Owen and Emmaline caught colds almost two weeks ago, and everything was going in a typical "the kids caught a cold" way. Last Monday, Owen started running a fever so I took both in thinking we were in for ear infections. Emmaline had a nasty cough, but she checked out fine, as did Owen.
That evening, Emmaline started to run a fever, so I started her on Motrin and put her to bed. The next morning, she wouldn't stand up or even sit up in her crib and her breathing was shallow and wheezy. She was barely moving. Scary! So, I called our pediatrician around 8 am and got her in at 9. We got there, and rotten things started happening:
- They got us in and took her oxygen level, and didn't tell me what they found
- Someone told a nurse down the hall to call 911
- Two pediatricians came in with nurses and gave Emmaline a shot and put a mask over her face (I got a few more details then). There were also a lot of concerned parents in other exam rooms who curiously looked on when the stretcher and EMTs came down the hallway.
- A nurse started asking me for phone numbers because she said someone would need to come and pick up Owen because an ambulance was coming for me and Emmaline (huh?!?!) Vince was out of town and we don't have family in town, so I gave them my friend Bianca's phone number
- A nurse pulled a crying Owen out of his stroller and took him away to another room, while a stretcher came down the hall of the ped's office to get me and Emmaline
- As we left in an ambulance, Bianca was on her way to get a frightened Owen
- Emmaline was admitted to the children's ER. Since she didn't improve, they moved us to the regular ER and a nurse told me he would "be straight with me" as my child may stop breathing and they wanted the equipment around us in case she did
- Vince got on a plane as soon as he could and picked Owen up from Bianca's (she is totally amazing, I don't know what we would have done without her and her husband Adam)
- Emmaline was admitted to the Pediatric ICU, where she was put on steroids, antibiotics, breathing treatments, got an IV and little tubes in her nose and got her blood drawn.
- She was there for two nights, and then was moved to the Children's Hospital wing on Thursday
- Vince and I traded nights with Emmaline. She was terrified and scared, since nurses came in all night long to give her breathing treatments, take blood, etc. My mom stayed for one night to help out with Owen since he wasn't allowed in the PICU, which was a lifesaver.
- We were discharged Friday
Yuck, yuck, YUCK! And, her diagnosis? She had caught a cold!!! A cold that had turned into a respiratory infection. Her diagnosis was a strain of the Rhino Virus (a cold) that she could have caught anywhere, and though Owen and Vince had it too, she just responded in a much worse way. So frustrating, I was up all night in the hospital wondering where it would ever be safe to take her again. The doctors and nurses were wonderful though, and said she would be okay, and with the right medications and preventatives, this should never happen again.
So, she has two inhalers she will be taking for a while. I'm so, so thankful that her recovery, according to the hospital staff, was remarkably quick and she made such a speedy recovery.
Thank you thank you to everyone who helped us out and for your thoughts, messages of support and prayers. I just pray that's the last of hospitals for a while!
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