Betsy's Blog

Sunday night we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I have known that Aidan is fighting a sinus infection, but thought I could hold off until Thursday when he sees the ENT for a recheck. Didn't think much about giving him a sliver of chocolate cream pie after dinner.

Fast forward to 10 O'clock that night. He awoke from sleep with a terrible, barky and croupy cough. As he coughed and gasped I quickly realized that he was having difficulty breathing. I panicked. I called the pediatrician, and waited for her call back. I went to my neighbor, whose fiancee was an EMT-he was in the shower. I held Aidan as he gasped and literally crawled up me he was trying so hard to catch his breath. I was scared. I called my mom, who heard him coughing and wheezing for air and she told me to call 911. As I hung up with her, the doctor called back and she concurred.

They arrived 5 minutes later. So surreal to hear the sirens, see the lights, and it is for your child. To have a bunch of uniformed men in your tiny little house. They loaded Aidan up into an ambulance, immediately put a mask on him of O2 and a breathing treatment, and whisked him away to the ER. Aidan did not even notice he was in an ambulance, or that the lights were on and the siren was screaming. He was just trying to breathe. Aidan figured out real fast that it was making him feel better, and leaned into me like a hungry bird when I put it towards his face. So sad. He had croup.

3am I was home again, via a cab with no car seat. I prayed for no accidents. One of the perils of not having a spouse: having to take a cab home..did I say there was no car seat?  

In the morning I took Aidan to see the pediatrician. Told me he had croup, restrictive airway disease (Asthma-like) a sinus infection, and the milk from the pie just sealed the deal. (Crap-now I feel guilty) As I traipsed around to pick up the breathing machine and to the pharmacy for all his new medications, I noticed that I felt TERRIBLE. Achy, nausious, and so tired. I thought it was the late hour and stress from the night before. As I entered my door I immediately threw up....a lot. I felt awful. I called my mom and pleaded "can you come over and help me?"

She did. I layed low the entire day, with a raging 104 fever and vomiting. When I called the doctor she told me to go to the ER. I hung up the phone and sobbed. Not again, how could this be happening? My neighbor dropped me off at the ER and my father picked up my mother at my house and took Aidan and Rigley to their house. Later I called to instruct my mother on how to give Aidan his first home nebulizer treatment. I heard Aidan screaming as they struggled to get him to inhale the medicine. It broke my heart. I waited at the ER for 4 hours. Next to moaning people who puked every 5 minutes. Broken bones, and heart attackes. Ambulance after ambulance whisked in folks much sicker than me. I realized that my fever was gone, and I was not vomiting even though I had been drinking water. Just as I was about to tell the nurses I was going home, I got called back to be seen. I left soon thereafter. I wanted to be home. I wanted to get away from all these sicker than me folks like my little one was the night before.

I came home, kissed my sweet angel who was sleeping on my mother's side of my parents bed. I crawled onto my father's side, and slept. Thank god that day was over.