A few days ago we had what was definitely in the top five stressful parenting moments. (And the other four were in utero!)
The Friday before, Lucky developed a cough and seemed to have a headache. I didn’t think much of it since his little sister had the sniffles a couple days prior. I figured he caught her bug and would be fine in a day or two. By Sunday, his cough was worse and he couldn’t sleep. I gave him what we had left of some acetaminophen and he had a fitful night. He had a low fever at this time.
By Monday morning it was obvious this was more than a common cold. He was lethargic, had no appetite, and a higher fever. Daddy went to the pharmacy for some Children’s ibuprofen and it only lowered his fever. His cough grew worse despite a steamy shower, herbal chest rub, and fever reducer. His breathing was growing more labored. Tuesday night he couldn’t catch his breath. He had a fever of 104 most of the day and nothing I did broke it or even brought it down. We decided to run to Urgent Care, which was closed, so off to the ER we went.
After the initial check in and examination, they tried to give him more acetaminophen. Most of it ended up on his shirt. We were sent to the waiting room until they had a doctor available. Thus was all rather hectic since our 18 month old was acting crazy. We were in the waiting room about 10 minutes when Lucky started seizing.
Now….. I was aware seizures are relatively common when a child that small is running a high fever, but watching your child go through it is incredibly scary. I grabbed him and we rushed back up to the desk. The nurses immediately brought him into a room and started in on collecting vials for testing. Urine collection was a little more complicated. My three year old baby is STRONG and obviously objected to the catheter. His fever was still over 104 at this point and he was so delirious. I just felt so bad that he couldn’t understand what was happening and why he felt so terrible. It is a horrible feeling being unable to console your baby.
He had chest x-rays, but since he did not have any more Febrile seizures, they forwent a CT scan. After six hours of testing and monitoring, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and given an IV drip if antibiotics. We came home around 2:00 AM and I slept on the couch with Lucky in a playpen next to me. Two days later, he is so much better. He still isn’t eating much, but the fever is gone and he takes his amoxicillin like a good boy. His breathing sounds almost normal.
This is my healthy child who has never been sick. Apparently, he wanted to go big with his first illness! It doesn’t matter how calm I was on the outside. I felt like my chest was being squeezed for two days. It must have been an ordeal for Lucky too since he has relaxed his anti-cuddle stance and has been extra snuggly with his daddy and me.
I feel lucky we made it this long before our first big scare as parents, but I hope it is a long, long time before the next one. I have enough grey hairs.
So glad he turned out fine! What a horrible scare, I’m not looking forward to going through that kind of thing but I guess every parent goes through it in one way or another. Right now I panic when my 18 mo has a big fall or gets sniffly.
They sure can worry us. 🙂
Now he has a wicked cold which I also have. lol. Always something.;0
Awww, well I hope you both feel better soon.