Scary stuff continued

When we got home, Samuel was sleeping in his car seat, so I let him sleep. He sounded pretty good. I got lunch ready for Emma and I and Michael watched. Then...Samuel woke up and started wheezing again with retracting. The pediatrician said if that happened I had to take him to the emergency room. I started a hot shower (to help Samuel breathe) and called K to come home from work to stay with the other two. Then I sat in the bathroom with him and ate my sandwich. The pediatrician called our house about 10 minutes later and asked how Samuel was doing. I told her that he was wheezing again and she told me to take him in.

I threw some stuff in a bag for me and checked his diaper bag while he laid in the warm, showery bathroom. When I went back in to get him, I realized that we had used all the hot water and it wasn't steaming anymore! By then K was home and packed up Samuel while I did a few last minute things like go to the bathroom, etc. Then we headed to the hospital. I figured we would be staying overnight, but you never know. Also, K's parents were spending the night at our house that night.

When we got to the hospital it took me a little while to find the emergency room. By then Samuel was sleeping again and sounded much better. I finally made it to the ER and talked to a crabby check in guy and headed over to pediatric triage. After they checked us in, they hooked Samuel up to a heart rate/oxygen level monitor. It was a good thing I'd been through the NICU experience with them, or I would have been really freaking out. After he got checked into a room, they did another epinephrine treatment and decided to watch him overnight. His oxygen levels were good, even when he was wheezing, but we had to stay because he regressed before. The doctor/resident guy told me that it was because he "failed outpatient treatment."

Well, nothing was super speedy, so we were in the ER for quite a while before they got us up to a room. It was in a children's hospital so everything was brightly painted. After we got up to a room they checked him out and weighed him. 17 lbs. 13 oz. at almost 6 months. He does like to eat. Eventually the pediatrician at the hospital came in a chatted with me and checked on him. I really liked the nurse we had at first and I liked the pediatrician. K came to visit later that night and brought me supper while Grandpa and Grandma babysat. It worked out fine because we weren't allowed to bring the other kids to visit because of h1n1. I stayed overnight with Samuel. I liked having the one on one time with him just to snuggle and hang out with him, although he spent a lot of time sleeping. Poor baby. He was probably so glad to be able to breathe well again.

He did great overnight. The pediatrician said that night time is the worst during croup, so that was another reason to keep him overnight to monitor him. In the morning, they gave him a dose of oral steroids and we got to go home. Again after waiting for a while for every step. But that's just how hospitals are. K came in the morning to hang out and bring Samuel home. They got home around 2:00 I think. I had to run some errands...read: shop. It was crazy, crazy...especially at my favorite T*rget. But I ended up finding some stuff to buy.

Now Michael is coughing and has a runny nose, but it's not the barky cough and he isn't wheezing...yet. I just hope I never have to hear that again. Ever.