A Midnight Trip to the ER

I was heading up to bed around 10:45 one night and had heard Camden coughing some through the monitor but when I went up I checked on him I realized he was really coughing (like a croup cough) and also seemed to have a hard time catching his breath and was gasping for air. We have a nebulizer so I tried it but he fought the mask on his face and finally around 12 when he wasn't getting any better I decided there's no way I was going to be able to sleep anyways knowing he couldn't hardly breathe so I took him down to the ER. He was such a good little patient there! They got us back and checked him out pretty quickly and determined he had a bad case of croup and needed a steroid and breathing treatment. However after they did the treatment you have to stay for another hour so they can be sure they don't have a reaction. It was a long night!

After just checking in and seeing the nurse.

Nothing like having a popsicle at 1am!

After we got home around 4:30am I put him in our bed for the rest of the night. Jimmy took this while we were sleeping.

Luckily we both got to sleep in the next morning until about 9:15. Jimmy got up and got Jackson ready and dropped him off at preschool.

Medical Scare with Camden

So one night at dinner Jimmy looks over at Camden as says "Is his jaw dislocated?!" And sure enough I looked at him and his right jaw/cheek area was swollen. I called his pediatrician and being the awesome doctor he is he came to our house at 7:30 to check him out and see if we needed to go to the ER or somewhere that night. His jaw was not dislocated but there was a lump and it seemed like it hurt Camden when we touched it.

These were on Jan 5 when we first noticed it. I was trying to get pictures I could text to the Dr. He prescribed a dose of heavy antibiotics thinking it was an infection.

January 10 it was even bigger and he had already been on the antibiotic for 5 days. Didn't seem to bother him or affect his happiness unless I tried to feel it and poked around at it. I guess it was tender and it hurt him :( No fever, no other symptoms of any kind, just this weird lump.

January 11

As the days and weeks went on it seemed to decrease in size but there was still some kind of lump there. We went back to the Dr a few times for him to check it. Finally since it was still there we decided to do an MRI to have some final answers.

Sweet boy taking selfies in the waiting room before being called back

More selfies and we had a take a picture of him in his little gown

He wasn't super happy

He was such a trooper though and sat so patiently with us while we waited for his turn. We had to be there by 8:30 but his MRI wasn't actually scheduled until 10 ish. They have to have so much time to prep and get them ready. Since the tests take 45 min to an hour they have to sedate them. This was the first time either one of our boys has had to go through something like this. So scary!

He was a champ getting his IV. Didn't even fuss or cry!

After his procedure. They had to give him extra sedative right towards the end so they could get a few more pictures so he was pretty out when he came back into the room. After 10-15 minutes I tried holding him to wake him up. They said sometimes they get upset and aggressive after having the sedatives. He was not happy and couldn't control his head but also didn't want to be held. It was tough. But finally he came through and became his sweet happy self afterwards. We got him a milkshake and headed home to rest for the rest of the day. This was the first thing he'd been allowed to eat since the night before! And at this point it was almost 12:30pm I think.

We finally heard back from the Dr the next day (seemed like an eternity!) Turns out he had had an infection in one of his lymph nodes. The antibiotics had helped and the lymph node basically killed itself off to protect itself. That's why weeks later there was still a little lump. He said it would eventually go away altogether. We were happy to finally have some clarity and so thankful it wasn't anything more serious! Such a traumatic event for all of us!

28 Weeks

I was 28 weeks pregnant on Monday and had been feeling pretty good! We went to a makeup music class on Monday morning and Jackson got to play the violin.

Later in the afternoon we went to the dr for my 28 week appointment. The ultrasound of the baby looked great. When they checked my cervix via ultrasound it measured too short. It should be around 3 or 4 cm at this point but it was 1.4 cm. When it gets closer to 1 is when you start dilating and progressing with labor. They hooked me up to the contraction monitor and I was having contractions so I was ordered to head to Northside Hospital to be monitored more closely. They gave me the first dose of steroids to help develop the baby's lungs in case I did in fact deliver soon. I also began taking meds to relax my uterus which would help reduce the contractions.

Luckily Papa happened to be here and was able to stay at home with Jackson while Jimmy took me to the hospital. Grilled cheese and grapes for dinner. Nana drove in from the lake and got there just before it was time for Jackson to go to bed.

 My view that evening from the hospital room

Nana and Papa sent me pictures of Jackson for the next couple of days

 French toast for breakfast

 My breakfast. I would have rather been eating french toast with my sweet boy :(

 His "cheese" face! He is such a goofball!

 I had a cute little visitor on Wednesday :) He tried to steal my Cheetos but I didn't let him!

On Thursday morning I had another ultrasound to check my cervix and it was up to 1.7 cm I was allowed to go home on full bedrest and I had another appointment scheduled for the next morning.

 So happy to be home. We were snuggling on the sofa after he woke up from his nap.

I am so thankful that I didn't start going into full labor. We need to keep this baby inside growing as long as possible! Thank you to Nana and Papa for all the help with Jackson. Jimmy has been amazing too. He has been super busy at work and yet still spent plenty of time with Jackson and also came to spend time with me every day. I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers from our friends too :)