"Welcome to Motherhood!"

This is what my mom said to me when I told her about our latest adventure. For those of you who do not know Neil and I had to take Ty to the emergency room last Thursday night. He was there Thursday night and most of Friday. Here is our story...

On Wednesday morning Ty woke up with a really bad cough. It sounded like it was already in his lungs so I told Neil that he didn't need to go to Andria's. Neil stayed with him on Wednesday and took care of him. When I walked into the door after work they were both sitting on the couch and Ty looked at me and, very pitifully, said, "Hey Mama". He looked so bad. Neil and I could just tell that he didn't feel well at all. I took Ty into our bedroom and we just watched T.V. sitting on the bed. Now, Ty is very independent. So, if he sits still you automatically know that he doesn't feel well. He had a temperature of 102.7. The next morning we had arranged that Mrs. Tingle would keep Ty and Neil would go to work. When Neil woke him up he could tell that Ty wasn't up to leaving the house. He decided to stay out of work again and watch him. We both thought that he just needed some medicine and rest and that he would get better. I was at work. I called them at 9:30 and Neil said that his temperature had not broken and that his cough had gotten worse. I immediately called his doctor and made an appointment for 11:00. At 12:30 Neil called me with the bad news. He had Croup. The doctor gave Ty a shot of steroids and told Neil to take him home and put him in a bathroom with the hot water on. It didn't work and Ty's cough was only getting worse. At 3:00 Neil called me at work and told me that he was taking Ty to the emergency room at Mt. Zion. I left work and met them over there. When I saw my baby my heart just broke. He smiled at me, but his breathing sounded like popcorn popping. We walked into a waiting room with a 2 1/2 hour wait, but when they heard him breath they took us right back. The doctor came in and was so mad that we hadn't gone to Atlanta, but we went where our doctor told us to go. She said that Ty was having too much trouble breathing and that he would have to go to the Scottish Rite in Atlanta. However, they gave him a breathing treatment to see if that would work. She said that after the breathing treatment we would have to wait 2 hours to see if it helped. If it helped then we could go home, if his breathing stayed the same then she was going to call an ambulance to get us to the hospital fast. One breathing treatment, a crying baby, and a VERY upset Mama later the doctor came in and said she already called an ambulance. Ty's breathing had gotten better, but it had already started getting worse again. The doctor saw how upset I was and said that she could never send us home with him because if his airways closed up anymore I would really freak out. Then the ambulance came. This was the COOLEST ambulance ever!! Five people got off that thing and walked into our room. They were all dressed in red and Neil said that they reminded him of The Wiggles. Their entire purpose was to make Ty smile and make him feel better. Of course, Ty loved them. They put him on this gigantic stretcher and fastened him. I really hate that I didn't take a picture of them because they were all so sweet and Ty loved them so much - plus he looked really cute on the stretcher. I rode in the front of the ambulance while four of the doctors and nurses rode with Ty in the back. At one point the head nurse poked her head into the front and said that they had to start an I.V. because he was so dehydrated. However, she said that he didn't even cry. She also said that he was the best patient they had ever seen. He had a blast in the back with them because they had a big screen on the wall that played cartoons the entire way to Atlanta. When we got to the hospital all five of them took Ty to his room on the fourth floor (434). They hugged him and gave him fives and said that they hoped he got to feeling better.

The Scottish Rite doctor came in then and asked tons of questions. He decided that they would give him a breathing treatment and then monitor him all night. He said that we could be there for up to 3 days, but we that we could also go home as early as the next day. Ty had to have two complete hours with no trouble breathing. Andria and Russ came to visit first and then Mike got there around 10:00. Ty was so clingy. He just wanted someone to sit and hold him. He was so tired, but when we put him down he couldn't breath. Finally, his breathing got better and he went to sleep in his bed. Neil went home and Mike and I just stayed up and talked and watched Ty sleep. Mike left at 1:00 and Ty woke up after he left. I scooped him up and we sat and watched T.V. for a couple of hours. At 3:00 he went back to sleep. I stayed up and watched him sleep for a couple of hours. Neil got back at 4:30 and I got in the crib with Ty. We both slept until 6:00 and then we got up. Ty had more medicine and a bath and then the doctor came in. He decided against another breathing treatment because we would have to stay over night again. He came back at lunch and said Ty was looking a lot better and that we could go home.

So, we got home around 5:30 on Friday afternoon. Ty has to be on steroids for 3 days and he has to have breathing treatments every four hours for several days. His breathing sounds a lot better and his energy is back. The only thing that is different is that he doesn't want to eat anything. I have been giving him pedialyte all day, but he doesn't like that either. I'm assuming that he just has an upset stomach or that his throat still hurts.

Anyways, that is our adventure in a shorter version. Neil and I are exhausted, but we did figure a few things out. First, you can complain about money all you want, but when it comes down to your sick baby you will do ANYTHING to make them feel better. Second, trust your parental instincts - they are always right! Last, we have the most amazing family and friends. I cannot even list how many people called us to check on our sweet boy. Andria, Russ, and especially Mike also were amazing friends. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers in our very scary couple of days. We love you all very much!