Mar 4, 2011

and...we're back. in the hospital.


Five minutes after I got home with Max, I took Ava to urgent care. She was coughing, had a low grade fever, and I just knew she had pneumonia too. She had the same funky smelling breath that Max did (from the bacteria?). The urgent care doctor told me she was perfectly fine, just a slight cold. Oxygen saturation was great. No reason for a chest x-ray.

The next night she was still coughing, low grade fever, and faster than normal respiration. Same as Max. Still convinced that something was wrong, I called our pediatrician's night line. They told me I needed to take her to the E.R.

At the hospital her lungs sounded "great", but they did a chest x-ray anyway and sure enough...bilateral pneumonia. Luckily she has a much milder version than Max. Because she was borderline they gave me the option of admitting her or taking her home and watching her myself. I told them I would watch her oxygen saturation for 20-30 minutes and if she didn't drop I would take her home. After she fell asleep I laid her down on the bed and her levels dropped too much (from 95 to 85) and they said "sorry, we're keeping her".

Turns out that Ava HATES the hospital. I have been wrestling her the whole time while she squirms, screams, and tries to take out her IV. She tugs at her cords and yells "No! Noooooo! I don't! Mama! Mama, Nooooooo!" I am surprised they haven't kicked us out. She is doing really well, so I convinced them to let me unplug her so she could run around and play. She is currently rearranging the contents of the room, thus allowing me to write this update. They told me I could take her home tonight after her next course of IV antibiotics. Feeling grateful that she is ok and that I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.

1 comment:

jlthomas said...

How awful! I hope Ian doesn't have it too! hopefully you'll soon get many restful nights at home.