(Playing with blocks in the hospital)
Finding a house in Midland initially proved to be a bit of a challenge and we spent 3 weekends/weeks in a row down there trying to get a contract on a house that would suit our family. While we were down there the kids got to play with their cousins and in the dead heat of summer that mostly meant playing in pools and sprinklers. Haven got a little snotty nose and cough the last weekend we were there. When we came home she was still coughing some and not feeling quite like herself so I gave her some medicine and put her to bed early thinking she needed some good sleep in her own bed. At 10 pm that night Haven woke up crying and breathing very hard. I immediatly got concerned and thought back to her heart issue in the womb not knowing if that could come back. I took her to a new remote Emergency Room that opened up not far from our house thinking it would be a clean place to get fluids and antibiotics quickly to help her.
(Strawberry ice cream was the first thing to make her smile after a horrible night being admitted)
If there were to be any silver lining to your kids being sick it would be that they just want to be held by Mama. Haven is up and moving constantly and is not in a stage where she really wants to be snuggled much unless she is about to go to bed and thinks it will get her a chance to stay up a little bit later. The horrible part of taking your little baby to an Emergency room is that they want to run all sorts of test and gather blood, which is good to figure out whats going on of course, but she couldn't understand any of what they were doing and it was absolute torture as a Mom. Haven's cousin Merritt had gotten strep throat while we were in Midland and I was sure that our little visit would prove that she also had strep and we would be sent home with some meds for that. However, the nurse came in and told me that the doctor was going to be admitting us to Northwest Texas hospital for Haven's trouble breathing. He said that Haven's heartrate was also accelerated and that her oxygen level was extremely low. I was shocked! Haven was put on oxygen and a breathing treatment along with an IV in her arm to get her some meds and I began frantically calling Drew who had stayed home with the other two kids. I was told that we would have to be taken via Ambulance to the hospital to keep Haven on oxygen. As we waited for a room and the ambulance I held Haven in my arms, she was only wearing a diaper because she had thrown up all over her pajamas, and I wept not knowing what in the world was going to happen with my girl! Her strep, flu, and rsv tests had all come back negative so we were not sure what was causing this reaction.
(Playing in the playroom after two days in bed)
The ambulance came and I got on the gurney and snuggled Haven down against me while they strapped us in to take us to the hospital. She was absolutely exhausted as it was now 4 am and had been up for hours with no sleep. Thankfully Aunt Cindy was in town visiting Nana and was able to come over to stay with Everett and Rory so Drew could come meet us at the hospital. Immediately upon arriving we were swarmed with nurses, doctors and techs. They began frantically examining Haven and analyzing her every vital without indicating much to us of what was going on. Things like "Reactive Airway Disease" was thrown out along with "Intensive Care Unit." I was freaking out! They began giving Haven some aggressive breathing treatments to help her labored breathing which would hopefully help her heart rate and oxygen to normalize. After hours of unknown and constant treatments the admitting Doctor finally came to tell us what was happening. He told us that Haven had Reactive Airway Disease, which meant basically she is too young to be officially diagnosed with Asthma but that she has Asthma. A mild ear infection, a Urinary Tract Infection and possible other infection all contriubuted to her having a massisve asthma attack. He didn't think we would need to be admitted to Intensive Care but we would remain in the hospital for 2-3 days to get her lungs and infections cleared.
We continued a routine of aggressive breathing treatments every 2 hours, which Haven hated until she was just worn down from fighting them. In between the treatments we were challenged with trying to keep a 2 year old content to staying in a bed all day and night. Not an easy task but especially for a child like Haven who just wants to be up moving constantly! Initially I was upset about being taken to Northwest Texas hospital bcause it has never been our preferred hospital but God knew what he was doing. We received amazing attentive care while at NWH where a circulation of doctors, nurses, and volunteers were constantly checking on Haven’s progress. After about a day and a half Haven’s IV blew out and was able to come off all the cords containing her to her bed with the exception of occasional oxygen use. This allowed her to get to move about her room and we even got to visit the pediatric kids playroom. Haven was like a kid in the candy store at this point getting to run and play in a room full of toys.
(Such a trooper with her breathing treatments at home)
After 3 days in the hospital Haven’s breathing finally regulated and we were able to bring her home and give her breathing treatments ourselves. We were sent home with the knowledge that Haven will have triggers that could set her down this road again and we need to be hyper aware of what those could be. It is highly likely she will face these attacks again and be diagnosed with asthma within the next few years. This was very disappointing news to hear for our active girl but we know there are easy treatments now to help her cope with this in the future. And more than that, God has got her wrapped up in his hands!!
