ER, Hospital, & Work

It has been a few days since my last post because we have been SO busy. SO much has happened since our last post so I will try to recap it all the best I can.

As you know, last week I picked Baker up from daycare on Tuesday morning as he was running a fever, coughing a lot, and doing some grunting noises. I was really in a bind because Gordie doesn't have a flexible schedule so I got Baker home and worked the rest of the day from home the best I could. I was not about to take the rest of the day off or use vacation. Being at home with a sick baby isn't necessarily a vacation!! I made arrangements with our IT guy to get my computer at home situated so that I could remote into my desktop at work and function at home as if I was in the office. The time had finally come where we were finally getting to see the Dr. to find out what was causing his fever & symptoms. Verdict = he had 2 ear infections, a ruptured ear drum, and an upper respiratory infection. Our poor little guy was hurting!! They gave us a script for amoxicillon and said to give him Tylenol as needed and we were on our way. The next few nights were pretty painful. Baker was screaming a lot and was really fussy. He is NOT a vocal/fussy baby and usually sleeps through the night so we knew something was really wrong but we were hoping the medicine would soon help him.

By Friday morning, Baker almost started to act like he was getting better. I worked from home in the morning for 3 hours and then was going to spend the rest of the afternoon watching and playing with him as he seemed to be doing better. After I fed him at noon, I noticed a drastic difference in him. He was really laboring to breath and he was making almost a grunting noise every time he did breath. It definitely wasn't normal. I called my mom and she listened to him and said that I should probably take him to the hospital. I couldn't get in touch with Gordie as he wasn't answering his phone so after several attempts, I called his shop. His supervisor was going to give him the message to call me. I called him back immediately and told him not to worry about calling me back but to meet me at the emergency room. I got Baker's things together as fast as I could and headed out the door. I seemed to have hit every red light possible on the way there. I was almost frantic thinking something was wrong with his airways and that was scared that he wasn't able to breath right with the way he was trying so hard to breath in and out. He seemed pretty lethargic too which is not his norm so I knew something was up. I really wanted to take him to McKay-Dee Hospital (where he was born) but I was afraid I shouldn't wait the extra 15 minutes to get there so we went to Davis Hospital which is 5 minutes from our house. We checked into the ER and sat in the waiting room. Gordie met us there and was glad that I got him there when we did. However, Baker had stopped making the grunting noises and his breathing wasn't as erratic as it was at home. I almost thought we were there for no reason. We sat and waited for what seemed forever. I had called the pediatrician's office earlier that day as I had noticed him making some grunting nosies and thought it was a little odd so they scheduled me an appointment but it wasn't until 720PM. When Baker stopped making those noises and it seemed like his breathing was back to "normal" we almost thought we shouldn't wait in the ER and we should just go to his pediatrician appointment that evening. The girl at the front desk checked with the girl and we were the next ones to go back once they got a room clear so she begged us to stay and that they really wanted to see him. We agreed and decided to wait. Little did we know that our little Baker baby was in a great deal of pain and while he might have not have been showing those same symptoms in the waiting room, he sure was showing them more intensely when we were in the back waiting on the doctor. His breathing was so labored that they put him on a constant oxygen monitor and eventually hooked him up to an oxygen tank to assist him. His heart rate was pretty high (160s) and they normally like it around 100-130 so that was a big sign to them that something wasn't right. The Dr. right away agreed to test him for RSV, the flu, and do a chest x-ray on him. The results finally came back positive for RSV. I was just so upset but relieved that we had a diagnosis for his breathing issue. They decided it was best since he was 3 months old to admit him for the night and constantly monitor him especially with his elevated heart rate. Mind you, we got to the ER at 345PM and we were given his diagnosis at 845PM and we FINALLY made it up to his room on the PEDS floor at 900PM. Our evening was completely shot but we were so glad that Baker was going to be OK. It was so pitiful seeing him in the itty bitty hospital crib. Even worse seeing him on oxygen and get his nose suctioned out every 4 hours along with his breathing treatments. However, we made it through the night and he was able to be discharged at 1PM on Saturday! We were so happy to finally get home and get in our own bed! The hospital was newly renovated so it was a nice room but the pull out chair that was a twin bed was for the birds--SO uncomfortable. Gordie slept in a recliner which he said was pretty comfortable so I guess he thought he was doing me a favor by letting me have the bed. Little did he know the bed felt like I was sleeping on cardboard. LOL

We had a follow up appt at Bakers pediatrician on Sunday as they like to see you the next day after being discharged. She said his 2 ear infections weren't getting any better and to discontinue taking the amoxicillon. She gave us a new script for Augmentin and gave us some medicated ear drops to put in both ears each night. We have another appointment for her to check his ears on Wednesday (tomorrow) to see how the medicine change and drops are helping. If she doesn't see the progress she likes, then we will have to go see an ENT. I am PRAYING that his ears are getting better. I don't want to have to see another doctor. We had a surprise at our door from our neighbors on Sunday afternoon. Our two neighbors made us dinner! They had brought us over a big pan of lasagna and a salad for supper. We were soo thankful and what a blessing. Neither of us felt like making anything as we were still sooo drained from the weekends festivities. We really do have the worlds best neighbors, I'm convinced.

Overall, Baker has been getting better day by day. He still has a lingering bad cough but it is progressively getting better. His daycare didn't want him to return until next Monday as they like babies to stay out 1 week after being discharged from the hospital for RSV. I don't blame them but it was a little chaotic trying to get my arrangements configured this week so I could still work and take care of him. I am working from home from 7AM-1PM and then going to work from 2-5PM and taking Baker with me. Gordie picks him up from my work when he gets off so he isn't there the entire time. Our office is pretty quiet these days with so many people on travel lately so I don't feel he's disrupting anyone. If anything, everyone stops in to see him. He just loves to look at other people and smile. He is quite the ham or "meatball" as Natalie says. She just says "he's so yummy, like a meatball!" When she said that in front of him, Baker just smiled. haha I said well, I guess he likes being called a meatball! I took his bouncer to my office so that way he doesn't have to sit in his car seat the entire time. It really has worked out well so far.

The base called on Monday and told me that he has a spot at the CDC (child development center) on base effective 15 March. I couldn't be happier! I was very pleased with Tender Years and I know they are doing a great job with Baker but having him on base will be SO much easier. Gordie will be able to drop him off in the mornings on his way to work and pick him up on his way home from work and it will actually be on his way home rather than having to go out of his way to get him and get stuck in so much traffic. I know he is well taken care of at Tender Years as he is only 1 out of 9 babies there. I am going to the CDC tomorrow to find out more information. Now that I've been in the daycare realm, I know more questions to ask them and everything. I want to find out how many babies they have to ensure Baker is going to get the quality care he needs. It will definitely be more affordable for us = cheaper than Tender Years but I want to make sure that we aren't sacrificing quality. I'll keep you posted!

Work is going great! I am so fortunate to be able to do a lot of my new job duties from home. Especially now that I can remote into my computer at work it makes it sooo much easier! I can work all my files from home as I am mapped to all my drives and everything. Technology just amazes me!

I have tons of pictures to post, I just have to upload them. I'll work on doing that tomorrow. Right now, its 9PM and that means feeding time and the nightly routine of giving him his meds, ear drops, breathing treatment and getting him to bed. Boy, we have quite the nightly routine! But I wouldn't have it any other way. I just love him to pieces!