Austin goes to ER (21.5 months and 11 weeks)

Austin has had a rough time recently.  First he ended up getting a splinter while playing outside.  He was helping us pick up sticks.  We think he may have gotten the splinter from that.  We noticed when he got inside and it was bothering him.  It was in pretty deep and had broken off, so Brian had to dig to get it out.  It also kept breaking so he had to take it out in 3-4 pieces.  Fortunately we bought a pain reliever spray and put it on his hand to numb it and that worked.  This combined with having him play with his electronic computer, watch bus videos on the kindle, and play the bus episode of Mega Machines on the TV, kept him distracted enough to let Brian work.  Fortunately he got it out, but it was a bit of an ordeal nonetheless. 

On Tuesday, I went to work like usual.  I received a call from daycare that a kid bit Austin.  This is not the first time this has occurred.  The daycare is working with the child and parents to hopefully stop this behavior.  I came home Tuesday and cooked dinner really fast and went to pick up the kids.  I really like having the daycare so close to home.  On work days, I usually come home for 15 minutes and get dinner and lunches ready then go pick up Austin and Sydney.  This way when we get home everything is done and I can spend time with the kids.  Everyone is happier this way.

When I picked up Austin the teacher told me that Austin fell asleep during morning snack.  Austin never falls asleep during the middle of activities.  He sleeps well at night and during naps but that is it.  I can't get him to relax on the couch for anything.  He is always on the go.  Falling asleep during lunch is way out of the norm for him.  Also right before I picked him up he had vomited.  Austin looked like he had been crying too. Yet somehow none of this was mentioned and they only called to tell me about the bite.  His change in behavior is obviously much more concerning.  I loaded them up in the car and we came home.

Once I carried everything in the house, Austin and I were in the kitchen.  Austin went over by the refrigerator leaning on it and was having a hard time breathing.  He was wheezing and just did not look right.  I called Brian but he did not answer.  I called my parents and asked them to come up to watch Sydney.  I waited another minute or two and realized something was definitely wrong with Austin so we were going to urgent care.  I packed everyone back up and off the urgent care we went.  I sent Brian a text message letting him know.

On the way to urgent care, Brian called me and I told him what was going on.  He drove straight there to meet us.  I called my parents and also told them to meet me there.  I was not waiting at home for anyone to arrive.  Luckily Sydney was sleeping so she is very easy to transport when she is sleeping.  Once we got to urgent care I checked in and they brought us back quickly.  As soon as we went back Brian got there.  They checked Austin out and decided he needed to go the the E.R. side.

They tested him for flu virus and RSV.  Those are fun tests since they have to stick a cotton swab up his nose.  As you can imagine  he was not very happy.  Then they gave him a respiratory treatment.  He really hated that.  Brian held him down while I held the mask to his face.  He screamed for the 10 minutes   He improved a little bit but he ended up getting another treatment.  Again it was painful for everyone to watch.  My parents were there and took care of Sydney for us.  It was very nice!

The doctor was going to discharge him home however Austin was breathing rapidly and with his stomach quite a bit.  Therefore he said he had to admit him to the hospital.  My heart broke.  What was I going to do?  I needed to be with Austin but I also needed to be with Sydney.  What a mess!  The ER called the hospital and were working on getting him admitted.  We were trying to figure out what to do.  Brian and my mom went home with Sydney.  Brian was packing some things to bring and my mom was going to stay home with Sydney.  He was hoping to make it back before the ambulance ride to Rainbow Babies.  My dad stayed with Austin and I.  There was a lot of confusion about whether or not we could drive Austin to the hospital ourselves or if we had to take an ambulance.  We wanted to but there were some risks so the ER people were talking to the hospital people and finally decided that we were allowed to.

Brian got back and then I decided to run home really quick so I could pump.  Then since we were allowed to take Austin to the hospital ourselves they would drive by and pick me up.  Once I got home, I got a call from Brian that they are now allowing Austin to come home.  The ER got a hold of his pediatrician and he said to get an inhaler for the night and make an appointment in the morning.  That was a relief!  Brian brought Austin home and then he went to get Austin's prescriptions filled.  It was around 10 pm. Austin had been at the hospital for about 4 hours.  He was quite frustrated with his little room and wanted to go "out", "out", "out" as he said.  I couldn't imagine spending the entire night in the hospital with him.  He wouldn't want to sleep at all with all the activity.

Finally poor Austin got to eat some dinner.  Once Brian got home we gave Austin his medications and put him to bed.  Brian stayed up until 2 am checking on Austin.  I then checked on him the rest of the night.  Brian and I got very little sleep but at least Austin was home and doing okay.

We took Austin the the doctor in the morning.  In the office they again gave him more respiratory treatments.  That helped him.  It was decided we could go home, but we needed to give him breathing treatments at home every 4 hours.  Brian went to work and I took the kids home.  By this time Sydney was hungry so I had to go home to feed here.  Then we all had to go back out to get these new prescriptions filled.  I was exhausted!

While at the drug store there was a issue with getting the Prednisone again since Brian just had it filled last night.  However the dosage had changed so we needed it.  The pharmacist called and got approval but that took about 20 minutes   While waiting Sydney had a melt down first but finally she went to sleep. Then Austin had a melt down.  I tried to let him pick out things to play with but he was not having it.  He wanted to go home.  Finally we all went home.

Luckily Austin did very well taking his respiratory treatments at home.  I let him get the medication and put it in the machine with help.  He got to push the on button of the machine.  Austin loves to push buttons.  Then he watched You Tube videos on his Kindle. He loved that.  He took his breathing treatment without any crying. I was so happy.  He would even hold the mask to his face himself.  After a couple of days, he would ask for his medicine (so he could watch his videos).

We had to adjust our work schedules for the rest of the week so Austin could get his medicine.  Brian stayed home a little later and I got off a little earlier.  It was a little stressful since I am just going back to work but it all turned out okay.  The best part was Austin was getting better!  By Sunday, he no longer needed any breathing treatments and his cough was even better.  Austin has had a terrible cough for months now.  It periodically gets a little better but never really seems to go away.

Now we are hoping everyone can stay healthy for a little while!