Seeing a child not be able to breathe is just about the scariest thing there is. We have now had that experience much more than I feel comfortable with, with the latest episode resulting in two ER's, an ambulance ride, and the ICU.
Caroline woke up one morning with a runny nose, but still happy. Throughout the day I could tell she had to work harder to breathe, so I started giving her breathing treatments to see if I could get it under control. Later that evening, it was still not improving, and by midnight, it was to the point where she could barely breathe. She was struggling so much that she was throwing up every few minutes. It was time to take her in.
Thankfully, Rick had just arrived home from his business trip a couple of hours earlier, and I didn't have to worry about what to do with the kids. I tucked a rag under her chin, grabbed a sweater for her, and we were out the door. When we arrived, there was no parking at the ER, nor anything nearby. I was beyond frustrated when I had to park quite a ways away, and run with Caroline inside.
When we checked in, the nurse took one look at her and sent us back. Within 30 minutes of our arrival, they assessed the situation as too serious for them to treat (it's a smaller hospital) and called an ambulance to transport her to the children's hospital in Buffalo. I held her in the ambulance, and after being so hysterical for so long, she had calmed down enough to lie still during the ride, which was good.
When we arrived at the second ER, they administered treatments while waiting to be admitted. Around 6am, they moved us to a pediatric floor, but within 20 minutes, it was decided she needed more care, and she was moved to the PICU. It was now around 7am, neither of us had slept the entire night, and we were both exhausted.
Caroline wouldn't sleep in her crib yet, so I say in the chair next to it, and held her on my lap. We were able to sleep for a couple of hours, but she was so uncomfortable with oxygen in her nose and being prodded every 30 minutes, that it didn't last too long. Her pulse ox was low, and her heart rate was sky high, so alarms kept going off.
It was a long morning, and she was hysterical a few times, but would catch a few minutes of sleep here and there. She insisted on lying flat on her back on my legs, and I didn't move for at least 6 hours. They administered medicine through the cannula in her nose, and through her IV every couple of hours, and ran a million tests.
Rick came in the afternoon to stay with her while I went home to shower and get a few things. I headed back that evening, and found she hadn't improved much. They moved her to another section of the ICU that night, so it was late before she finally went to sleep. Fortunately, I got her to sleep in the crib, and I slept on the chair next to her.
Around 3am, they had to remove some of her cords, because they were choking her. She is such a wild sleeper, she changed positions and crib locations many times. The next morning there was a ton of improvement, and she was given the okay to try some food. She are a little bit, and was acting more like herself.
It's the hardest when they are feeling better, but still have to be contained in a small space. They though her puzzles, books, and toys, but they didn't last long. Our awesome nurse even rounded up a stroller--a double one, with a place for her oxygen, and a place for her. :) We couldn't leave the ICU, so we made about a million loops around the hallways.
Being in the pediatric intensive care unit really brought me a lot of perspective. I did have a sick child, but I knew she would be okay. We were surrounded by children that were incredibly ill or injured, most of them actually comatose and on life support. Their parents had been there for weeks, sitting by their sides, worrying and wondering and I'm sure praying as hard as they could. I felt grateful that we would be going home soon, and my heart just broke for these other families.
Later that evening, we were finally given the okay to go home. Normally, they don't release from the ICU--they send patients to the floor first--but she had improved enough that the attending physician was okay with it.
I was never so happy to be home. In the end, she was diagnosed again with Bronchiolitis. She has had it three times this year, hospitalized twice, and should have been the first time. It goes from 0-60 in a few hours, and breathing treatments at home have never helped. It makes me so nervous for the future, and I may not send her to nursery when she's old enough. We may need to get her through the winter first. I just hope we can figure out the cause soon--it's one of the scariest things I've been through with one of my kids. We are so happy she is okay!!!
