One evening at the end of May b started having trouble breathing. We gave him a breathing treatment and put him to bad. He woke up shortly after and we noticed that he was retracting really bad. We decided to take him to the PHX Children's Hospital urgent care. They had to give him two breathing treatments and an oral steroid to stabilize his breathing. Then they sent us home. It was 11:30pm by this point. The doctor told us to wake him at 2:30am and give him another breathing treatment so we did. His breathing had gotten worse and he was really struggling. I took him to Cardon's Children's Hospital. We decided Rob should stay home and sleep so he could be up with b later and I could sleep. On the way to the hospital I heard b gasping/grunting trying to get air. I was so scared. I called Rob and told him to say a prayer with me. As I drove down the 60 I had one hand on the wheel and another reaching back to feel b's chest. I was happy to feel it moving up and down. I was also happy no one else was on the 60 because I was driving FAST. I got to the ER and was happy to see no line. 3:00am. The doctor said that his retractions were really bad so they gave him a breathing treatment. His oxygen levels dropped a few times but we were able to get them back up. 3 hours, 3 breathing treatments, and 1 chest x-ray later b's breathing stabilized again. 6:00am. They sent us home again and told us to come back if he got worse. We got home and I went to bed while Rob sat with b. 7:00am Rob woke me and asked me to look at b. We saw his retractions were back and worse. So we packed a bag knowing this time we would be there a while and most likely admitted and we in the car in about 5 minutes. We got to the ER and were seen right away. B was given another breathing treatment. His oxygen levels dropped so he was hooked up the oxygen. Poor little guy had cords everywhere:( We were then admitted for what we thought would be one night of observation. B was put on regular breathing treatments for the duration of our stay. We were told he had to go through the night without oxygen assistance before we could go home. We ended up being there 4 days:( Poor b was not allowed to leave the room. In fact he was all hooked up so he could only really be moved in a 4 foot radius. Keeping an 11 month old occupied and staying sane was a challenge. I have to give a shout out to my girl Shannon Leavitt for hooking us up with some toys. She is a child life specialist at the hospital and she got b some fun toys. Visits from grandparents and Aunt Tiff kept me sane. Luckily, Rob was able to take a couple of days off too. I am so glad he was there because we were both exhausted and it was nice to share duties. B's diagnosis was something about restricted airway something or other. It basically is Asthma but in a baby. The staff at the hospital was AMAZING! I am so grateful for all of their help. They were very attentive to b and even took the time to play with him. I also so grateful to live in a time with modern medicine.
B has had breathing troubles his whole life but after this big scare Dr. Jones (our pediatrician) decided to put b on a once daily corticosteroid, Pulmicort. I am happy to report almost 2 months later that we have had no other problems! YEAH! He will be on this medicine until at least next spring. Here are some pictures of his hospital stay.
