Baby Dragon in the Hospital

start of his cold

waiting for the nurses

all hooked up

Poor Drake. As I mentioned he started to get sick on New Years Eve. Was worse on Sunday, even worse on Monday so I made an appointment for him for Tuesday because I hated to see him struggling to breathe and I was hoping they could do something about it!

They tested him for RSV which they said was going around and they had quite a few cases of it in December. On Wednesday he ran a fever of 101.9, I gave him some pain reliever. He also wasn't eating anything. 30 minutes later the Doctor's office calls to tell me he tested positive for RSV and asked how he was doing today. They asked me to bring him in again when I mentioned the fever. They gave him a blood test. I ASKED for breathing treatments. Doctor on call (not his normal pediatrician) said his lungs sounded clear and so a breathing treatment really wouldn't help. Never mind you could hear Drake struggling to breathe and constantly cough and gag.

The blood test white blood cell count came back a little high, but not enough to do anything about??? I don't understand this, obviously this is the start of an infection, no?

SO Thursday he is worse, but I feel like going to the doctors is absolutely worthless. He gags again and all around his lips actually turn blue. Friday my neighbor and friend Wendy calls me to check on the baby. I tell her his symptoms, how he hasn't kept any food down since Thursday afternoon but no fever today. I tell her how I just know we'll be in the hospital this weekend. She encourages me to call the doctor just to see what they have to say. I am skeptical it will be more waste of my time. Nope. This time the nurse kind of gets annoyed at me for not bringing him in yesterday. I can't win. I did appreciate her though. First one who showed some real concern for the baby... even if that did mean her giving me looks like I was an idiot mother. She immediately gave him a breathing treatment... didn't even listen to his lungs first. Then she put a little monitor on his foot to monitor his oxygen intake. It was low. She said based on those numbers alone she knows the doctor is going to have him admitted to the hospital, but also that he looked dehydrated and exhausted.

They get him a room right away. I wasn't prepared for a hospital trip, but you do what you got to do.

I hate going to the hospital. The doctors office makes it sound like I need to get there asap. The nurse said, get the baby to the room first so they can begin treatment, and THEN go check in. I get there and our room isn't ready. Nobody is in any hurry to help my baby. I take him to check in. The admitting lady is annoyed because they gave me a room that wasn't ready and that is against the rules so she can't check me in until I have a room that is ready. I just look at her.

I am trying to figure out her problem and what can I say here. I have a sick baby in my arms, who is moaning and coughing. She says "I just don't know how you have a room number, when there is no room ready". I say "I don't know how either, but there it is". Does she think I gave myself a room? I sit there not moving. She finally sighs and starts the admitting paper work. Gee, thanks. By the time she finishes and I sign all the papers the room is ready.

When we are in the room it takes an HOUR before a nurse comes in. She doesn't seem to know the baby is dehydrated. Finally some nurses come in to take some blood before they start the IV. They can't find any veins because he's so dehydrated. They use a vein finder light thingy and find one in his foot. They get it in and painfully squeeze blood out because it's not in all the way?? I don't know why. Well ONE nurse was supposed to hold his foot until they taped it on. But she lets go and Drake kicks his leg, I mean, can you blame him? He's thinking something down there is pinching and hurting and all he can do is kick his little foot. The needle comes out :( They have to find another vein. They poke him a few times with no luck. I say an urgent prayer quietly to God that they will find a vein to use. They find one in his arm. Prayer answered (check).

I spent last night with my sweet baby. I'm happy he's getting the fluids he needs, but worried because he still is struggling with breathing and not getting enough oxygen. They found it looks like he has a small infection in his right lung... this could have lead to pneumonia. I'm so grateful, that even though I got frustrated, I brought him in early as I did... that way they got to see his downhill progression for themselves.

They gave him antibiotics tonight. I hope to see him improving soon.

At one point last night he coughed for 2 hours non-stop. I started to get upset after an hour and a half and was ready to start crying when I really start to feel my friends and family and priesthood holders prayers and blessings. I heard a voice in my head remind me that all I have to do is comfort my sick baby, that I don't need to stress out or be anxious about anything else. Just sit there and comfort him. Then I felt a very peaceful and calm feeling. I patted his back for 30 more minutes, feeling sad for my baby but not anxious. THEN I felt inspired on how exactly to comfort him. I laid him in my lap to free both my arms. I let him hold on to my thumb on one hand and I take my other hand and rub the top of his head while softly saying "shhhhhh". It worked immediately. He calmed himself down and stopped himself from coughing! And he fell asleep. The rest of the night, any time he was woken up and began coughing again, I did these same steps and it soothed him over and over again. I just love getting those prayers answered. To feel prompted to do a certain thing, to follow that prompting and it's especially wonderful when you can see how following the prompting affected the situation.

One of his nurses asked if Drake was a family name. I said, no we just like it. She asked what does it mean. I smile and say "Dragon". From then on, when she sees him she says "it's okay little dragon" or "bye baby dragon, be good". I like it.

Drake will be expected to stay until Monday at the very least. Hopefully by then he'll be breathing okay and eating again... other wise he won't get to leave yet. I love my kids. I love their sweet, individual spirits. I hate seeing them suffer, but am grateful I'm their mom.