We got to the hospital around 11:00 pm. I am starting to learn through my many hospital trips that what you have wrong makes all the difference in the world. If you take in an infant and say they are having breathing problems they get you in immediately. So, Parker was seen immediately. They took his vitals and his Oxygen was at 93% and his breathing was really fast. They did a breathing treatment, tested him for RSV and did an xray to see if he had pneumonia. They came in to check his vitals again, and after being seen by a Respiratory therapist and the doctor they came and told me they were going to admit him. REALLY? We were supposed to fly out Sunday at 3:00pm. I told the nurses and doctors this and they all seemed doubtful that he would be released in time to make the flight.
I had not told Blake yet. It was 1:00am his time when we went to the emergency room and I just figured they would do a breathing treatment and send him home. So when they said they were admitting him I figured I better call Blake. As soon as they got us to another room to wait for the long term room I started to brake down a little bit. I cried a little and felt completely exhausted and like everything was moving in slow motion. I felt bad calling Blake, I think he was scared to death. I didn't worry too much about Parker. I somehow knew he was going to be ok. At this point things didn't seem too serious. He wasn't even on Oxygen. I climbed in the bed with Parker in my arms and just held him. We slept a little bit, then they moved us to a room upstairs. They wheeled the whole bed up with me in it holding Parker. When we got up there they put him in the hospital crib and showed me how The couch folded into a bed. The nurse brought Parker a hand made blanket someone had donated so he could take it home. I talked with the nurse about the fact that we were wanting out as fast as possible and she talked about everything they needed to watch. I also talked to the pediatrician on the floor who said it was up to the doctor in the morning and depended on how he did through the night. They had to suction out his nose every few hours, before I could feed him so he didn't choke on all the mucus and get it into his lungs. They were just using a little suction hose, but if they had to stick it up his nose and down his throat then he couldn't be released for a while. Also if they had to put him on oxygen then he couldn't be released for 24 hours AFTER breathing on his own. If his oxygen levels dropped below 88 they would have to put him on Oxygen. So I thought we would be there for a while. After she left I said by to Grandpa Jones and he headed back to the hotel to get some sleep and said he would come in early with someone so they could give Parker a blessing.
After everyone left I rearranged Parker's Monitor so I could watch his Oxygen levels from where I was sleeping. As I watched it would slowly drop from 94, to 93 then 90, and then it went to 87. I kind of held my breath watching it at 87 for a couple minutes praying it would go back up on its own. it did. Then it went between 89 and 88 for quite a while. No alarms went off when it was at 87, so none of the nurses knew. At about 6 the respiratory therapist came in and did another breathing treatment and Chest Physical Therapy(CPT's) Basically she took a little padded thing and pounded on his chest in the front and back to break up the mucus so he could breath better. Then she listened to him breath. The CPT's helped his Oxygen levels go up. They said they would do them every 2-4 hours. The respiratory therapist seemed doubtful that he would be released in time to make the flight.
After the respiratory therapist left I called Blake and we talked about flight options. He had called the airline and they basically told him we were kind of out of luck. We would have to buy all new tickets and might be able to be reimbursed for the ones we weren't using, but it would take a couple weeks. I got off the phone with him and tried looking into tickets too. I was starting to get desperate. I had so many thoughts rushing through my head. I called the airline and asked about tickets. Basically we had to pay full price for everything. They only fly on Sunday's and Thursdays and there was only 1 ticket available on Thursday. I couldn't leave Parker, because I needed to feed him. Maybe we could fly my mom down from Idaho to fly home with the kids. Or maybe Grandma Jones could fly home with them. Then I could fly home later with Parker. Any way we did it it was going to cost hundreds, close to a couple thousand dollars. I had to keep reminding myself that it was worth it if it was what Parker needed. My gut feeling though was that Parker was going to be fine. It was more just the hospital following the rules and playing it safe. So Basically if he didn't get released from the hospital we would have to wait at least until the next Sunday to go home. I was so ready to just go home and see Blake.
Every time someone came in the room I explained our situation to them. They were all very sympathetic and willing to help get him out as fast as possible. His condition wasn't too serious, but could get serious fast and he was there to get monitored, so he could have what he needed if it got any worse. The doctor came a little while later and she was very nice. She said as long as he kept his vitals where they were he could be released around noon. Blake called when she was in there and she talked to him. She told him she would release Parker if his vitals were still good at noon, as long as we promised to take him to the hospital immediately if he was having ANY breathing problems.
Grandpa Jones came back to the hospital with a man from one of the wards near the hospital and they gave a Parker a priesthood blessing. It a blessing for Parker, but also very comforting to me to hear what his Heavenly Father wanted to bless him with. He was told that he would make a quick recovery and be able to return home. Also, that this hospital was the right place for him to be and that the nurses and doctors knew what they were doing and would take good care of him. It helped me feel so much better after they left. I still wasn't 100% sure we were going to make it to the airport, but I knew Parker would be ok and that is what was important. I am so grateful that Grandpa Jones is an honorable Priesthood holder. It is also such a blessing that there are members of the church wherever we go who are ready and willing to give priesthood blessings if we need them. I don't remember the man's name who came, but I am so grateful he was willing to come. Especially on Easter morning. Grandpa visited for a while, then went back to the hotel to help entertain the other 3 kids. They went swimming and to Mcdonalds. I must say I think the ox was in the mire that Sunday. There was only 1 car and things were so crazy. I felt so bad that we didn't get to go to church, especially on Easter Sunday, but I honestly think Our Father in Heaven understood this time why we couldn't go.
After Grandpa left I was in the bathroom using some of the toiletries Grandma had suggested Grandpa bring to me(THANK YOU). I heard someone knock. I went out and there was a big Easter basket sitting on Parker's table. I looked out in the hall and there was a lady with the someone dressed as the Easter Bunny. They were delivering Easter baskets to all the children on the floor. I asked if he could come in and I could get his picture with Parker. They were hesitant because there was a sign on the door about breathing problems. The bunny came in, but was told not to touch anything. He stood next to the bed and I took a picture. It was so cute. Although Parker wasn't old enough to realize what was going on it brought tears to my eyes thinking about all the other kids on the floor who may have been in the hospital for days, weeks or months. They must have been so excited!
At 11:30 I started paging the nurse wondering if she was doing the paperwork. They couldn't get a hold of her. The Respiratory Therapist came in and did CPT's again. She seemed nervous about the fact that they were going to let Parker go home. She explained everything to watch for and showed me how to to CPT's. Parker actually really liked having this done. It would put him to sleep.
After she left I asked for the nurse again. Finally about 12:30pm she came in with the paperwork to sign so he could be released. I signed it then called Grandma and Grandpa to come get us! They came and we drove straight to the airport. At this point I was so glad we were actually going to make our flight. I was trying not to care what other people thought of us. We had to pull all of our stuff out on the curb and pretty much re pack it to fit in all the extra stuff we accumulated at the hospital. Luckily Alegiant Airports are small and the people are nice. They let me check all our bags again and let Chris come through security with us.
We waited for our plane then said bye to Grandma. It was a sad good bye. We don't know when we will see her again. The flight home was uneventful. Parker fell asleep, Remi colored and Alissa and Broden watched a movie. When we were about to land there was some commotion going on at the front of the plane. They were getting out an oxygen tank and talking about medical stuff. Then when we landed they said everyone needed to stay seated so the Medical Personnel could come aboard the plane. I knew Blake would be panicked. So I borrowed someone's phone(mine was dead) to call him. He had already been out to the ambulance to see if they were there for a baby. They assured him they were there for an older lady. They ended up having to bring 2 ambulances and 2 stretchers onto the plane because there were 2 people that needed them. So we had to wait like 15 minutes before anyone could leave the plane. They finally let people leave through the back, but it was steep stairs and I didn't know how I would get 4 kids, a car seat and 3 bags down the stairs. After being the only ones on the plane besides the sick people one of the flight attenants helped us get off the plane. We grabbed our stroller and headed inside. We were all SOOOO excited to see dad and he was excited to see us!
We stopped and grabbed some dinner and headed home. Parker was crying and I felt bad for him, so I did a no no and held him on the way home. He just slept in my arms and I fell asleep. When we got home everyone went straight to bed. I was SOOO tired. I think I only got 3-4 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours so I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
While Parker was in the hospital he was such a good baby. It was almost sad though. He was just too lethargic to cry and because his breathing was so bad he wouldn't cry. He would just whimper a little bit when he got hungry. Other than that he would just lay in his bed and look around for a while, then go to sleep. I think the only perk of the whole hospital thing was that I was nursing. At the beginning they told me that they might have to do an IV to get nutrients in him because he could only have clear fluids. But, my milk counted as a clear liquid, formula doesn't. So because I was his "IV" I got a meal plan and could eat whatever I wanted. It was like room service. They had a huge menu so I could order food and they would bring it to me. It didn't quite make the hospital stay worth it though. We were just glad Parker got better fast.
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