When
I got the call from my wife on Thursday afternoon it seemed like everything was
under control, worrisome but under control. As the end of the day approached,
we knew that the situation wasn’t as clear cut as we once thought and so, as I
previously wrote, I made the arrangements to hand everything off at lodge and
made my way home as soon as possible. That was only the beginning. It has been
a long few days with little sleep at night and too many hours of worrying
during the day.
On
Thursday, my wife arrived at the daycare to pick up our son not knowing what
she was walking into. Almost immediately, the staff pulled her aside to show he
some hives that had popped up on our son’s back and diaper area. Without
hesitation, my wife called the pediatrician and had an appointment for early
that evening. It didn’t look to be serious (reaction to the medication he was
on) during the checkup and, instructions and new prescription in hand, she
brought our son home to get some rest. By the time I walked in the door, things
had progressively gotten worse but in so much as was to be expected based on
the information she was given.
When
we checked on him that night we knew that something was definitely wrong and we
weren’t about to wait until the morning to see a doctor so we took him to the
emergency room at three in the morning. A few hours later we had a slightly different
plan in place to get everything under control and, after putting our son down
for a nap, I headed off to work for the day. I was able to spend some time with
my son when I got home but he was soon in bed trying to fight whatever was
causing his issues. While there was some progress during the day something was
still off by the time the sun went down.
Again,
we checked on him around midnight and, after consulting with the pediatrician’s
office over the phone, brought him back to the emergency room where his treatment
was adjusted. By this point the medical chaos was taking a toll on all of us and
we headed back to see the doctor on Saturday morning to have our son checked
again. Having slept for most of the day, we were surprised when our son
willingly went to bed at his usual time on Saturday night and while the evening
was by no means normal, we did avoid a third trip to the hospital.
By Sunday
morning, our son was no longer himself at all. He was definitely still
uncomfortable from the hives/rash and now, as he began to swell, we could tell
that he was in pain and wasn’t able to move around normally. With these changes
we once again sought the advice of the pediatrician with little change to his
treatment. By the time we woke him up that evening we knew that it was going to
be another long night in the emergency room.
Thankfully,
we got the information that we needed and the right routine put in place after
hours upon hours of waiting and numerous tests performed on our poor baby. In
the end, it is nothing that will impact him long term but the recovery is going
to be much longer than we originally anticipated... around 6 weeks. This is
definitely something that will require some adjustment over the next several
weeks but it was certainly a relief that there is an end to this illness.
While
we have had some trying times since our son’s birth dealing with minor health occurrences,
this experience was really the first time when I felt the full range of
emotions. There were moments when I was angry, scared, exhausted, and happy but
the most prevalent feeling was that of helplessness. I pleaded and prayed on
countless occasions that this wouldn’t be anything serious and that our baby
boy would feel better. I couldn’t do anything but try to comfort him and be
there for my family… it just didn’t seem like I was doing enough no matter what
I did.
We
are all recovering now but it is a weekend that is etched in my mind. While I
know that it is unavoidable and that I have to come to terms with the fact that
I can’t control certain situations I hope that our son never has to be in that
situation again and I hope that my wife and I never have to feel so helpless
again. But, for now, we are going to focus on recovering and making sure that
our son continues to know that we are always there for him.
