As I mentioned, Baby E has been under the weather again. He has an ear infection and a few days ago got an virus on top of it. I had taken him to the doctor because his breathing had become wheezy. The doctor gave me instructions to give him albuterol, which I did all night long and by the morning I thought he sounded ok (not great, but not horrible.) I went to work. In the afternoon I heard from the sitter that he wasn’t sounding too well and after getting to him and listening to him breathe I called the doctor, who wanted to see him, so Tim took him down.

I got C off to church with her grandparents I went to my sister in law’s house to get my hair cut. That’s when Tim called me to say that the doctor said he was very concerned about Baby E and that he needed to take him to the ER immediately. Apparently Baby E was having a real difficult time breathing at that point and was struggling. His little body was getting tired. The fear was that it would get worse overnight and that he wouldn’t have the strength to fight it. He didn’t want Baby E coming home until he was stable. He gave him some steroids and albuterol and they headed to the ER.

After Tim called me and the initial shot of adrenaline at the sound of ER quickly passed, I made hurried plans for Big E, grabbed my things from the house and headed toward the hospital. I called family and friends asking for prayer, making plans for the big kids, and then I stopped and grabbed food for both Baby E and Tim. When I finally got to the hospital, I had dried my tears (because yes, I had cried…) and got inside. Tim and Baby E were waiting for an empty room. Not too long after we were taken back and we met the doctor. He ordered a chest x-ray and testing for flu and RSV. By this point Baby E was acting much better and flirting with all the nurses.

He screamed though his chest x-ray and the other tests, and like all good ER visits, we waited forever for the results. And Baby E wouldn’t sleep at all. Around 10pm the doctor came in to say that the flu test and the RSV test came back negative. The x-ray looked ok, he saw some inflammation, but it wasn’t too bad.  He diagnosed him with Reactive Airway Disease (RAD) and said if he develops a pattern of this type of sickness he might get diagnosed with asthma. They ordered a breathing treatment and we finally left by 10:45, getting home well after 11. I got him to bed and set my alarm to check on him a few times in the middle of the night. My in-laws were awesome and kept the older kids overnight so I could focus on him. He didn’t need another albuterol treatment until 9 this morning, so that was a huge blessing.

I stayed home today to keep an eye on him and he had a follow up appointment this afternoon. He saw the same doctor he had seen the past two nights, and he said that he looked so much better than last night. The steroids are working well and I should keep using the inhaler. It will take a few days for him to clear up completely but we are on the upward side of this. The doctor said he was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t have to keep Baby E overnight considering how bad he sounded last night.

So there it is, the great ER adventure. I spent the rest of today keeping an eye on Baby E and hanging out with the other two. The weather was nice when we got home so they got to spend some time outside riding bikes and jumping in puddles.

I’m praying for an uneventful night tonight and an even clearer sounding boy in the morning. Thank you again to everyone who prayed!

C brought some artwork home from school. She is on the left and I am on the right. With all the lack of sleep lately, I think my portrait is pretty spot on!