We had a rough start to our week...
Monday the triplets and I went into the doctor for sore throats and a cough (I also had a double ear ache). We were tested and turns out Zachary and I were the only one's that had Strep Throat. So we got our antibiotics and went home. About 10pm that night Rex and I heard coughing and wheezing coming from the triplets room. I ran up stairs and flung the door open to find Zachary gasping for air. His face was white and all around his mouth was blue. He was definitely panicking, because he couldn't breath. I yelled for Rex as I ran with Zach down the stairs and into the family room. Rex held him close and talked softly too him, rubbing his back and coaching him to take deep breaths while I stumbled through putting together the nebulizer.
I was so shaken up... I started crying and told Rex how scared I was to see Zach like that again. I flashed back to the night that Zach was admitted to the hospital for RSV when he was just 4.5 pounds and still gestationally 4 weeks premature... that night I thought I was going to loose my baby. It is a very hard memory for us as parents.
The Albuterol in the nebulizer helped open up his lungs a bit... so he was a little calmer, but he was still wheezing and he had this awful Barking cough. We felt it necessary to take him to the hospital... but before doing so Rex gave him a Priesthood blessing.
Seth came with Zach and I to the hospital, so he could sit next to Zach in the back of the Navigator where I wouldn't have been able to reach him with out pulling the car over. (There is nothing more helpless than not being able to reach your child when they REALLY need you.) Seth was a huge help! He tried to get Zach to not think about crying. He tried to make him smile, and distract him from the pain caused by his coughing fits.
When we got to the ER, they took us back immediately. With Zach's history of being a preemie, getting both RSV and Pneumonia as a preemie, and having diagnosed asthma, they weren't going to make us wait for a room. Not long after we got in the room, the doctor was walking by and heard Zach cough.... he said there is no way it is just Strep. He thinks Zach was being affected by two sicknesses: Strep Throat and Croup. He told the nurse to start him immediately on a stronger inhaled drug through the nebulizer. It did help, but not enough. So the doctor ordered steroids which would help his upper-airway to open up. He said the barking cough is from swelling being near his vocal cords.
We were there for only 2 hours when I paged the nurse into the room, It was obvious Zach was feeling better... He was playing and laughing and bouncing off the walls. He wanted to go for a walk, and go to bathroom, and then talked up a storm with the paramedics in the hall. She agreed that the doctor would want to see his progress... and we were headed home with in 30 minutes. Steroids are known to make kids hyper, so we had a fun time of getting him to lay down once we got home. When he finally did pass out we noticed that his coughing fits got worse... When I picked him up and held him upright against my chest while he slept and the coughing stopped. Every time I started to fall asleep (I would slouch a little) and Zach would start coughing again. So Seth put on one movie after another and we stayed up watching movies until about 4:30am when I finally laid Zach down to go to the bathroom (since I am pregnant that is a constant battle. lol) But this time he didn't start coughing when laying down, so I let him stay there and I just laid down at his feet (basically curled up on two couch cushions), Sent Seth to bed, and slept for about an hour, until Zach woke up mad cause he had pee'd his pants (and my couch). lol But the coughing was not like a bark anymore, and EVERYTHING has been much better since then. Rex took the morning shift which started at about 7am and Seth and I got to sleep in until noon. :)
Zach is doing really well today and we anticipate it will only get better. My double inner ear infection is almost gone along with the Strep (thanks to the meds). we have been on Antibiotics for over 48 hours and since no one else has shown symptoms we are no longer contagious and completely in the clear. Yippee!
This experience helped me remember how fragile life can be. This is the second time that I have feared losing my Zachary. I feel really close to him and I would just die if anything ever took away ANY of my kids. We know Heavenly Father was watching over Zach, and we feel so blessed.
