Yesterday we had the most random 9 hours and today we are all exhausted.
This story has a happy ending but very random none the less....
B has had a cold for about a week and Saturday he developed a weird cough. He would wake up from a nap coughing for about 10 seconds ending in gagging and trying to catch his breath. After the second time it happened I was getting a little worried because he seemed to loose a little pinkness in his lips with each episode. The on call pediatrician suggested we go to the walk in clinic just to get him looked at...given him being a preemie and having an extensive medical history.
We arrive at the clinic at 3pm and after a 30 min wait we saw the doctor.
He was concerned about the cough causing him to possibly be turning blue. Whooping cough was ruled out when we realized B is up to date on his vaccines which pretty much covers it. He suggested we go to the ER, they are more equipped to run more tests. Luckily the ER was in the same medical building we were in. This is the same ER we went to back in December when B came down with his third round of meningitis.
We walked over, waited some more, and once again gave the run down to doctor number two. He ordered an x ray to check his lungs and when the results came back he said B had an enlarged heart and he was talking to the Cardiologist at Children's Hospital and waiting for a transfer.....wait....what??? We were so confused. We came in for a cough and now we are waiting for an ambulance to take us to Children's (the same hospital B had his previous hospital stay, one hour away) and meeting with a cardiologist. His heart has always been fine...? We were a little freaked out and in a state of deje vu as last time we came to this ER we were transferred via ambulance to Children's. The small ER we were at was not capable of caring for a cardiac pediatric case. I asked if we could just drive him there ourselves and they said given that he'd turned blue he was a breathing risk. I'm trying to do some back tracking at this point...I never said he turned blue!
While waiting for transfer B took a nap and had another coughing spell. This time I specifically watched him and his lips were perfectly pink! I told the Dr but the plan would still be the same.
The Dr said we were being taken to the ICU. Still confused and my head spinning a bit....ICU? What? They did an EKG and got B ready for transport. I refused the IV, yay for parents rights. He didn't need fluid, he was eating fine. I'm not going to poke him if he doesn't need it. And B as always was in good spirits through it all. Our old pro!
The transfer EMT team arrived and after they evaluated him they said he looked fine and they called the cardiologist and decided he didn't need to go to the ICU that we would admit him to the Children's ER to get this all sorted out. This was a relief, I would rather talk to the cardio dr before we start admitting him to a $10,000 a night ICU....where we have stayed before.
I rode in the front of the ambulance and B was in back watching Leap Frog videos with the EMT's. D met us there. Did I mention it's an hour north!
We arrive, get checked in, and again we wait. B had another coughing spell while he was napping and this time he was hooked up to an oxygen monitor and during the spell his oxygen never dropped.
We met with yet another doctor and went through the whole schpeal again. They said we needed to wait for the cardiologist to review the x-rays and he would come talk to us. More waiting...
Luckily we finally were given the OK to feed B, who was starving and tired at this point.
Enter pediatric cardiologist....FINALLY!!! He reviewed his history, looked at his previous ECHO (heart ultra sound) from the NICU, and reviewed the x-ray and decided his heart was fine. The previous ER doctor had slightly mis-read the x-ray to believe his heart was very large. The cough was not related to an enlarged heart it was just a cold. He said he did not think we needed to be admitted for the night and that we could go home. Sigh of relief.
I understand that with B being a preemie and having a history of severe illness we need to be more cautious. I do not regret taking him to the doctor, I will always be cautious as a mom. I am so grateful he is OK and his little heart is perfect. And with that said....was all this really necessary? Seemed like a lot of hoopla and $$$ (thank god for good insurance) just to tell me he has a cold.
Unfortunately D and I are pros at this hospital game so we stayed pretty calm. B was in good spirits so in a weird way we were able to make light and try to enjoy our random night together. My mom instinct was never really super worried, I just felt like he was OK. There is something to say about how powerful your gut can be. Like before he got round three of meningitis, I knew in the back of my mind that something wasn't right and low and behold he got sick again.
We all finally snuggled into bed at 130am. B slept like a log with no more coughing episodes. B slept in and is now chilling with dad watching football!!
