Our Hospital Scare

I should have written about this right after it happened but it was pretty crazy at the time and then we left on vacation and now we're back! So here it is...it's long and I apologize, but it's mostly for my records, so if the details are too much then feel free to skip ahead.

A few weeks ago {Tues, the 3rd.}, Brock got a pretty bad cold out of the blue. Well, the first night he was miserable so we let him sleep in our bed and he did pretty good the next day, but as we were eating dinner that night, he puked. I just assumed it was from all the mucus in his tummy from his cold and didn't really think much about it and left for young women's.

When I got back Luke said he had puked again and he was acting really fussy so we gave him some pedialite and he puked that up as well. He was wheezing pretty bad from his cold and so we tried to get him to go to sleep in our bed to no avail.

He finally fell asleep at midnight, still laboring to breathe. He tossed and turned a lot and at about 2am he woke up crying/fussing and climbing all over Luke and I trying to find a comfy place to lay down. Of course because it was the middle of the night we were both just trying to get him to calm down and go back to sleep but he wouldn't stop crying and flailing, so I took him into his room to rock him and see if he would calm down.

Normally he would have been back to sleep within minutes, so I started getting worried when he was still crying and flailing after 15 minutes of trying to rock him. He would wiggle out of my arms on to the floor and as soon as he was down he would want me to hold him right away again. I was trying to get him to look at me and calm down, but it was almost like he couldn't even hear me.

I was pretty worried at this point and took him back into our room and asked Luke to give him a blessing cause I didn't think he was getting enough oxygen. After the blessing I called his 24 hr pediatrician to schedule and appt to have them see him that night, and they didn't even have me make an appt, they told me to just come right away.

I told Luke that I would take Brock by myself and keep him updated because he had to work in the morning and he had finals that week. I got dressed and loaded us in the car as fast as I could. Brock was breathing so hard and crying still and as we started driving he was gagging and choking in the back seat for air. I was sure that he was going to stop breathing any moment and I was trying to drive as quick as I could while looking back at him to make sure he was still breathing. I was crying, praying and speeding the whole way to the hospital.

By the time we got there he was barely coherent, but still wheezing and fussing. He had puked all over himself in the car from choking for air. The nurses rushed me back to check his oxygen levels and as soon as she saw that his oxygen was at 83 {it should be at 100} and his heart rate was below 60, she yelled something in code ending in "stat" down the hall and another nurse quickly arrived with an oxygen machine and mask for him.

I was trying to answer their questions and update Luke over the phone all at the same time, still not quite sure what was even happening. After about 15 minutes on oxygen and albuterol, Brock started to perk up a little and started talking which was such a relief! After about an hour of them trying to get his oxygen levels into the 90's with no success, they told me he would have to be admitted to the hospital because they had done all they could do. I called Luke and told him what was going on and he packed some things from home and met us at the hospital {which is connected to his 24 hr pediatricians office so they just wheel chaired him across the parking lot with his oxygen still on}.

Once we were at the hospital they put oxygen tubes in his nose, took his blood, ran several tests, took chest x-rays, gave him a few shots and gave him an oral steroid. Needless to say he was pretty worn out and scared and wouldn't let his mommy out of his reach. When they were taking his blood he was being so brave and when she was done he was crying a little and saying "good job, good job" to himself. The nurses couldn't get over how cute he was.

Finally at 5 in the morning they left him alone for a little while and he watched "Nemo" on the tv while I laid next to him and held him and Luke sat in the chair next to him. He finally fell asleep between 6 and 7am just in time for the respiratory specialist to come in at 8am to wake him up to do some more breathing treatments. She told us he was being tested for Pneumonia among other things and we would have the results within a few hours from the x-rays and blood work.

Well, to make a really long story a little shorter, he was at the hospital on oxygen for two more nights and continued to make progress. They ruled out Pneumonia and started talking about Asthma. His days and nights were filled with more steroids {which made him pretty ornery} and breathing treatments which made his heart rate go way up. He was sooo bored having to stay in his bed all day hooked up to all these tubes and cords, but they would let us pull him around the floor in a wagon with portable oxygen so he could at least have a change of scenery - which he loved! He had lots of visitors by both sets of grandparents and almost all of my siblings to help cheer him up and keep him company. By the last night they let him breathe on his own for a few hours and his oxygen was up to about 90 while he was sleeping {everyone's oxygen drops a little when they sleep} so they told us on Saturday morning that we would be able to go home that day!

When they finally unhooked his tubes and cords he was just running up and down the hall like a free man! He was so happy to be going home {and so were we}!! They sent us home with a portable nebulizer so we could continue to do his breathing treatments every 4 hours and an inhaler that he had to do twice a day, along with a few other oral meds. For now his outside play has to be limited because of all of the junk in the air and how bad all of the allergens have been this year and he'll have to continue his inhaler every day until the end of next spring. After the first week of being home from the hospital we'll only use the nebulizer for the first 5 days of each cold he gets or if he's wheezy at all until the spring as well. We feel like his asthma, eczema, and food allergies are probably all related because while he was on the meds in the hospital his skin was SO clear! We're hoping this is something that he'll eventually grow out of, but at this point there is no way of telling.

We feel blessed that everything is ok and Brock is back to his normal happy, funny, talkative, spunky self again. Luke was amazing through the whole thing; he had two finals that week and he still stayed with us in the hospital each night on those really comfortable hospital "beds", and he used his personal sick time from work to be able to be with Brock and help me out during the days when he could. He is super dad. Thanks to all who came to visit or offered prayers in his behalf, you made a huge difference! We love you all!!

Here are a few pictures of our brave little boy during his stay. We love you Brock!!