Scariest Moment of My Life

Luc and I have been blessed with a pretty healthy child.  I've only had to take Caroline to the doctor once because she was sick, and that came back with her nasty RSV diagnosis.  She's never had an ear infection and is able to fight off colds pretty well.  I know of lots of kids who have had tubes put in their ears by this age, or are on a regular medication for something or another.  Our little trooper has never had issues with any of that, and for that we are thankful.

Caroline woke up with a nasty cold on Saturday morning.  I blame this entirely on the daycare at the gym where I work out.  I dropped her off on Friday morning, only to be greeted by a little boy with snot all over his face.  (Seriously! Who does that? Who brings their kid to the gym when they are so obviously sick?? Go for a run. Do a workout video. Do jumping jacks while your kid watches Disney. ANYTHING but bring them to a place where they can infect other children!  RUDE!  Keep in mind this is the same place where she picked up RSV.) I was hoping she would stay away from him, but some sort of nasty germs found their way to our sweet toddler.

Her cold was mainly congestion on Saturday, but progressed into a feverish cough and cold by Sunday morning.  By Sunday night, Caroline's breathing was shallow and labored and her energy was low.  I sat with her in a steamy bathroom in hopes of breaking up her chest congestion.  She hated it and vomited at the end.  Thank goodness for Luc and his mopping skills!  We put her to bed and prayed that she'd feel better by the morning.  Around 10:30, I turned on the monitor to check on her and noticed that her leg was stuck in the crib slats, so I went in her room to help her out.  I noticed that her breathing was very shallow so I put her in the bed with us and held her for a few minutes.  At that point she sat up and vomited again and was listless.  Needless to say, I was scared.  So scared.  I called the Texas Children's Nurse hotline and spoke to a nurse who lead me through a series of questions.  After answering one about Caroline's "retraction", she told me to hang up the phone and dial 911.  That's something a mother never wants to hear.  Ever.  I got hysterical and couldn't speak for a minute.  She tried to calm me down and when I did I asked her if we could drive Caroline to the emergency room instead, and she said that would be fine.  We made it to Kingwood hospital 10 minutes later.

The following 30 minutes were very frustrating, as all of North Houston was in the ER as well.  We were checked in by a greeter nurse, and finally admitted 30 minutes later.  They immediately put Caroline on a long breathing treatment because her pulse/oxygen levels were low and her demeanor mirrored it.  They took chest x-rays that came back negative for pneumonia (thank goodness!), as did her RSV test.  The doctor said she had a nasty virus that causes Bronchilitis (sister to Bronchitis).  He also said it's a contagious disease that masks itself as a cold.  Thanks, gym mom with the sick kid!  Caroline received another breathing treatment and a steroid shot and we were finally released around 3:00 Monday morning.  She blew kisses to everyone and we were on our way.  FYI - the CVS in Kingwood has a pharmacy that is open 24 hours. 

We made it home just before 4:00 and put our little angel to bed.  And she woke up at 7:30, ready to go.  Like nothing had ever happened.  Like she had never scared the tar out of her mother!  Luc keeps bringing up a good point - what would have happened if I hadn't checked on her that one last time?  Scares me every time he says it and makes me thankful that God gives me the energy to check on her, one last time.

Side note - the worst time to bring your kid to the ER is when they have a giant bruise on their head. 

She's back to her normal, crazy self and is ready to play and run.  I have to keep her body temperature down so we're taking it easy for a few more days.  She's on breathing treatments, steroids and an antibiotic, plus fruit snacks to bribe her to take her nasty meds.  Steroids + sugar snacks = one fun baby!


Here are some pictures of our adventuresome week:



Sassy pants!



Eating some ice cream and enjoying the sunny weather.



Yep. That's the bruise. It only got worse after that.  The scrape on her hair line is from the day before.  She also managed to get a bruise on her cheek during her nap that afternoon.



Trying to take her pup pup for a walk.  She doesn't understand why it won't get up and walk.



Breathing treatment #1.  She insisted on holding it herself!



Treatment #2!  Again, she wanted to hold it. 



Doing her at home treatments with Dad.  She is so good about taking them. 



Morning after the scariest night ever.  She was so worn out!



I found a way to hide her bruises!