Collin started running a low grade fever on Monday, a week and a half ago. On and off, but nothing to write home about, and no other symptoms. On Wednesday, he started "barking".... he had Croup! For those without this lovely experience, Croup is caused by many viruses and is know for causing difficulty breathing and a cough that sounds like a seal.
I tried to keep the boys separated; but wouldn't you know that this would be the only time Collin was seriously interested in his baby brother. I did my best. I failed.
On Friday I heard Ethan cough, and I had two seals on my hands. By Saturday, Collin was much better, and Ethan was sick. By Sunday he was good and sick. Monday he was very sick. Before you ask: no, I didn't take him to the doctor. Why? Because really the only thing to do for Croup is steam, tea, hydrate, and wait. And he had just cut a tooth and had another one coming. These two things together worked against me as I knew the symptoms and their origins and the ony remedy was time. I hate waiting!
Tuesday was more of the same with Ethan very sick and me trying to keep him calm, the more they fuss and get excited, the more the airways swell up. And Tuesday night is where the story gets interesting.
Ethan was sleeping when I went to check on him before bed. He was bad. He was really bad. I was afraid that if I went to bed, he would stop breathing. Off to the ER we went and Tony stayed home with a sleeping Collin.
Either the ER was super slow, or we got triaged as high priority; because we went straight in. Ethan's airway was so strangled that his neck bulged and his ribs sucked in with every single breath. The ER gave him a breathing treatment... no help. Steroids... nothing. They decided to do an IV, but he was dehydrated and they had a hard time finding a vein. The first nurse was searching and searching, and Ethan was angry and protesting about the turniquette and being rubbed and held onto. She left and he stopped crying. He was passed out in less than 30 seconds! It was 1:00 am, after all, and he was exhausted. Another nurse came in, another arm band, and he didn't notice. Then armband was moved to the other arm. He didn't flinch. An IV is attempted, twice, and he barely stirs. At this point, I'm freaking out. My kid is a super light sleeper and this is not normal.
He is immediately whisked (actual running was involved) into another room followed by lots of medical personnel and I'm told to wait in a parent's room while they put an IV in his shin bone. Not happy! There are acronyms flying around and they all disappear. I start making frantic phone calls to the husband to keep him updated. What feels like forever later they come in to tell me he may need to be intubated to help him breath, but they don't want to do it there. The procedure involves paralyzingly the throat muscles to intubate, and they were worried his throat would close completely. They decide to stabilize his vitals and medi-flight him to Oakland Children's Hospital. More frantic phone calls to the hubby with updates, and calls to nearby friends and family to come stay with Collin so Tony can meet us in Oakland. We're in limbo waiting to make sure Ethan is stable and that Oakland has a room for him in PICU, the Pediactric ICU. Not only is he being flow , but he's going to the ICU! I'm trying to stay calm for Ethan, but I'm bawling as I snuggle him and hold a breathing treatment tube to his face. It feels like hours.
My baby has to be medi-flighted, and there isn't room for me, so he's going alone. The helicopter medics are just about to take Ethan and I'm really panicking, and all of the sudden Tony walks in. My dad brought him, so that I wouldn't be alone. My dad is going to drive us, we drop my car off at home at take off.
When we get to Oakland, we find the PICU and have to wait some more
while they do another IV. More forever seconds. When we finally get to go in, he looks pitiful.
They want to keep him at least 24 hours to see how he does after they gave him an epinephrine breathing treatment. He looks pitiful, but he's actually doing much better. By Wednesday at noon, I've been up for 30 hours and I can't see straight.
We head home and hit the chiropractor to undo the hospital chair damage. We haven't eaten, so we stop at Chipotle. It been a while since I've showered, time to get clean. It's now three in the afternoon, and I'm tired! But if I go sleep now, I'll be up at midnight, not an option. If I relax, I'll pass out; still no good. I decide to follow my original plans for today: baking! I end up making two pumpkin pies, two Apple cranberry, two french silk (chocolate) pies, and some cranberry sauce. It was so much easier without my usual suex chef, and tony was a very helpful stand-in.
Thursday morning is Thanksgiving, and I'm up by five. Throw pies, and all manner of dinner ingredients I had promised in the car, drop it off on mom and dad's porch and take off. We miss Collin terribly, we haven't seen him since Tuesday at bedtime, but seeing or talking to him would only upset him; so we take off for Oakland. Ethan has been moved out of PICU and into the Pediactrics isolatoo nursery. I stop at PICU, find his nurses from yesterday, and say thank you. I really mean it, I brought pie and a thank you note; and though I tried not to, I cried like a baby. They are awesome and I am forever grateful!
Upstairs I give them their other pie we had brought and go did my baby. He's sleeping, but he sounds much better! But he had more epinephrine over the might and in the morning, so he's not coming home today. We spend a long day by his bedside while he sleeps. He wakes occasionally and we snuggle and love on him and he actually eats and nurses some. He's feeling better and getting really bored. Thankfully, Papa stopped at the gift shop the day before and brought him a stuffed tiger, and the medi-flight crew gave him a stuffediniaturenof their helicopter. I hate to find out how much that little toy is gonna cost.
We are missing Collin terribly, and decide to head back to my parent's to see him. It's a happy coincidence that most of the family is gathered and it's still before dinner, and we show up unannounced to surprise everyone. Collin is glued to us, we hadn't seen him in two days and me missed him.
Friday Tony has to go to work. It's Vhristmas season for UPS, and he's already missed one day. Plus, Ethan is supposed to come home today. Collin and I go back to my parent's. He stays with Papa, and Nana and I go to Oakland. The attending had promised to make us his first stop so we could go home early, except Ethan had more Epi at midnight. He wants to watch him until lunchtime. Boo! He is playful and wiggly, and super bored with his surroundings. He nurses, inhales baby food and water, and is almost back to his old self. Just before eleven the attending comes back. "You want to go home?" Here's your sign! We're going home!
On the way back we stopped to see daddy. They we so happy to see each other, it was sweet. Daddy got home early that night; and for the first time in three days were we're all home together. The whole experience feels surreal and we're so glad it's over!
A note about Oakland Children's. Note that I want my child to be in the hospital again; but if they have to, this is where I want them. Imagine the best nurse you've ever met in your entire life. That's the entire hospital! Everybody treated him like their own, took care of Tony and I, and totally went above and beyond. Even the nurses who saw me standing alone in a hall stopped to ask me if I needed help. They made the world of difference, and it is sincerely appreciated.
I think we need a vacation!
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