looked shocked as he didn't think he sounded amazing. It's all relative, I suppose. Anyway, it was nice to have an adult to talk to who spent more than 3 minutes talking with me. He also brought me dinner. Love my hubby. And Moe's.

I'm now typing in the dark so Ryan can sleep. He peeled of the pulse/ox thing from his toe and kept trying to pull off the sticker things off his chest (which they put on at my request so as not to wake him during the night to check vitals). sigh. Praying he is better and the doctor on call comes by early so we can go home at a decent time tomorrow.

At least our nurses are super and Ryan's dinner was good. Silver linings people, silver linings.