At the Hospital

Here we are at the hospital. Since I have my computer, and nothing else better to do, I thought I would post about our VERY scary last couple of days.

When I got home on Thursday, my mom said that Ashlyn was not feeling well. Her nose was a little runny and we thought that she might have caught the cold I had a few weeks back. Thursday night she started coughing. It was a bark-like cough and I immediately thought it was croup again. I called her daycare to see if she needed to stay home the next day. The woman I spoke to told me that there had been croup going around her room. She said that as long as she wasn't running a fever she could come the next day. Well, that night she slept horribly. We were up most of the night putting her in the bathroom with the shower on, etc. I called my mom on Friday morning and told that she was going to have to watch Ashlyn because she was too sick for daycare.

On Friday, I had a workday at work. There were no students and it was a day to get things done. Joey came home part way through the day to see Ashlyn. She started breathing really funny. I guess they just thought she was excited to see Joey. I talked to Joey and I told him that I would try to get her a doctor's appointment. I tried calling the doctor all afternoon, but the office was closed for some odd reason. I talked to my mom later in the afternoon, and she said she wasn't doing better and I might want to take her to the after-hours clinic just to be on the safe side since the weekend was coming up.

I left work the second that I could get out of there. I came home and Ashlyn was in BAD shape! Every breath she took was very labored. Her chest was sinking in terribly with every breath. I have never seen anything like it in my life. She couldn't even talk. It was absolutely terrifying!!!! We headed to the clinic. On the way, I decided to call the nurse line and ask her where I should take her. She said that since she was breathing like that, we needed to head to the ER. We went to the new hospital by our house since we knew they had a pediatrics unit.

When we got to the ER, I filled out a form and wrote that she was having difficulty breathing. We had to wait for several minutes. Ashlyn, being the wild child she is, was still running around when she could barely even breathe!!!! They finally called us back. The nurse started to take us back to the triage room and said "Wow! I can see from here she is not breathing right". She took her pulse/ox immediately. The nurse's eyes got really big. She looked at the number and said "That's not good at all". She whisked us immediately into a room. Right away a doctor and nurses came in. They rushed to get an oxygen mask for her. The respiratory therapist said she needed oxygen quick and to just hold it in front of her face. There was a whirlwind of activity. There were so many people in the room working on her. Joey, was still not at the hospital, and he was trying to call me to find out what was going on. Poor Ashlyn was so scared and was just screaming and crying. They said they needed to start to an IV right away. It took 3 nurses to get one started. I had to help hold her down. She was screaming bloody murder! It was the hardest thing I have ever been through! Joey walked in just then and was able to help. They got her a breathing treatment right away that started to work right away.

The doctor came in and told us that she had croup really bad. He said that she would be staying the night for sure and that they would evaluate her in the morning. Around 7:45 we headed up to her room. The rooms are really nice here! There is a pull-out couch bed for Joey and I to sleep on. They even had a homemade quilt for Ashlyn to sleep with! The night was pretty rough. She was still wheezing really badly. The respiratory therapist came in a lot during the night to evaluate her. They were trying to hold off on giving her another treatment since they have bad side effects. Around 7:00 this morning, they decided to do another treatment. It helped her a lot.

The doctor came in this morning and said that she probably needed to stay another night. They like for them to be here for 24 hours after there last treatment. He said that it tends to get worse at night, and he wanted to make sure that she was being monitored. So, here we are for another night. Ashlyn is doing MUCH, MUCH better! Her breathing is starting to sound more normal again and her oxygen levels are great. Poor thing has to stay in a crib that resembles a cage. She is going stir crazy! They unhooked from the machines for a little bit so she could run around a bit. She loved it, but it made her a bit wheezy again. I am hoping she falls asleep soon and has a restful night! The doctor said thy would try to get us out of here early in the morning. I am excited to head home!!!!!

Ashlyn has been such a brave girl that has gone through so much the last 24 hours! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that she continues to get better and be healthy again!

P.S. She just fell asleep. I hope she is able to get some good sleep!