When your children get sick, it's sometimes hard deciphering when the appropriate time is to bring them in to the doctor. Once you do bring them in, and the doctor says they are fine, it's even harder to bring them back when you know they aren't.
Last summer, Eva started to have a low grade fever on a Thursday. She was mopey, but not terribly fussy. On Sunday, her fever peeked at 103 degrees, but with Tylenol and a bath it went back down. I knew it was time to take her in. Monday she saw the on call pediatrician. He listened to her lungs, took her temperature, and said all was well. Just something viral.
Tuesday she was still feverish, and I gave Tylenol as directed by the doctor. By Wednesday I knew something was wrong. I went to pick her up from a late afternoon nap, and she was breathing rapidly. I could feel her chest moving in and out. I called the Kaiser advice line, and after the nurse listened to her breathing she told me to get her to the emergency room right away. Santiago came home and I took off. Once at the Kaiser, they took her in right away and took her oxygen levels. She was dangerously at 75%, which meant she had hypoxemia. She was also wheezing very bad. They hooked her up right away to oxygen and started Albuterol treatments. They also had to put an i.v. in, which was the most heartbreaking thing to see.
I held it together pretty good on my own I think, but I was very grateful when Santiago was finally able to come (thanks to my sister for driving 30 minutes to watch the kids.)
I knew that there was a lady at our church who was an ER nurse there, and I went looking to see if she happened to be there that night. I was so relieved when I saw her. She came in and spent some time with us, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay.
We were there until well after midnight, and then transported by ambulance to the Children's Hospital.
We were all exhausted, and we had to wait in triage again for another few hours until they could get us a room. While waiting, they took x-rays of her lungs, where it was confirmed that she had double pneumonia.
Being at the hospital was quite an experience. It almost seems like a jail in a way. Everyone constantly monitoring what is going on, not being able to leave as you want. I felt like I had no control in Eva's care. The nurses came in at all hours of the day and night, I got absolutely no sleep! Eva had to be on oxygen until her body could produce the right levels again, which wasn't until Sunday night.
The poor girl would cry every time someone came in to the room. She was poked and prodded so much.
When we were finally able to keep out the tubes for good she was one happy baby.
During our stay I was able to get free breakfast and dinner since I was a breastfeeding mother. That was awesome. We also had great friends visit us and bring us meals, which was such a blessing. I was also very grateful for my sister and mom who took the kids so that we could focus on Eva.
We were all so ready to go home on Monday. I could not stand the beeping of the monitors anymore!
Eva had pure joy on her face when we left. Her pediatrician believes that she has asthma, which makes her lungs weaker. She has a steroid that she needs to take every day during cold season, and also Albuterol when her wheezing picks up. Whenever she gets a cold now, I am on high alert, as it always hits her lungs hard. Her hospital stay was quite an adventure, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep it from happening again!
