Caroline got sick for the very first time in her little life a few weeks ago, and it was terrible. At first she wasn't super sick--just a slight fever, some coughing, and a general not feeling well. But it went on...and on...and on...and finally after two weeks she started to feel better. I was jumping for joy, not only because she was getting back to her old self, but because we could get out of the house after being inbound for such a long time.
It turned out to be premature, because after a few days, she started getting sick again, and this time, it got serious. One particular night she had a hard time sleeping, and I was up a couple of times trying to get her comforted and back asleep. That morning she was down for a nap by 7:45am, so that tells you about how much she had slept the night before.
When she woke up from her nap, I knew something was wrong. Her breathing was shallow, and gasping, and it sounded terrible. She wouldn't eat, and just clung to me. I called the doctor, and they were able to get her in in about two hours--so I continued walking around the house with her until it was time to go. By then her chest was severely retracting, and her breaths were coming quick and even more shallow than before. Honestly, I was scared to death. I've never seen anything like it, and it took everything I had to stay calm, get the boys packed up with things to do, and drive to our appointment. If we had had to wait any longer, I would have just taken her straight to the ER, and in some ways, I wish I had.
I knew it was serious when we got to the office and they didn't speak---they just looked at her and when and got the doctor, who came in immediately. They took her pulse/ox, which was very low (82), and within a couple of minutes she was getting a breathing treatment to help her. It was horrible--she was screaming as the nurse and I held her down for what seemed like forever. She had to have it on for 20 minutes, which honestly WAS forever. The boys were being wild, since we were cooped up in this tiny room, and I had no hands to help them find something to do. I was still really worried, and it was one of the craziest moments I've had...ever. Finally Caroline calmed down, and the last few minutes were relatively calm while I played I Spy with the boys.
When her breathing treatments were finished, she had thankfully improved enough for the doctor to give us our choice--the hospital, or home with around the clock breathing treatments. I chose home--and after stopping to get the necessary machine and medicine--we were finally there. Fortunately she responded really well to the medication and treatments, and continued to improve over the next week.
I've never experienced a baby or child not being able to breathe, and I hope I never do again.
