Monday Nathan started with a nasty cough, one that Taneal and Camie had. The fever started in and he completely lost his voice. He couldn't cry! He wasn't too miserable. Well, Thursday he still had the fever, and I thought about taking him into the doctor, he wasn't eating too well, but I didn't. He had his voice back so I thought he was getting better. Friday morning he hadn't eaten at all since Thursday morning, he had only one wet diaper, so I decided it was time to take him in. I had a mid morning appointment. I was just concerned that he wasn't eating. He had a double ear infection. The doctor listened to his lungs and decided to check his oxygen levels and give him a breathing treatment. She still didn't like the oxygen levels so she had him get another breathing treatment. They checked his oxygen levels again and the levels just kept dropping. She came in and calmly sat down and said that Nathan needed to go to the hospital. I said okay. She then said he needed to go by ambulance downtown to the children's hospital. I asked if I could just take him, was an ambulance really necessary? After all, I was just there because he wasn't eating. She said that it was very necessary, that the ambulance would be there in five minutes. Right then they brought in the oxygen and put the mask on Nathan. A few minutes later they strapped his car seat to the ambulance bed and we left the doctor's office in an ambulance.
So, what I then found out from the EMT was what the oxygen levels meant. 95-100 is normal, okay. 91-94 is not good, they need oxygen. Anything below 91 is very scary. Nathan was fluctuating between 81 and 92. No wonder we were in the ambulance heading to the children's hospital. I think we could have gone somewhere else, but with Nathan being only 3 months, that was where he needed to be. While on oxygen his levels were at 100. Very good. The EMT took the mask off Nathan to see what he would do and he immediately started dropping until at 88 she put the oxygen mask back on him.
As soon as we walked in the doors of the children's hospital, they took his temperature and gave him Tylenol. They walked us back to a room and started monitoring him. And everything was fine! They couldn't hear anything in his lungs, he finally ate (it had been over 24 hours), and he kept his oxygen levels at 94+ all on his own. I asked the doctor at the hospital what changed, and she said she didn't know. So, around 5pm we went home. Evan dropped the kids off at his brother's house and headed downtown to get us. Nathan slept until we got home and ate very well again.
The doctor at the hospital told me what to watch for, I was concerned that they hadn't done anything and that Nathan was suddenly better. I do believe in miracles, but I also wanted to be prepared just in case he started having a hard time breathing. What scared me then was that I hadn't even realized he was having a problem when I took him into the doctor. The emergency room doctor told me to watch his chest, if there was a sunken-in appearance at the bottom of his rib cage before his belly. Also, if his nostrils were flaring as he breathed and if his breathing was quick.
Yesterday around 2pm I had just given him a bath and was rubbing lotion on his chest when I realized his chest was sunken in. His breathing was fast and his nostrils were flaring. Yep, I took him back to the hospital, just a closer one. There was no waiting, I bypassed everyone in the waiting room. They checked his oxygen levels and immediately took us back and stared a breathing treatment. He was at 89 and 90. They did a chest x-ray, checked him for RSV and the flu (both negative) and then gave him some oral steroids, which he threw up. He has bronchialitis (not bronchitis, but similar). The problem being that he is so little. It caused his airways to swell and then covered with mucus wasn't allowing much air in. They gave him a shot of steroids since he threw up the oral ones, and sent us home.
Last night was a rough one. I had to give him several breathing treatments which seemed to help him breathe better. I had to keep him "sucked out" with the bulb syringe, which he HATED! He is upstairs sleeping right now. Hopefully the steroids work and keep him breathing well. Poor little guy. Hopefully we are in the up-hill to recovery.
8 comments:
Austin had that bronchilolties (spelling?) when he was 10 months old. We had to delay one of his surgeries due to it. HE was on breathing treatments...abuteral for a week. But he was all better and had surgery 3 weeks after it all started.
I hope he gets better soon. Call is you need anything
that is a horrible story! how scary! i am so sorry you had to go through that. i hope he is getting better soon!
It is scary when the little ones get sick like that. So glad you were in the right places at the right times for little Nathan. Call me if you need to drop off the kids in a hurry. Hope he gets better quickly and that you can get some rest too.
I'm so sorry! Thats so scary, especially for it to be happening so quickly. I'm glad he seems to be doing okay, let me know if I can do ANYTHING! We're thinking about you.
Oh no! Poor little thing. I hope he battles this illness quickly..how scary!
Trials certainly seem to come in groups don't they. I will keep your family in my prayers. I hope that Nathan will be better soon!
Oh my heart aches for the little man! I hope he gets better and that you all can rest soon - he'll be in my prayers!
Brayden had that a couple of times and it is scary. He started wheezing and breathing heavy so I took him in. They had us use a nebulizer in the office and we're now the owners of one. He got it a couple of times by the age of 1.
Anytime he had a cold that involved mucus, he got congested and couldn't shake it. I think he's past all that now.
It's rough when they're so little and get so sick. I'm so grateful for modern medicine.
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