So, yesterday, Roland's cough got much worse. By the evening, he was coughing a lot and wheezing. I steamed up the bathroom and took him in there, but it didn't help much. He was also being REALLY fussy, which is very abnormal for him. Around 10, I decided that I wanted to take him to the ER...as my mom said, better to take him when we're all awake then at 3am.
We were the only ones at the ER, so we waited less than 5 minutes before they called us back. The nurse was very nice, kept talking about how adorable Roland is, how big he is, and how well he was tolerating getting poked at. He kept flirting with her, too.
She weighed him...my kid is a whopping 14lbs,3oz. He's HUGE!
The Doctor came in and listened to his chest, heart, tummy...said everything sounded good. They tested him for RSV, which he did NOT like. Then they got him a breathing treatment, which definitely helped with the wheezing.
And then, the Dr. told me that they wanted to do a chest x-ray, just to rule out pneumonia and make sure his lungs were clear.
If I never have to put my infant through an x-ray again, it will be too soon. It was absolutely horrifying. I didn't cry, but it was really hard not to...
They sat him upright on this little seat thing, raised his arms above his head to hold his head. Then the x-ray tech strapped this hard, clear plastic tube around him. Needless to say, he did NOT like this. At all. The poor little guy screamed and screamed. It was absolutely heartbreaking...I wish it wasn't necessary, but I understand why they did it.
The x-rays were clear of anything serious and the RSV test was negative. That coupled with the fact that he didn't have a fever gave them the diagnosis of bronchialitis. Which is good, or better than it could have been. The Dr. told us that if we weren't comfortable going home, he'd admit him because he's so young, but that there wasn't anything they'd do at the hospital that we couldn't do at home. His wheezing and coughing cleared up after the breathing treatment, so we decided to go ahead and bring him home. We got a prescription for a nebulizer and albuterol, just to help him breath a little easier.
We went down this morning and rented a nebulizer and got his meds, and it really does seem to help. We're doing treatments every 3 hours, as needed, and it really is a relief to know that it makes him feel better. Today when I gave him his treatment, he actually seemed to enjoy it...he was grinning and giggling and kept trying to eat the mask or push his face into it.
Oh, and the Lincare people in Havre are amazing...they're not open on Sundays, but the guy came in especially for us so that we could get his equipment set up. He also gave us some free masks that we can pass in front of Roland's face.
Last night was very stressful for me. Roland was SO good in the hospital. Yes, he screamed during the x-ray...but I couldn't blame him one bit. It was really painful seeing my baby boy so sick...but after the hospital, I felt so much better. It was just good knowing that it wasn't anything serious, that it will pass, and that he is going to be ok.
Oh, and my kid is GIGANTIC! :)
