Friday afternoon (Dec.2, 2011) Graham started declining in health. He was a lot more tired and crabby and his fever was rising higher and higher. I was babysitting my niece at their house that afternoon and couldn't leave, so I just gave Graham more ibuprofen and let him rest on their couch. We got home that night and I took his temperature since he was still hot even after the ibuprofen. 103 degrees!! I called his pediatrician and asked what I should do. He told me to give him some medicine and get his fever down. He didn't need to come in until the morning unless his fever got higher, he became delusional or started vomitting. After a bath and medicine, his fever went down a little so we let him go to bed.
Saturday morning (Dec.3) Graham was awesome! He was jumping on the bed, laughing, no fever and no cough. I figured his fever had broken last night and he was better. We went through most of the day without any problems. Around 5pm, he started slowing down again and getting his fever back. By 8pm when we put him to bed, his fever was back up to 102 and he was so tired, that he fell asleep really fast. He was asleep for about an hour when he started crying out. He usually cries out in his sleep and then goes back to sleep so, we let him do it this time. He fell back asleep and then cried out several more times for another hour. Around 10:30pm, he started screaming harder than ever and something told me to go check on him. I went in his room and felt his head. He was sweating and chattering his teeth like he was cold so I thought his fever had just broken and he just needed to be rocked back to sleep. I picked him up (lights still off in his room) and rocked him in his chair for a while. He wouldn't stop shaking and it was getting worse and worse. I had 3 blankets on him and he still couldn't get warm. I was getting a little nervous and wasn't sure what to do when another little message popped into my head. "Turn on the light." I quickly turned on his lamp and saw that his entire mouth was blue! I looked at his arms and legs and saw that they were blue and, what the doctor later described to us, mottled. I ran out of the room with him and told Eric we were going to the hospital. Eric, being the more reasonable one and not wanting to pay for something he didn't need, took him from me thinking I was just overreacting. Once Eric held him and saw the blue and him shaking like crazy, he agreed we should take him in. We loaded Graham in the car and drove the 2mins to the hospital.
I was a complete mess in the E.R. While trying to check him in, the tears started flowing and I could barely get his name out. They took him back immediately and got him on an I.V. and oxygen. The poor little guy was scared to death and fighting against the doctors as much as he could. It took two tries to get the I.V. in and he hated the tubes of oxygen in his nose. I just had to hold him and sing every primary song I could think of to get him to calm down.
Eric wasn't doing very well with all of the needles and seeing his baby so sick. He went completely pale and started sweating like crazy. The doctors made him sit down but it was still too much for him and he had to go into the bathroom, put his head between his legs and splash some cool water on his face. I've never seen him so sick and so scared before. I'm very grateful I don't get reactions like that. I don't know what I would have done if they made me leave my baby. After a few minutes of calming down, Eric was back and a true champ. He was right by Graham's side and holding his little boy. Good job daddy!
They got Graham re-hydrated and oxygen flowing and he quickly got his color back. They had to take a lot of tests, including a urine sample. They were going to catheter him to get the sample (which I was VERY against but had no other choice) but they just barely poked him and he started peeing so they were able to catch it in a vial instead of doing the full catheter. I was very grateful for that!
Graham just sat on our laps as we sang and read books while they were testing all of the samples. It was around 1am and the poor kid was exhausted. He curled up on Eric's lap and got about 45 mins of sleep before the doctor came in and told us his x-rays showed pnuemonia and he was going to be transfered to the children's hospital and admitted.
The ambulance came and took us to the hospital at about 2:30am. Graham was exhausted and still really sick but so excited that he got to ride in an ambulance. He shocked me and stayed awake the whole ride! We got to the children's hospital at about 3am where he was examined by the E.R. doctor there and then taken to a room. The nurses got him all cleaned up and fixed his I.V. bandages and we filled out massive amounts of paper work.
By 5am, Eric was passed out on the couch, Graham was in the hospital bed, finally asleep and I was laying next to Graham, holding his arm that had the I.V. in it straight and making sure he didn't roll over. Every time he coughed, I had to rub his back and shush him back to sleep. I ended up getting about 1 hour of sleep overall that night. The nurses came back in at 8am to check his vitals and I was finally able to slip out of his bed and make all of the necessary phone calls.
Graham slept most of the day but it was very disrupted with all of the doctors. Eric and I were awake, talking to doctors and filling out more paperwork. Graham's pediatrician came in that morning and checked him out. He looked at all of the tests and the x-ray and concluded that it wasn't full blown Pneumonia and that he could go home that afternoon. At 2:30pm, Graham was given his last dose of antibiotics through his I.V. and was discharged from the hospital. After picking up his medicine and getting him bathed and dressed, Graham was sound asleep at home by 5pm. Luckily, Eric's brother brought us some dinner so I didn't have to figure that out.
Graham was in his crib and fast asleep for the night by 7:30pm (after we woke him up for medicine and food). Eric and I were crazy and thought we could get through one of our DVR shows. About ½ way through it, we were both fighting to keep our eyes open and decided to just go to bed. We’ve never gone to bed at 8:30pm before but after MANY hours awake (nearly 40 for me) we passed out instantly. Graham slept until 9:30am, so he got 14 hours of sleep. I got about the same and Eric got 13 hours (since he had to go to work).
Most of Monday was spent sleeping. Graham slept on the couch for most of the day and watched Mickey Mouse for the rest of the time he was awake. Eric got a Christmas tree that night after work but we were all still so tired that we just went to bed early again and decorated the tree on Tuesday. Grandma Jill came over Tuesday and watched Graham while Eric and I got all of our errands ran. We decorated our tree and then slept another long night.
Graham is doing much better than he was. He is still very sick and crabby and VERY tired but he has finally gotten off the couch and started playing. He has started eating again after 4 days of nothing and he is starting to giggle again. His color is returning and he hasn’t had a fever for 2 days now. We are under quarantine for 2 weeks until he gets better and then we go back to the doctor on the 13th for a follow up.
I’m so grateful for the wonderful doctors and all of the technology that were able to get him stable and taken care of. We are thankful for the many family members that have called to check on him or who have written to us. Thank you to all of our friends who have offered their services and to those who have brought us meals.
I am especially grateful for the Holy Ghost and the Spirit that was with us through all of this. I have a very strong testimony after all of this that the Holy Ghost is with us and can help us if we have faith. I was clearly told, in an almost audible voice, to go check on Graham and then to turn on the light. If I hadn’t, I don’t know what would have happened. We were comforted and calmed through this whole experience, simply by praying to our Heavenly Father for strength. I have a testimony of the priesthood. Eric was able to administer to Graham and I am certain that is what helped him get better so quickly. I am so grateful for this gospel and the knowledge that we have. I am so grateful Graham was able to come home so quickly and that his health is quickly improving. I love my baby boy and couldn't imagine life without him. We are very grateful and happy to have our little angel back in our home and hope we never have to do that again!
Recent update: Graham has his appointment Tuesday the 13th but is already doing much better (December 11). The cough is gone, his lungs sound much better and he is back to being that normal obnoxious 2 year old. We are still dealing with the after effects of the medicine (diarrhea) but we are so happy Graham is back!
