Last week was a week I hope we never have to go through again. It started actually a couple weeks ago when Barrett came down with a stuffy nose. He started to not sleep or eat as well but it was just a stuffy nose that I figured would run it's course and he'd get over it. Friday morning (April 4) Barrett had woke up with a little cough, so I decided to take him in to the doctor just to be sure he was ok. The doctor checked him out and his stats were all fine except one of his ears was a little red indicating the start of an ear infection. Since he'd had his cold for more than 10 days already, the doctor prescribed him an antibiotic. I was hoping this would be the start of a better week with Barrett getting better, but he really didn't get much better, and his sleep got worse at night. By Monday evening he still was not really better, but I fed and put him to bed as usual. He woke up around 1 am coughing again so I fed him, but he still continued to cough and not go right back to sleep. As I was holding/rocking him, I noticed his breathing was shallow and faster...just not normal looking. We called the hospital at 2am, and I talked to the doctor, but we couldn't determine if he needed to be taken to the emergency room right away or if it could wait until morning. We concluded it could wait unless his breathing got worse, but I was unable to go back to sleep and ended up watching him breathe in my arms the rest of the night. I dozed off a little at about 6 am but other than that I didn't sleep since 1am that night. I called the clinic as soon as they opened at 8 and after I dropped Brooks off at preschool, Keely and I took Barrett in. They checked his weight and temp and he had a fever at just 100. His oxygen level was low at 91 (it should be 99 or 100). The doctor listened to his chest and they sounded pretty clear, but since he was obviously working hard to breathe (he was using his stomach muscles to help push air up) he wanted to admit Barrett to the hospital and get chest x-rays and monitor him. Keely was great through the whole process and played well in the hospital room while the nurses checked Barrett and even came with us to the x-ray room. Thankfully though, my mom was able to come get her before they had to start any of his IVs, because I'm not sure she would have taken his screaming very well!
After the x-rays came back, they determined that Barrett had a mild case of pneumonia, and that he would need to be monitored at least overnight and put on an IV antibiotic. Barrett did well the first day...he was put on oxygen during some of his naps, but he had good levels when he was awake. The worst of the day was trying to draw blood for tests and putting in the IV. Luckily the anesthesiologist was at the hospital for a surgery that morning so he was able to come put the IV in his foot (the nurses tried at first in his arm and couldn't get it). Barrett was exhausted after all of that, and here is the first picture I took of him in the hospital. You can see the IV in his foot
And after he had been sleeping a bit, his oxygen levels dropped below 90 and he was put back on oxygen.
For night, the nurses put his leg on a board so that he wouldn't be able to bring the foot to his mouth and pull the IV out. (Barrett has become obsessed with his feet so it was difficult to keep him from messing with them all day!) So the picture below is of the huge and awkward board I had to deal with all night with breast feeding and rocking him to sleep. It was kinda ridiculous, but we managed. He didn't need oxygen the whole night and took his midnight antibiotic treatment well. I got maybe an hour or so of sleep in the bed with Barrett in the crib, but ended up holding him in the recliner for the remainder of the night. I was able to sleep in the chair, but still was not a great night of sleep!
The next day his oxygen levels started dropping below 90 again during his naps. Bummer! About midday they decided he needed to stay another night.
During his noon dose of IV antibiotic, his IV in his foot became infiltrated. I'm not sure entirely what this means, but just that Barrett screamed during the start of the dose and it had to be pulled out. The nurses proceeded to try and get a new IV started in his arms and poked my poor baby for over 30 minutes trying to find a vein. I felt so bad for him and could not be in the room while they did this. They finally gave up and called in the anesthesiologist. He came around 4pm to try and successfully got one in his hand without much screaming from Barrett. Thank goodness! Here is Barrett with his 'cast' of an IV. (sorry for the awkward angle!)
He continued to try and pull the IV out though, so the nurses had to put a board on his arm and wrapped it up even more. He tolerated this brace a lot better than the one in his foot! He seemed a lot happier! Probably helped that by this time I think he started feeling better too.
Barrett did well through the night the second night and slept a little better in his crib but he still had to be woke up for a midnight antibiotic and ate several times throughout the night. His oxygen levels also dropped again as he slept, so that was discouraging. On the 3rd day we had been there Barrett started to get pretty restless. I think he was quite tired of the small hospital room and so was I! I was still pretty sleep deprived and walking a fussy baby around the small room was getting old. The doctor listened to his lungs and determined they were completely clear. However, during his naps that morning he was still needing oxygen! ugh. I just wanted him to get better so we could go home! After his noon antibiotic dose, he took a couple afternoon naps and didn't need oxygen for either one! Hooray! By 5pm the doctor came by and said his stats were all looking good and that we could go home. I was so happy and relieved!
Barrett did pretty well through the whole experience considering, and I could get a few smiles out of him while he was awake. The nurses couldn't get enough of his cuteness.
After being gone for 3 whole days and 2 nights, I was so ready to be home again! I hadn't seen Brooks or Keely since Tuesday morning, so Thursday evening when we got home about 6:30, they were pretty ready to see both Barrett and me too! Thankfully my mom could watch Brooks and Keely on Tuesday. Blake normally has Wednesday mornings off and was able to hold off going to work until 2:30 when our normal babysitter, Ashley, could come over and watch the kids till 5:30. Then Blake took the kids to our friends, Austin and Danielle's house for the evening while he closed at Ace. My mom was then able to come watch Brooks and Keely Thursday again. She took Brooks to preschool and took Keely along to her nail appointment she had already scheduled for that day. She said Keely did great just sitting on her lap and coloring the whole time :) I'm so thankful for parents that live close and friends we can rely on to help when needed! It was such a tiring week for me emotionally and physically that I'm glad we had help with the kids! I wished Blake could have spent more time with Barrett and me in the hospital since he was only able to be there for a little bit Tuesday evening, but when you have 2 other kids at home, it just wasn't possible!
I'm glad last week is over and was happy that we could be home together this past weekend to try and recoup. Barrett has yet to get back to a good eating/sleeping schedule and wants to be held more than normal, but at least we are home!
