Sweet Little One

Two weeks ago we got a small taste of what it is like to have a sick child.  Sadie got sick 3 weeks ago, nothing serious just a cough and a low fever for a couple of days, and then a few days later Wyatt and Cooper woke up coughing as well.  Having a new baby get sick was new to me so I found myself searching the Internet trying to figure out how worried I should be.  Of course I read many things and still felt like I knew very little.  So after 2 days of coughing I called my doctors office and told them what was happening.  They told me that I definitely needed to take him in first thing in the morning and that if I noticed his cough or breathing get even a little bit worse I should take him straight to the E.R.  Now I thought that this was a bit of an overreaction but after getting a few more opinions that's exactly what we ended up doing.  By late Monday evening Cooper was wheezing slightly so we called a friend to come and stay with Sadie and Wyatt for a few hours and we headed to the E.R. 

 

Let me just say I hate being in the E.R.!  I don't know if everyone does or if I just have bad memories there, but few things make me feel more anxious.  We ended up spending close to 7  hours in the E.R., during which time we were told twice that we were going to go home only to have another Dr. say that no actually we needed to stay. It was quite confusing.  However, finally at about 3:00 a.m. we were admitted into the pediatric ward.  I was relieved and thankful to finally be in a room with nurses trained to work with babies.  Until, that is, they took Cooper to get his I.V.  It took them almost an hour to get his I.V. started and all the while I could hear him screaming down the hall but couldn't be with him.  I was a little hysterical.  It was such a helpless feeling to not be able to rescue him or explain to him why this had to be done.  I kept thinking I can't imagine what parents go through who have children who need long term hospitalization.  How heartbreaking!  Anyway, when I finally got my sweet one back he was traumatized to say the least.  He would sleep for 5 minutes, wake up screaming, then I'd calm him back down to sleep and we'd do it all again, over and over.  Finally about 3 hours later he fell into a deep sleep, slept for almost 4 hours and awoke felling much less fearful.  Poor little guy! 

 

During this time Brandon and I were in a bit of a panic as well trying to figure our how to juggle being with him, getting me some things I needed down at the hospital, and looking after Sadie and Wyatt.  Thankfully we have wonderful friends who were able to stop by the hospital throughout the day and Grandma came to the rescue Tuesday afternoon.  We were so thankful for her help!

Cooper ended up staying in the hospital for almost 3 days.  We were finally able to be discharged on Thursday afternoon after his congestion began to subside so that he didn't have to be on oxygen and was able to begin eating more normally, thus reducing his risk of dehydration. 

 

We were thankful at the end of these 3 days, which seemed much longer, to have healthy children, health care, friends who graciously brought us meals yet again, and Grandma who was able to leave on only a few hours notice to be with us.  God is good and we are so grateful for our many blessings!