Life Matters: First Birthday Party = First Hospital Stay

I had to get little Boomer's story of his first birthday party on the blog so I wouldn't forget the story.....Because its one that will eventually not seem like such a big deal - but for our healthy family, I was caught off guard and truly surprised with how sick our little one year old was.

It all started when Charlie announced he was sick over Thanksgiving weekend......He almost lost his voice, was coughing and really not feeling great. On Monday afternoon I noticed Boomer started to cough once in a while so I put a humidifier on in his room that night. By Tuesday morning I knew he was sick but hopeful that he would have some good naps......Unfortunately, he had short naps and wasn't the happiest. By evening I wanted to get him in bed for a good sleep, but after a bath and some medicine, he continued to get sicker. His cough had slowly gotten worse over the day and by evening, his breathing was raspy and he wouldn't sleep unless one of us was holding him. I knew something was wrong......

We got right into our family doctor on Wednesday morning and she had barely walked in when she said he had croup. He was not well on Wednesday morning - but I didn't realize he had croup. His breathing was a struggle so she gave him a breathing treatment before we left and told us to fill the prescription for 'dex' right away. Within 30 minutes he had the first dose and I was just hoping he would turn a corner once it kicked in. On Thursday he had another round of 'dex' but by the afternoon I was surprised his breathing wasn't sounding better. He did sleep through the night on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, but he definitely was coughing and the breathing never improved as much as I thought it should!!!

I was in constant communication with our family doctor/nurse - who is fabulous - and Boomer got a third round of 'dex' on Friday morning. By Friday afternoon the nurse told us that if his breathing quickens, or if he is worse, to not hesitate to take him into Emergency. We made it to Saturday - PARTY DAY! Poor Boomer wasn't feeling good at all, and wasn't sleeping except for a long nap while we were gone in the afternoon. I was busy in the morning getting things ready and in the afternoon, we took the older boys to their trampoline party, so by the time I saw him around 4:30, I was surprised at his poor breathing. Our whole family was there ready to celebrate Boomer's birthday, but when Doug held him at 5:00pm and said, "he isn't breathing well", I went into emergency mode and we were on our way to the hospital in 5 minutes!!!!

Little Boomer was admitted right away and was immediately put on an epinephrine nebulizer treatment that immediately helped his breathing. The doctor was concerned that he had already had three rounds of the dex treatment (usually it only takes one), and called up to the Children's Hospital to see if they had a bed available. I let Doug know but I thought we would drive him up there!!! Eventually a nurse said that an ambulance would be taking us up and that we would need the carseat. Oh my - I was shocked because I still couldn't believe they were admitting us, let alone taking us up by ambulance. By this time it was 8:30pm and Boomer's breathing had worsened again. So they gave him another breathing treatment to get us up to the Children's and by 9:00pm we were headed to the ambulance.

Once at the hospital and in our room, Boomer was seen by nurses, residents, and respiratory therapists all gowned and masked because we were in isolation!!! By 2:00am, Boomer's oxygen levels were dipping and they were going to give him a third breathing treatment, but the senior resident called them off as Boomer seemed to rebound when I held him upright. PLUS - if he had received that treatment, they would have had to notify ICU and we more than likely would have been moved to ICU......Again - CRAZY!!!

After a long night, the paediatrician came and immediately gave Boomer another round of breathing treatment and the dex. I was honestly thinking we would have been out of there on Sunday morning but Boomer had other plans. He was exhausted so he slept most of the day, but whenever he slept, his oxygen levels dropped and he needed extra oxygen support.....Which meant we weren't going anywhere!!!!

I would say his breathing did improve over the course of Sunday and thankfully overnight on Sunday his oxygen levels stayed at the borderline level and he did not require extra oxygen. On Monday he received another round of dex and continued to improve. By late afternoon he was off the monitors when awake as he was not wanting to stay in the parameters of the cords and was way more active. I knew he had turned a corner by his energy....even though he WAS NOT eating. We were still in isolation, so Boomer would go to the door and look out the window - and caught the attention of many doctors and nurses who would play peek a boo or just make faces at him. How cute and kind is that?!

Tuesday morning started with one final dex treatment (6 in total) and a visit from probably 8 or 9 medical professionals. Boomer put on his charm and had them all smiling and acknowledging that he was obviously feeling better and ready to go home!!! After that, it was a quick 30 minutes before we were discharged and sent on our way!!!!

It has taken probably another 5 days for Boomer's breathing to go back to normal, and two weeks later, he still has a cough once in a while, but he is definitely back to himself. I honestly was shocked that Boomer was so sick. I did not realize how much his breathing was compromised and how his body was lacking oxygen! Poor little guy!!!! Crazy part was that even while he was in the emergency room, he still smiled for the nurses and doctors!

So this was the long version of our hospital stay. I was reminded of how healthy we are and how thankful we are that even though Boomer was sick, he was going to get better and didn't have to have one procedure done. I'm thankful for super friendly doctors and nurses and the chance to learn a little more and be a friendly face to people who often see frustration, anger, and hurt.

Boomer's one year old birthday party will not be forgotten any time soon!!!! Here are some pictures from the couple of days. I really wanted to take a few more pictures, but at the same time Boomer was sick!!! :)