Poor Jonah was feeling lousy for several days a couple weeks ago, and after he began vomiting and ran a fever, I brought him in to the doctors. Diagnosis: pneumonia. Poor guy. He has been my sidekick for the past two weeks, which has been kind of nice (minus the not feeling well part). Of course I thought back to when Ethan and Isabelle both had pneumonia last summer, and then little two month old Levi got really sick, and that phone call from the doctor a couple of hours after his appointment saying that we needed to get Levi to the hospital right away. As in, don't even finish dinner, just get to the hospital. Thankfully he responded to antibiotics and recovered fairly quickly, but he had such a rough start between his stomach issues and then the pneumonia. (The stomach problems persisted for several months, but seemed to go away on their own as he grew older.)
This past Thursday morning started like any other. My husband left for work around 4:15 and then I waited to hear Levi, who usually gets up to nurse and go back to sleep any time between 4 and 5:30. That's quite a gap, yes, but it works for us. And I'll take that over Ethan, who used to get up for the day at 4:30, but of course just be miserable, because really, who wants to be up at 4:30? I heard Levi call out, but it sounded strange. It wasn't a cry, more like a moan, or even a quieted shriek or gasp. I flew into his room because something just felt off when I heard it, and was surprised to hear his crib rails rattling about. For a split second, I thought he was being silly and shaking them, or rolling around and playing, making them rattle. But then my heart crashed to the floor. He was making a troubling sounding clicking noise, as if he were choking, and I bent down to scoop him up, but he would not stay in my arms. He had no control of his body and flopped back down onto the mattress. Normally, when he knows I'm there to get him, he sits up for me to reach under his arms and pick him up. The second time I tried to retrieve him, I felt him shaking all over. And then I felt his skin. I was horrified. He was burning up, hotter than I have ever felt a person's skin in my life. I kept telling myself to stay calm, stay calm, but my thoughts were already racing and my heart was pounding in my chest.
I rushed into my bedroom with him and turned on a light. I had to fight back the urge to panic as I watched him convulse and could not get him to open his eyes and notice me. I wondered if I should call 911, but because he was obviously breathing, I called my husband and told him that something was wrong so he had to come back home. It must have been around this time that his little body stopped shaking, but I could not get him to wake up. That's what I remember thinking, you need to wake up, wake up! He opened his eyes once or twice, but they rolled back in his head and his body was limp. He was still breathing, but I was terrified he might stop. He hates having his diaper changed in the early morning so I thought that might wake him up. It didn't. He fussed a little, at first, then went limp again. My heart was in my throat by now.
I called my parents and my Dad told me he'd come down and we would drive him to the ER together. So I grabbed whatever outfit I'd left draped over the edge of my chair from the day before, threw it on, and ran downstairs with Levi. I woke the boys up and told them they were in charge because we needed to get Levi to the doctor. I knew my Mom was coming down in a bit to help Isabelle also.
I did not put Levi in his car seat to get him to the hospital. It's a ten minute drive, maybe less, and I was afraid if he stopped breathing I wouldn't know it, so I kept him in cradled in my arms. He didn't move the entire drive there. That broke my heart, knowing that he would normally be climbing up me to get a better look at what was going on, curious about everything. But he was completely still.
I could tell that his fever had come down a bit, and then suddenly I was walking him inside the ER. It was barely six and empty as far as I could tell. They got us into a room quickly, attached an oxygen monitor and took his temperature again. 103.8, or maybe .6 - it was high, but I knew it had been higher at home. We gave him Tylenol to keep his fever under control and to avoid another seizure, and then it was lots of waiting and trying to keep Levi comfortable. He wasn't interested in eating or really drinking much, but he did want to nurse, so we settled into the hospital bed and he even drifted off to sleep a few times. At one point my hip was absolutely throbbing because of the way I was positioned, but he was sleeping soundly and I didn't want to move a muscle- literally- to risk waking him. The things we Mamas do for love, ha ha. :)
My husband arrived sometime during our wait, and after a while, Levi even felt well enough to play peek-a-boo with me with the big privacy curtain and then spin around on the doctor's stool for a bit. What a relief! We were given the green light to go home shortly afterward, and the fact that his well check had been scheduled for that very afternoon was perfect. Throughout the rest of the day, we just played, tried to keep him happy and keep any high fever at bay.
This was one of the scariest moments/days of my whole life, one I hope to never ever repeat. My heart goes out to you Moms and Dads who are living with sick children. Truly. I will be praying for you! This was just one day, and yes, I haven't slept great since because I'm constantly worried, but this isn't an ongoing issue for us and I know that isn't the case for everyone. My heart just aches for families whose lives revolve around sick kids. I admit I have begun to worry about things like this, and sometimes it seems overwhelming and consuming, and it cripples me. I have a story to share, later, and I know it plays into this fear. But fear is not from God. I'll share soon....hope you have a great day!
His little body was so, so tired
I look haggardly in this photo- I'd just taken a shower and desperately needed sleep. BUT Levi was smiling and it was the best thing in the world!
Looking a bit nervous at the doctor's office that afternoon
our big boy is long and lean...just like his Mama used to be, ha ha ha
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
John 14:27
1 comment:
You're right, that is a scary situation! Glad things turned out okay.
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