Sicky Sick family

The last week or so the family has been struggling with a nasty cold. Kira brought it home from daycare, shared with Jon, which resulted in him taking 2 sick days this week. I can't remember the last time that he actually took a sick day, but it's been over a year for sure. Despite our best attempts to keep her from sharing the cold with Kai, she accidently sneezed on him, and sure enough, he got sick. He woke up Wednesday morning with a very congested sounding cough, but was otherwise fine. By the end of the day on Thursday he had a fever, was coughing up mucus (yummy) and was just miserable and clingy. After a lot of nagging by my mom, I reluctantly took Kai to Children's Hospital to be seen. My mom was worried because when I was a baby I had similar symptoms and it turned out to be pneumonia. Naturally, I figured she was worried for nothing and assumed that I'd be sent home from the hospital immediately...boy, was I ever wrong.

Apparently, if a baby under 6 months old has that kind of congestion in combination with a fever (Kai was 37.6 degrees), then they immediately undergo all sorts of wonderful tests and x-rays to rule out infections and other stuff. I was surprised that he would need tests, but was grateful that they were concerned and that he'd be taken care of right away. At the time, I had no idea what kind of tests he'd be getting done and it didn't even cross my mind that it'd be more than a simple x-ray or maybe a little needle for blood work; but when the nurse returned to our room he had his arms full with stuff. I guess my face must have shown the concern, so he said that I was welcome to leave the room during the tests (what he meant was that they didn't want me in there) as it is harder for the parents than the baby. Kai had to get a catheter, IV, blood work, and a nasal saline cleanse as well as his chest x-ray. Poor little guy! I gave him lots of kisses and cuddles, fought back the tears, handed him over to the nurses and then got the heck out of that room as fast as I could.

Unfortunately, as it was so late in the evening (11:45 by this point), 99% of the hospital was closed, and I hadn't brought a coat so I couldn't go outside...there was no where to hide where I couldn't hear my little baby boy screaming and crying his lungs out. So I stood in the waiting room blankly staring at the movie that was playing and pretending not to hear Kai. I knew that he was in good hands and that he'd forget about everything quickly, but it was hard. In hindsight, I am grateful to not have seen him getting all those needles (especially the catheter, I remember Kira getting this once and it was horrific to see her in such discomfort). When they were done, they brought my exhausted and quivering little man out to me; he looked up at me with eyes that said "I'm so tired, why is this happening to me?", then he fell asleep. He was a trooper during the x-ray, barely even cried - likely because he was all cried out from the tests that had just happened. He slept on me while we waited the 2 hours for the test results.

Just before 3am the doctor came in and said that all of Kai's tests were good, he had Bronchiolitis and would be congested for the next week or so and have a cough for about 3 weeks. We were told to keep an eye on his breathing and bring him back should his condition worsen. Kai woke up when the doctor came into the room and he greeted him with smiles and giggles, gotta love short-term memory.

Phew. What a relief to know that he was fine, poor kid was just beat after all those tests.

This morning his fever was still there, but it dropped after he had some tylenol (unlike his sister he doesn't mind taking medicine, I sure hope this doesn't change!). Tonight his fever seems to have come down and he's sleeping soundly. We are hoping that the worst is over and that he starts to get better soon. It's so hard when your kids are sick.