I meant to write this awhile ago and life got busy so it didn't happen. BUT I just got our astronomical hospital bill in the mail so that made it all feel fresh in my mind again.
We went on vacation at the end of February in Arizona. We had a wedding to go to (congrats Connor and Jaimie!) and so we made a whole trip out of it. Both of our kids caught the crud a week or so before our trip but then Briar recovered and Boone was on the up and up so we decided to go. Well, apparently Boone was not on the up and up. When we got to Arizona he seemed to be getting worse and worse. He had a lot of congestion which was making it hard for him to breath. The nose frieda was our best friend (if you have babies and you don't have one - buy one right now, I am serious!)
His breathing was getting more and more labored so we took him to an urgent care. They told us that it was just a cold, continue to suck his snot, it would clear up, and they gave him some oral medicine to help him clear out the mucous. That really eased our minds.
Fast forward to 2:30 am when I wake up to Boone fussing because he could not get breaths in. I woke up my husband, he helped me get everything together and then I rushed Boone to the hospital - luckily we were only about three minutes away.
Nothing gets you straight into a room at the ER quite like saying, "my baby is four months old and he is having breathing problems." There was absolutely no wait, we went straight back to a room and to a flurry of doctors, respiratory therapists, and nurses. Almost immeadiatly Boone was admitted for respiratory failure. RESPIRATORY FAILURE. That was such a scary thing to hear. I expected to go to the ER, have him checked out, and then be on our way an hour later but my baby had respiratory failure!
We were moved up to the PICU pretty quick and someone was in the room every few minutes to check on Boone and make sure he was doing okay. The doctors were concerned that because he was working so hard to breath his lungs would just quit doing their jobs. With IV fluids and high flow, humidity controlled oxygen there was a noticable difference in his breathing in just a few hours. It was a miracle how quickly he responded. Before long we went down to the regular pediatric floor because he didn't need to be monitored as closely.
The doctors and nurses were all amazed at how quickly he recovered. They expected that we would miss our return flights home which were still several days away. They even sent a social worker to help us get our money back, change our flights, and find lodging for an extended stay. Luckily Boone turned around so fast that we were only in the hospital for about two days, and we were able to head home as scheduled! God really does answer prayers! We are so thankful that we were able to get Boone the help he needed to make such a quick recovery.
The humor in all of this because there almost always is some: I don't know about the rest of you parents - but in the middle of the night, only poopy diapers get changed. I do not fully wake my baby to change his butt for a little bit of pee pee just so I can struggle to get him back to sleep. No thanks. You guys, Boones night nurse was a firm believer that any hint of a blue line on the diaper meant that he needed to be changed. She woke me up every 45 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG to change Boones, "dirty," diaper. I went through more diapers that night than I do all week at home! That's a little dramatic, but thats how it felt. I can only assume that this young lady did not have any babies of her own because that was just crazy.
Also comical: When I rushed Boone to the ER I took the rental car and left Briar and Mike stranded at the house we were renting so they had to walk to the hospital to pick up the car the next day. Briar always takes her shoes off in the car = I had her only pair of shoes = daddy had to carry her the whole mile to the hospital.
Last thing! Boone was only in the hospital for about two days. Briar wasn't allowed in the inpatient areas - meaning that Mike and I were never able to be with Boone at the same time and we had to leave him alone to trade off. We were in a strange city. We didn't know anybody or have any help. It was a miserable experience and it was just two days. Families do this for months and months on end for their babies that are much sicker than Boone was. If you are a parent and you have a sick child in the hospital - you are a rock star, you are doing your best, and you are an incredible parent! That is no easy feat and I will always be praying for families in that situation.
