Sickies

   March just was not very kind to us in regards to staying healthy. The week of Spring Break put me and Spencer at my family's house for most of the week. It all started  the weekend before when Spencer just was not sleeping very well. It happens since he's still not sleeping through the night every night... But Sunday night was miserable! Spencer just couldn't sleep, even when we moved him into our bed with us. Tim and I had the same mindset that Spencer was seeing the doctor. Well that morning his breathing quickly turned into wheezing as we waited for his appointment so we were grateful he already had one. Spencer was given a breathing treatment right away which helped but not as much as the doctor liked [ours was on vacation so we saw his partner that day]. So he got round two right there in the office and a prescription and nebulizer were ready for us to take home.

It's a panda! I love that the nebulizer is 'child-friendly'

The description given was that Spencer's cold had settled right down into his chest instead of giving him an ear infection or gunky eyes [but he said to go ahead and call it an upper respiratory infection]. We were ready to leave when the doctor came right back in to check Spencer's oxygen levels since they were lower than he remembered.. His original oxygen levels were in the 80s which results in hospitalization to receive oxygen. Fortunately the numbers were higher but still borderline... We ended up going home and everything was just fine. Well we went to Grandma's house since breathing treatments were a two person job: one to hold Spencer still and the other to hold the mask in front of his face. Tim does work at nights so it was just easier for me and Spencer to stay the night at my mom's. He was much better about it by the end of the week though.

Holding the mask while watching VeggieTales.

This only lasted a couple minutes, but he didn't fight it :)

   That whole scare lasted a week [or so we thought]. We were able to visit my Grandpa at the train park, celebrate a birthday with family, have Andrius come play again, and have his party with friends. Tim had started getting a cough near the end of the week after Spring Break but we didn't think much of it. We did learn of a couple allergies that next week: strawberries and eggs [but not when mixed into food, like pancakes]. Friday night was an adventurous night: we were eating dinner when Spencer sounded like he was choking, except he hadn't eaten anything yet. Turns out he was struggling to breathe again! :( Medicine was still left over from the previous week so he got a breathing treatment which helped right away. His doctor said to go ahead and do it every 3-4 hours as needed but to take him in if he got a fever, it lasted more than 1-2 days, or the breathing treatment didn't work. It worked great and he was fine so we continued on with the party plans. We had a great party with friends and Spencer loved seeing everyone! The sad thing was that at some point during his party he started wheezing again... Some of our friends stuck around after the party so we went ahead and gave him a breathing treatment right away. It definitely helped so we thought little of it and continued to play/visit.
   Half an hour later he was wheezing horribly again... We had to send our friends off and rushed off to the ER. The doctor heard some crackling in one of his lungs so he put in various orders including an x-ray. A respiratory therapist came in to do a 'continuous breathing treatment'. It was supposed to last for an hour but the medicine was gone in half an hour. It really helped him open up and breathe better... for an hour. The ER doctor thought that he saw the start of pneumonia on the x-ray, especially when factoring in the fever he apparently had and that the breathing treatment didn't work. He decided to admit Spencer mostly because the continuous breathing treatment didn't work even though it should have. Lab work, iv's, medicine, and a regular breathing treatment were started up all during the time that we waited for his room to be ready. We all were able to finally crash for the night around 11pm but were in for a fairly restless night.

He was so tired... It was relieving to see him sleeping.

    The hospital stay felt long, tiring, and miserable. Fortunately it served its purpose and Spencer was able to breathe well by the time he was discharged. The overnight stay turned into two nights based solely on the fact that Spencer was working to breathe still when awake. He only received one more breathing treatment the first night we arrived and that was it. Part of that was because the diagnosis was changed to 'bronchilitis' since the x-ray actually showed snot in Spencer's lungs, not bacteria starting to grow. All in all, it's the same little bug that he had all along. It just was quiet for a few days before bothering him again. One of the things that helped to cheer us all up was that Spencer got a new blanket to take home. He loves it too! It turns out that there's an organization that donates blankets to children who're hospitalized as a way to give them an extra hug. I was instantly intrigued and checked out the website: http://www.projectlinus.org/    My mom and I have decided that we'll throw in a blanket every now and then with fabric from our stashes [especially since size and make doesn't matter].

He closed his eyes just for the pictures.. 

It was hard to keep him from getting tangled up in everything!

Disconnected and ready to play/go home!

This is his new blanket that he loves.

   Once we were home, everything went into the wash and I got busy disinfecting toys and books [with my mom's help]. Tim's cough got pretty bad and then Tim decided to get pink eye as well... I fortunately was able to get really good sleep for one night before Tim could no longer help and needed my loving attention as well. Thursday I was in desperate need of a nap so I packed up Spencer to go to my mom's for most of the day. I also learned that his friend, Isabelle, probably caught his sicky germs and was not doing well. I felt so bad about that. I was able to take a small nap at my mom's house. We also sneaked in a trip to the fabric store plus lunch at Rubio's. I now have girly fabric to make something for Lily! Plus a few other fun projects to add to my list. I can now say that Tim is all better, has let me rest [he will testify as to how much I've needed it], and Spencer is almost there. We are considering having him tested for allergies though to find out exactly what all he's allergic to in case we're missing something that's causing all of this. Is our turn over yet? Haha...