So, this last week has kind of been a blur, and this next week, is kind of starting out as a blur. A blur of coping. Seriously.
Last week, Harrison was diagnosed with mono. Yay. I feel bad for the kid. Although, I think as far as mono goes, he has a pretty mild case, thank goodness.
We went and talked to our financial advisor, and had a good meeting. Of course, this meeting took place on the same day as the day that Harrison informed me that his throat hurt bad enough that he didn't think he'd be able to concentrate in school.
So, that was fun.
Then, because his throat hurt bad enough, the pediatrician said that he felt that Harrison should stay home for the rest of the week. Which, he's old enough, so as far as that goes, not a big deal. Still, I always get a little anxiety when my kids miss school, because I always worry about the work that they are going to have to make up.
About the same time, Emmett started having a cough. The cough started to gradually get worse, but nothing big. Nothing big enough to cause me concern, but merely hope that it didn't turn into croup. Well, fast forward to today. Last night, I started noticing that Emmett was retracting while he breathed (in other words, when he breathed the muscles in between his ribs sucked in.) He was starting to use his whole stomach to breathe. Of course this concerned me, but he didn't seem to be struggling, he wasn't coughing THAT bad, and he was happy, energetic, and like his usual little self. I thought, hmm, maybe his cold is getting worse...I hope it doesn't turn croupy.
Well...last night, he woke up and had a coughing fit. I almost took him to the E R right then. I still wondered if it was croup though, so we tried sitting in the bathroom with him while the shower was on hot and steamy. It didn't help really. Maybe a little.
Shane gave him a blessing and I felt ok about waiting until the morning. He had stopped wheezing, and it seemed like his breathing had calmed down.
Well, Hazel and I went to church in the morning, and Shane stayed home with the boys. I kept feeling uneasy about Emmett, so we left a little early and came home. I called the pediatrician and then waited to hear back from him. By this time, Emmett had a little mild grunt at the end of each breath, but still, he was running around, playing with his toys, not lethargic in any way shape or form. I looked at his ribs, and the retraction was worse, plus the little grunts...
The pediatrician called back and recommended giving him a nebulizer treatment. Emmett's respirations were at 42 breaths per minute, which is higher than they like, so he told us to count his respirations again 10 minutes after the treatment and if they were 40 or higher he wanted us to call him again. Well, ten minutes after he was at 42 breaths per minute, 20 minutes after he was at 48. So, we called the pediatrician again. When he called back, we talked for a few minutes, and then told me that his main concern was that Emmett wasn't getting enough oxygen and possibly becoming hypoxic. So, I took him to the ER. (We have a pulse oximeter, which is probably one of the best things we have ever bought, but Emmett is too little for it to read on him.)
At the ER his oxygen level was okay. 90/91. That's not great, but usually if it's sitting at 90 they are okay with that unless it appears like the child is struggling to breathe. After evaluating him, they discovered that he has an ear infection, and after an x ray found out that he has pneumonia. The RSV test came back negative.
Sometimes when a child gets pneumonia they will hospitalize them, but because Emmett was doing well, they felt good about sending him home and giving him an antibiotic, and having us give him breathing treatments.
So, hopefully Emmett will improve. He supposed to be seen about Tuesday or Wednesday as a follow up.
I am so grateful that he is okay enough that he doesn't have to be in the hospital.
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