Cathing Our Breath

This is my sweet little Lane just a day before he got so sick he couldn't breathe. He loves to build with blocks and magnatiles. He likes to create jails, garages, towers and all sorts of very imaginative structures.

For a month or two Lane has told us repeatedly that he "can't breathe" when it was time to lay down for a nap or bed. He has seasonal allergies and has complained before about not being able to breathe. We have a vics humidifier going in his room at night and we try to prop him up when he lays down to help him breathe better. I feel he has signs of being asthmatic but I've always heard that the doctors don't test for this until a child is much older than Lane. He does have an at home nebulizer that weuse when he is congested and uncomfortable. Well, Friday was a day like the others except for Lane had developed a runny nose, cough and watery eyes. I put him to bed hearing the same complaints about not being able to breathe and cursed the poor farmers for taking out the crops across the street from our house. I know they have to do their job but when they are harvesting that dust and pollen is just flying so badly that it looks like a haze of fog out there. I thought his complaints were allergy related and did my best to make him comfortable but didn't think much of it. UNTIL, the poor boy stayed up the entire night struggling to sleep and breathe. His little chest moved up and down so fast that you would have thought he was running a marathon while laying lethargically on the couch.

After literally NO sleep Friday night we decided to take him to the ER. He was less than thrilled.

He was so sweet and so good while the nurses poked and prodded him. He had to get several breathing treatments. I steroid shot, testing for RSV, blood drawn and all the while he was so sweet. He didn't say a word for the first two or three hours there. I think he was exhausted from not sleeping and fighting to breathe.

He recieved soooooo many stickers during his stay there. Which delighted him because stickers have been one of his favorite things for a while now.

He had to have oxygen for a good while to get him breathing better. He hated having this put in but once it was there he did really well with it.

While waiting in the ER he was very "out of it" and lethargic but after a little nap he woke up and laughed. I thought they had slipped him some really good drugs or something but then found out he was laughing because he rolled over and saw that he had a potty right there by him.

yep-he thought this was really funny

After a few hours he had his first visitors. His Dad and Grant came with new toys and Whoppers. Lane didn't say much and sat the toys aside without giving them a second glace but grabbed the candy as fast as you could say, "whoppers" he mowed down one after the other and had a smile on his face the entire time.

The doctors said he was in bad shape and needed to be admitted due to having pneumonia. He had a two night stay there and every lunch and supper he ordered Mac and Cheese. He actually ate very well while visiting the hospital...must be some good stuff. I, myself wouldn't know, I wasn't brave enough to try any of it.

It was horrible seeing my little guy struggle to breathe and be so sick but it was so nice to get so much cuddle time with him. We snuggled, played, read books, played the ipad together, colored. I think he actually had a great time while trying to get better.

Lane was in the hospital for 5 days when he was 7 weeks old with a high fever and a viral infection. We pulled up the pictures from his stay then and compared them with his stay now. So much time has gone by but yet it feels like it was only weeks ago.

Same ornery grin!

Again, it was heartbreaking and miserable seeing him be so sick but he was A-Dorable in his little hospital gown. Seriously cuteness!

Yep, 5:45 AM and we are coloring!

Thank goodness for technology.

Grant went with Grandma and Grandpa Fricke because the hospital bored him within 30 minutes of being there. While Grant was away Lane would ask about him often and wanted to know when he would come back. Those two.

Lane got so spoiled by nurse Jim! New blankets, stuffed puppies, coloring books, stickers, cups, and a doctor playset!

All of day 1 Lane wasn't well enough to be up and going so we didn't venture down to the toy room at the end of the unit but day two and three we ROCKED that room out. Lane fell in love with some of those toys there as did Grant. Lane especially loved this tricycle, the playhouse, books, and puzzles.

blurry pic but cute all the same

Lane took wagon rides down the hall- to get breathing treatments and to just go for a stroll

He also got a sticker album from nurse Jim and he is STILL packing that thing around with him everywhere. It's become very special to him.

He really was ready to leave -just can't tell from these pictures.

He got to leave Monday around 12:30ish. The sun was so bright to him that his eyes watered and he had to turn away. He fell asleep in the car on the ride home....he was asleep within minutes.

Grant was so thrilled to get off the bus that day to find that his little brother was BACK HOME!

It was such a beautiful day!!!

It was so precious to see them reunited at home UNTIL......Lane became a steroid grump. He was so hurtful and mean to Grant that day. It made Grant cry on more the one occasion. He cried himself to sleep that night because Lane was being so mean to him. Didn't want to have anything to do with Grant for some reason. It was so undeserving too...as Grant was trying to be sweet as sugar to Lane. The nurse had warned us about this. She said, "they turn into little devil children on that steroid medication so watch out." Ugh...yes, he is definitely experiencing that side effect.  The plus side is -he's out of the hospital, on the mend, and with God's grace he soon will be back 100%!