Whew!

Well, we just got home from a 2 night stay in the ICU at the local children's hospital....not fun!
Our oldest, Brianna, had some virus last week where she had a high fever one day, slept all day, and developed a slight cough during that time. She still isn't completely better but is back at school at least.

Nikolas, on the the other hand, started with a slight cough on Friday night, he wasn't acting sick and had no fever. By Saturday morning, you could tell he wasn't feeling good. I gave him a bath in the morning and by the time he was dressed and lotioned up, he started getting a fever. He wasn't acting himself and I could tell he was getting sick so I let him sleep the rest of the morning and the first part of the afternoon. He woke up around 2 and I had fed him while he slept (one bonus of the tube!).

Suddenly, his breathing started to sound extremely congested, kind of like when you need to clear your throat really bad. Well he couldn't clear it, he would try and cough but it would still sound the same. You could also tell he was starting to have a hard time breathing through the phlegm.

My dad needed help moving a new ac unit into their house so we headed over there. The whole (5 minute) drive was terrible. I kept trying to suction Nick with a bulb syringe and I would get some gunk, but the back of Nick's throat (where his adenoids are) is very sensitive, so I was also starting to get a lot of blood. So he's screaming, can't breath and can't cough enough to clear his throat....not fun.

My dad convinced us we needed to get him in, now. The local children's hospital has a branch hospital (but not as well equipped, as the downtown one) with an ER so we took him there, mainly because I knew he'd be able to see an actual doctor.

His oxygen saturation levels are at 85% and he is sounding terrible. I had given him ibuprofen earlier so no temp.

They deep suction him, lots more blood and a good amount of phlegm. The doctor decides he needs to be admitted, he knows he going to get worse and he's going to need oxygen and lots more suctioning.

Well in the 2 hour time period we are waiting to be moved upstairs, Nick's fever spikes to 102.7. His heart is racing in the the 200's and his respiration rate is in the 80's....not good.

They bring in another doctor and she decides he needs to go downtown to the main hospital. The transport team was on their way.

This whole time I am having terrible flashbacks of when Nick just had his second lip repair (back in Feb), we bring him home, take him to the same branch hospital and he has his first seizure. And actually, his symptoms are very similar and he ended up having RSV.
I am praying he doesn't have seizures this time....

They do blood work, and chest X-rays and cultures, but nothing turns up. It's just some nasty virus that Nick's little body can't seem to handle on his own.

Amazingly, Sunday evening he starts to do much better, no more fever and he doesn't need the oxygen or suctioning anymore. It seems as fast as the symptoms appeared, they disappeared.

So we spent two nights in the PICU and went home....very unusual. Normally you are sent to the floor first, then maybe the next day you get to go home. But he was doing so well they decided he could go home. Yes!

He's still not himself, very sleepy and cranky, it seems it hurts him to cough. But he's breathing fine and doesn't need oxygen.

I'm just happy we're home. Even more so right now because my Chemistry final is supposed to be tonight and I have not had adequate time to study. But my teacher is great, he said I could take the final anytime before Thursday....so thankful I have an understanding teacher!

BUT, now Ben is getting sick....it's a never-ending battle with the cold season. Hopefully, Joe and I can dodge the bullet though!

Oh, and I almost forgot to update about Carsen. He looks great! No abnormalities and growing perfectly so far. Praise the Lord! We can't wait to meet the newest addition to our family...