The Emergency Room

All things considered, the root of the problem is daycare. Where else are so many germs spread with such ruthless efficiency? An objective observer could reasonably conclude that the entire purpose for a daycare is to infect children, and consequently their families, with viruses they never would have had the pleasure of experiencing otherwise. It’s AWESOME…..

Emma came home with a bug about 3 to 4 weeks ago. Then, I got it and am on the tail end of a two week sickness. Now, Evan, along with my mother, are starting to act up. How do I know he’s sick, you may ask? It all started at 4 a.m. Saturday morning. Yes, 4 am. LOVE IT! I finished feeding him and was trying to help him stop coughing when he decided to vomit all over me, himself, the rocking Chair, his blanket and the carpet. Oh, did I mention it was 4 am?

He just gets into such coughing fits that he ends up throwing up. It happened again around 8 am. We called the Doctor and they told us to go to the Emergency Room at Children Hospital since they would need to take x-rays of his chest to look for pneumonia, which for now, he does not have. After a 3 hour stay we ended up leaving with a nebulizer and albuteral (spelling???). We did his first breathing treatment in the ER and it really got him coughing…..a lot! He was much worse than before. However, once that subsided he seemed to do better. We now do the treatment every 4-5 hours. It seems to help to some degree although he is still in pretty rough shape. The treatment dilates his bronchial tubes which causes him to cough more to get the junk out. Basically, it’s a “They get worse before they get better” kind of thing.

First thing Monday morning we went to his Pediatrician for a follow up. Evan was still in about the same condition and even threw up for the Doctor and everything. How exciting. He did not have a fever and tested negative for RSV. He was a borderline case for checking into the hospital as we were concerned for his breathing and hydration. We already have oxygen for him at home so if he looks like he’s struggling we can put him on that. Other than that we are just watching him hour by hour and trying to help him keep the pedialite down so we don’t have to go to the hospital for an IV. We have given up on formula for the time being.

Ah, the joys of child rearing. You know those lists of to-do’s you make for the weekend? Yeah, I’m not sure I’ve checked one thing off all year. My life pretty much consists of going to work and trying to hold together the pieces at home. Is it bad when going to work feels like a relief?

I’ll post again when his condition changes. Let’s hope for the best!

Eric