Sooo...Saturday night we put the boys to bed just like we normally do and I konked out just like I normally do. Because I'm so out of it at night, Dave usually has to get up to tend to any nighttime issues. Around 11:30 Ben's
Angelcare monitor alarmed. This happens sometimes if the boys move around too much and are out of range of the sensor pad. Dave went in and moved Ben back to the center of the crib and went back to bed. It happened at least 3 more times and I eventually woke up because Dave was jumping in and out of bed and cussing up a storm at that point. I thought we should try to put Ben in Sam's crib to see if it was Ben or the alarm. Well, we put him in Sam's crib and it he alarmed there too. At least 2-3 more times. He also started coughing a weird shallow cough that sounded slightly like a cat. It was now 3ish and I made the executive decision to go to the ER.
Luckily we got to the ER and it was pretty empty. Before Ben was signed in and given his fancy hospital bracelet (aka anklet), we were in triage. He sat in his carseat on the chair and the nurse just looked at his chest and took us back. Apparently he was breathing super fast...120+ times/minute (if that doesn't sound right, it's because I might have messed it up).
They hooked him up to get his O2 sats and they were in the 80s (awesome)! They also hooked up his heartrate, pulse, etc. They immediately put him on oxygen to see if that helped. Then they decided we needed a chest x-ray. That was really not fun at all. This is not Ben in the picutre. This guy is much bigger. Ben's face was smooshed down by the "U" in the plexiglass. He was screaming and I was holding him up by his hands. Who invents these things???
His lungs were clear so we were on to the next thing. They tested him for RSV, the flu, pneumonia, etc. They took boogers & blood. (On a side note, we got the whole ER's attention when they had to poke him in both arms to get blood...). They even gave him a nebulizer treatment & hooked him up to a nasal cannula. At around 8am they decided he needed to be admitted.
He was asleep on me on the gurney so we both got wheeled upstairs while I held the O2 blower thingee near his face. Once we got upstairs, they tested him for RSV (yes, again), rotovirus, etc. Now they took boogers & poop. All he didn't give them was urine or saliva.
He continued to breathe super fast but they discontinued the O2 and just hooked him up to monitors to watch the situation.
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Doesn't he look sick? If it wasn't for the industrial crib, you wouldn't even
know he was in the hospital. |
We ended up staying until late Monday morning. Nobody could ever figure out what was wrong. Even when we went for our follow up at the pedi, nobody knew. He's still breathing fast, but we're supposed to watch it. Other than the O2 and the nebulizer, he never got any medical intervention. So weird. We are very thankful for the Angelcare monitors though. They're what alerted us that something was wrong. They're worth their weight in gold & every penny we paid for them (all 3 of them).
While we were there though, it made me appreciate how lucky we truly are. I thought of our lil' buddy Linus all the time. We have been truly blessed to have 4 healthy & happy little boys!!!
