Give THANKS - November 2nd

Day 2: Modern Medicine

Today I am thankful that Rylan and I will be spending the night in our own beds because last night we spent the night cuddled together in a hospital bed after he was admitted for breathing difficulties. On Friday Isabella coughed the entire time we were out trick or treating so I knew a cold was brewing and was not surprised at all on Saturday morning when I went and grabbed four snot nosed toddlers out of their cribs. Besides the runny nose and being fussy Rylan seemed to be just fine. I laid everyone down for an early nap and found it odd that Rylan was boycotting nap because he was so tired. After naps I noticed he was breathing a littler harder than normal but I have two kiddos who take a hit to their lungs every time they get a cold so I was not worried at all.

Getting ready to go trick or treating

After we went for an evening walk we came back and put all the babies in the shower and they had fun filling an emptying their pumpkin buckets. When I took Rylan out I noticed his coloring was really off and he seemed much paler than normal. This is when my mommy alarms started going off. About 15 minutes later he was really working hard with each breath. I shared Tate and Isabella's Albuterol  with Rylan and when one neb treatment did nothing I gave him a second one. This again made no difference and so I quickly had him buckled into the car and we were off to the emergency room.

Before I could even get him registered they had us in the back and a doctor immediately came to assess him. After 2 more neb treatments and a dose of oral Prednisone he appeared to be doing much better but this lasted only 15 minutes and he was right back were he started from. He then got to go down for a chest x-ray and when he got back to the er they had another neb treatment ready for him. It was after this treatment we knew he was going to be admitted. I asked for him to be transferred to the hospital he was born at because they have a true pediatric unit. Since he was still having respiratory issues he got to take his second ambulance ride in his two short years (the first one was at 2 weeks of age).

By this point Rylan was exhausted and he would lift his shirt every time someone came in the room because he knew the drill. Once admitted the doctor came in and I started giving him Rylan's history which has never included any respiratory issues except for when he was 24 hours old. I was telling the doctor about the scare Rylan gave us when he was in the nicu and all of a sudden he asked me who the neonatalogist was that night and who ended up getting Rylan intubated. As soon as I told him he came to Rylan and rubbed his check and told him 'I was there that night buddy.' He apparently got called to come help but when he got down to the unit there was nothing he could do. He said he has never forgotten that night and was so glad to meet Rylan again. It literally gave me chills as I saw the way he looked at Rylan.

After a night of very little sleep due to a mom and a 2 year old sharing a bed we got the news that Rylan was not getting worse and the doctor believed we could take care of him at home. I do think Rylan was enjoying his one on one time with mom but I on the other hand was more than happy to ditch the hospital.

Who doesn't like a breakfast of pretzels and milk while lying in bed watching Curious George?

I am so thankful that we live in a country with good medical care. That Paul and I have good insurance and we don't second guess if we can afford to take our kids into the er. I am also thankful for a grandma who will drive up at 10:30 at night to watch our other 6 kids so daddy could bring Rylan his pacifier and blankie before we took our ride in the ambulance.