There is a point when you look into your child's eyes and you feel like time has slowed for just a moment. It's in that moment today that I felt fear overwhelm me and my adrenaline cruise control came on. This morning I made a last minute appointment to see the pediatrician about a cough and heavy breathing that Baby GL has been having for about a day. The cough has been an issue we've been dealing with on and off for weeks now, but yesterday it got progressively worse. We've had a few nights of little sleep due to his discomfort. I feared that we were going to have an issue with putting him in the car seat since the last time we had breathing issues the car seat just accelerated the problem. My feeling was correct and I watched as Baby GL turned dusky, eyes wide open, just staring at me. He couldn't cry, not even gasp for a breath. That was a moment I will never get out of my head. It only took a second for me to grab my phone and just dial the 3 numbers a parent dreads.
The moment I took Baby GL out of the car seat and laid him on the couch he was able to breath and cough. As I was speaking to the responder on the phone he was kind of crying a little, but then soothing himself with sucking on his fingers. It was only minutes and we had 3 EMTs in our living room. There decision was made quick to just scoop him up and take him to the ambulance. We decided Children's hospital was the best place to take him since he was there just months ago being treated for pneumonia.
The whole ride in I could hear him cry. It was actually comforting because I knew he was breathing...and fighting with the EMTs. Once at the hospital he was prepared with an oxygen bag, monitors, and a whole slew of doctors and nursing staff. Deja vu, I think we've been here before.
One thing they did right away was measure his blood gas, which measures how much CO2 was in his blood. His normal range is about 50-60. Today, it was 100. Intubation was brought up at that point. Since I've seen him intubated already so many times the doctors made the attempt to try a CPAP and see where his gases go. It wasn't a successful try. He fought the RT who tried to get the mask put on. He was all fists in there. The nurse nicknamed him "ALI". We discussed sedation, but seeing his drop in saturations when he got excited the best decision was just to intubate.
After being sedated they were successful in intubating Baby GL. The one thing about intubation is that it will give him a rest. His little lungs have been working overtime. After intubation in the ER they finally has a room ready for him in the Pediatric ICU. Up there he was undergoing more tests and a pic line needed to be put in. He had a pic line, an arterial line and a foli (? not sure about the spelling). It's basically a line that I'm guessing goes to the urethra because it's meant to collect his urine to measure his output. He needed restraints on his arms because of all the lines.
Since we were continuously being kicked out we took that as our cue to leave for a bit. After a couple hours, now into the the early evening, the doctor called me back with an update. There was a concern about Baby GL having some spasms in his arms so they wanted a head CT to check if he possibly had a seizure. Then he continued to explain that since he does have a whole in his heart and his lung are already so damaged he his as higher risk for pulmonary hypertension. Because of that he was being put on an type of inhaled ion med. It was connected right to his breathing tube.
When we finally arrived back at the hospital there was still a lot going on. The CT came out fine, no seizure. However, he was dropping his heart rate which they are still going back to the idea of the pulmonary hypertension. He was connected to the ion drug and had another x-ray to make sure his tube was correctly placed in his airway. Due to our little Baby GL being such a fighter he needed to be not only sedated but given a paralytic for the time being until he can relax in his new settings. The nice thing about the paralytic is that he will not remember any of this.
Most likely we will be spending Baby GL's first Christmas on the fifth floor of Children's hospital. He'll be in good company, I think. There are some other babies there. Tis the season for RSV and other respiratory junk going around. We just hope he won't need to be in there woo long.
The moment I took Baby GL out of the car seat and laid him on the couch he was able to breath and cough. As I was speaking to the responder on the phone he was kind of crying a little, but then soothing himself with sucking on his fingers. It was only minutes and we had 3 EMTs in our living room. There decision was made quick to just scoop him up and take him to the ambulance. We decided Children's hospital was the best place to take him since he was there just months ago being treated for pneumonia.
The whole ride in I could hear him cry. It was actually comforting because I knew he was breathing...and fighting with the EMTs. Once at the hospital he was prepared with an oxygen bag, monitors, and a whole slew of doctors and nursing staff. Deja vu, I think we've been here before.
One thing they did right away was measure his blood gas, which measures how much CO2 was in his blood. His normal range is about 50-60. Today, it was 100. Intubation was brought up at that point. Since I've seen him intubated already so many times the doctors made the attempt to try a CPAP and see where his gases go. It wasn't a successful try. He fought the RT who tried to get the mask put on. He was all fists in there. The nurse nicknamed him "ALI". We discussed sedation, but seeing his drop in saturations when he got excited the best decision was just to intubate.
After being sedated they were successful in intubating Baby GL. The one thing about intubation is that it will give him a rest. His little lungs have been working overtime. After intubation in the ER they finally has a room ready for him in the Pediatric ICU. Up there he was undergoing more tests and a pic line needed to be put in. He had a pic line, an arterial line and a foli (? not sure about the spelling). It's basically a line that I'm guessing goes to the urethra because it's meant to collect his urine to measure his output. He needed restraints on his arms because of all the lines.
Since we were continuously being kicked out we took that as our cue to leave for a bit. After a couple hours, now into the the early evening, the doctor called me back with an update. There was a concern about Baby GL having some spasms in his arms so they wanted a head CT to check if he possibly had a seizure. Then he continued to explain that since he does have a whole in his heart and his lung are already so damaged he his as higher risk for pulmonary hypertension. Because of that he was being put on an type of inhaled ion med. It was connected right to his breathing tube.
When we finally arrived back at the hospital there was still a lot going on. The CT came out fine, no seizure. However, he was dropping his heart rate which they are still going back to the idea of the pulmonary hypertension. He was connected to the ion drug and had another x-ray to make sure his tube was correctly placed in his airway. Due to our little Baby GL being such a fighter he needed to be not only sedated but given a paralytic for the time being until he can relax in his new settings. The nice thing about the paralytic is that he will not remember any of this.
Most likely we will be spending Baby GL's first Christmas on the fifth floor of Children's hospital. He'll be in good company, I think. There are some other babies there. Tis the season for RSV and other respiratory junk going around. We just hope he won't need to be in there woo long.
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