Scariest 3 hrs of my life - to date at least

There is nothing like the fear that encompasses you when something goes wrong with your child. When your child hurts, and you would give all of your limbs and then some for it to just be you that is hurting, that is in pain, just NOT your baby. Please.

I learned this at 4:30am today. It is now 9:38am.

LC had a great evening playing with Daddy while I worked my late night for the week. I got home at 8:15, played for a bit & then it was off to sleepytown for LC. He nursed like a champ and fell asleep in my arms as he loves to do - and secretly - the Momma loves our special times together in the glider, our feet propped up, holding hands, and LC rubbing his one hand on my back and side as he nurses.

1:30am he woke up - he's been up around midnight the past 3 nights so he made it a bit longer. He felt warm to me, but I fed him, and he didn't fuss, and went right back to sleep so I turned the heat down and went back to sleep.

I know LC, if something is wrong, he will let us know.

4:30am, LC woke up again, this time crying. I went in, picked him up, he still felt warm, and nursed him.

He nursed for a bit and then started straining and pushing like he was trying to poop. Here is where I thought, oh maybe the green beans he ate on Wednesday night (the first time) made him constipated, b/c his daycare notes said he was very gassy yesterday.

Well he kept pushing and grunting, but nothing was coming out. I feel so bad for him when this happens, fortunately though, it's not a lot! And fortunately, poop usually results :)

At about 5:15 after holding him and consoling him, it was clear to me that he wasn't going to go back to sleep, and I knew he had a fever, just needed to confirm it.

I woke up J who came in and did the temperature taking (that's his deal, he administers the medications and temperature taking) :)

Yep, the Momma was right, 100.3

Well after that I sat back down in the glider with him and he was still fussy but clearly tired. He was trying to sleep, resting his head on my shoulder, but his breathing was off. Like he was pausing a little bit / grunting between breaths. I listened for a minute and said to J, this is NOT right, we need to call the on call dr.

He was going to look it up online & try to do saline spray since he thought it was congestion. I said 'hand me the phone I don't have time for you to look this up, I need to talk to the dr'. He obliged :)

I told the dr what had been going on and he could hear LC breathing over the phone - he suggested that we go to the ER, he just wasn't comfortable waiting 3 hours until their office opened.

Well, you don't need to tell me twice. We packed up (after I told J, NO you CANNOT take a shower - put your clothes on and let's GO - but in his defense, his work is very weird about sick time and being out of the office - this is the same man who showered while I was having contractions and in labor the day LC was born). I digress....

We were out the door by 5:55am, at the hospital by 6:15, and admitted and getting info by 6:30.

It is so hard to see a team of nurses and doctors putting the heart monitor on his wee finger, putting saline drops and bulb sucking his nose while he cried big fat 'i'm scared, i don't feel good, but please help me, make it better' tears. I rubbed his head, I held his arms and his legs while the team did what they needed to do - all the while telling him 'Mommy is here, Mommy is right here' and the nurses and doctors also talking soothingly to him.

After a stethescope listen and a recap of our morning to a couple of doctors, the official diagnosis: a viral infection.

The breathing was caused by the severe congestion in his nose/throat/chest. His lungs sounded clear as a whistle.

His nose was all snotty and green.

His fever went from 100.3 to 102 by the time we got to the hospital. Although when I heard 102 I said 'oh we must have a bad thermometer!' and the doctor said no, that his fever probably spiked up over time, and all that grunting and pushing when he was nursing was probably because he was getting a fever and was uncomfortable.

We were discharged about an hour later with instructions to use saline spray, bulb syringe his nose) I hate that and I"m not good at it - alternate tylenol and motrin as directed & just watch him - his fever should break today or tomorrow and he should be on the mend in 7-10 days

Knowing our LC, he'll probably be in good spirits by tomorrow, if not later today. He is a trooper.

He even smiled at the doctor -- picked up his weary, hot head from my chest, and gave her a BIG smile when she walked in.

That's my boy! :)

We're okay, it was a rough 3 hours, but, we're okay.

Not the last panic stricken , worried sick, scared for his life moment I'm sure. But it was the first - well the first with him out of the womb - I was pretty scared on his birthday when the dr looked me in the eyes and said 'we need to do a c-section, we need to get this baby delivered very quickly'. And it was hard, I was trying not to cry in the car or to the doctors.

Secretly I felt like Sally Field in that scene in Steel Magnolias about getting Shelby her shot or medicine or whatever that was HA!