Brayden appeared to catch the same bug that I battled for a couple days. While I got very weak and tired, Brayden got the throwing up part. The poor little guy started vomiting horribly in huge amounts after his morning nap right before I fed him lunch. Apparently the smell of carrots put him over the edge! He has never thrown up before so it scared him greatly, causing him to scream uncontrollably, which resulted in labored breathing and thrashing arms. Then he started sneezing and everything left in his little stomach came out of his nose! Then he got real quiet, probably exhausted from throwing up so many times in succession. I think he just wanted to sleep but he started going unresponsive for 30-45 seconds, so I called 911. He'd just napped for almost 2 1/2 hours...he normally would not have been tired!
The paramedics arrived very quickly. Brayden had a gigantic throw-up to greet them so they knew exactly what we were dealing with. His vitals all checked out great but he wasn't himself and was very lethargic so it was determined he should go to the hospital for treatment.
In the meantime, UPS came with our monthly diaper shipment from Amazon.com and Tim pulled onto to our street to see a police car, fire truck and ambulance blocking our driveway. I knew Tim was on his way home to change for pictures, but with everything going on, I couldn't call him. This also happened to be the day our neighbors who never have visitors literally had ten cars lining the curb, so Tim had to park four houses away and run up the street!
Brayden and I rode in the ambulance while Tim followed us in his car. Thankfully no sirens were needed. Brayden was quite the attraction - naked and sitting on a very long stretcher - as he went by the nurses' station in the emergency room. There was a collective "aaaaahhhh" but Brayden was too tired to flash them a gummy smile. The doctor deemed it most likely a severe case of nausea and gave Brayden anti-nausea medicine and several doses of pedialyte flavored with gatorade. Everything was administered via syringes which they let me bring home as that is the only way Brayden will take the pedialyte. (I also stuffed the bulb syringe into the diaper bag as the hospital ones are so much better than those sold in stores!) They monitored him for about four hours during which he started looking and acting much more Brayden-like. Once he flashed his first smile for a nurse, all the other nurses came into the room to get their own smiles!
I think Tim and I handled it well. Brayden was a great sport once he calmed down and could catch his breath from all the nausea. The only time I became slightly frustrated was when the paramedic told me "You should try comforting him." Really? I hadn't thought of that. Can't you see that is what I am trying to do? The drive home included a trip to Walgreens where we purchased pedialyte for Brayden, gatorade for me and lysol spray for Tim - those who know Tim well will certainly relate to that purchase!
For this being Brayden's first time getting any kind of illness, it was a good one! Next time a less dramatic runny nose or low-grade fever might be in order. We are very thankful that Brayden slept well last night and is doing much better today. His appetite is very small while his stomach gets to feeling better but he is keeping enough pedialyte down to stay hydrated. For those who don't think Brayden misses many meals, he is proving you wrong today!
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| Waiting patiently for anti-nausea medicine |
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| Thankful the nurses gave him the all-clear to nap for a bit |
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| Perking up after several gatorade and pedialyte concoctions |
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| Playing and feeling much better on Friday |
