Xander spiked a fever of 105.3 over last weekend and it hovered between 102-104 the rest of the time. His runny nose got all icky and he started coughing horribly. Saturday afternoon I noticed that his skin was "pulling" into his ribs when he was breathing. Thinking it was croup we took him for a long walk outside in the cold air. He was up fussing all night long Saturday night.
Sunday morning rolled around and he looked so sick :(
We played in the bathtub with some warm steam to see if it would help the congestion. He just sat there the whole time looking sad.
Sunday evening his lips turned blue for a couple hours and I kept a sharp eye on him (it has happened several times before from his tracheomalacia). We were up most of the night again Sunday night as Gabriella had started coughing terribly too.
Monday I took both kids to the dr's office to get checked out and Xander was having very labored breathing. She diagnosed both kids with bronchiolitis (different from bronchitis) and said that Xander needed to go straight to the hospital to be admitted. She couldn't hear how his lungs sounded because he was wheezing so much.
Three Rivers Hospital was completely full so off we went to Medford to Rouge Valley Medical Center and the pediatric wing of the hospital.
Matt's car broke down leaving work and (praise Jesus) his buddy Shiloh was able to come pick him up and take him to the hospital to meet us.
Gabriella had missed nap and was feeling bad as well so her and Matt took a rest on the bed watching tv while I took care of all Xander's admitting stuff.
Poor kid trying to rest after they used a power sucker to suck out his nose.
Snuggles with daddy after getting his blood drawn.
Waiting to see how his x-ray looked.
Gabriella had fun playing with the buttons on the bed that made different parts of it go up and down.
In the evening after dinner Gabriella was getting a little restless (and I was stressed out) so we headed outside together to play on the playground. Gabriella said, "We are just girls so we play together at the playground!" She was very happy to get outside.
Xander when I asked if he wanted to smile and send a picture to Grampa.
Xander's chest x-ray show pneumonia (combined with influenza and RSV symptoms, on top of the bronchiolitis) so he was given two shots of antibiotics and an oral dose. It took him at least 20 minutes to calm down after the shots and this was after he had calmed down.
Naomi (our sister in law) was able to watch Gabriella overnight (such a blessing for us! We felt terrible asking someone to watch her when she was so sick too but with mom having her first dose of chemo just one week before we didn't have many options. Naomi was a HUGE lifesaver and even snuggled Gabriella when she woke up crying in the night)
After Matt ran Gabriella over to Zac & Naomi's house, he brought back a treat for me and Xander.... coconut milk ice cream bars covered in chocolate and almonds!!!
During the night his pulse-ox dropped down to 83 :( We were able to get it back up by re positioning him to a very propped up position (and lots of prayer!)
Morning rolled around and his fever was under control with tylenol, he hadn't needed any oxygen and he finally started drinking enough to go pee so we got to go home!! Yay!!
Watching tv with daddy and waiting for discharge papers
So excited to be headed home! Poor little man had a rough time in the hospital but we were so happy to head home!
While Xander was in the hospital we found out very quickly who loved us and had our backs. The calls and text messages that we got from people expressing their concern, sharing their love and prayers, and offers for help made us feel so loved! And Matt's employer was so understanding as well! As my sister-in-law texted us, "we will all get through this crazy time together".
This time reminded me of the song by Matt Maher that says, "Love will hold us together, make us a shelter to weather the storm. And I'll be my brother's keeper so the whole world will know that we're not alone"
