Our first trip to the ER...

Last night, after noticing Hayden's wheezing breaths spurred by coughing, crying, and his head cold, we called the Kaiser advice nurse. After consulting with a doctor, we were told to bring him in right away. We could tell it wasn't life threatening, but it was still sad having to take in our little guy... He was such a good sport though. In a strange way, the time alone with him (even in this circumstance) was so nice! We really don't get many opportunities to play alone with each boy. He was giddy, playful, and very cooperative. He got a little nervous when they took a chest x-ray, but he left his monitor alone well enough and was the best the nurse had ever seen at the breathing treatment at his age.

After a couple of hours and a clean bill of health, we were able to return home. Nothing major: bronchialitis - asthmatic symptoms brought on by viruses. Basically, he often sounds like he's got asthma if he has a cold, but they don't diagnose that until age five. At least we went in and made sure there wasn't anything bigger going on. It brought back thoughts of his first few days of life. We're wondering if the small lung issues he battled in the NICU could be contributing to this. Who knows?...

I confess that I was surprised at my lack of instinct here. (Although now I know that even if we had not gone in, he still would have been just fine. It would have just taken longer for his bronchial tubes to widen up again... Perhaps that lets me let myself off the hook :) ) I noticed he was wheezy, but it was Scott and Grandma Kathy who encouraged me to call in. I am thankful that they both have experience in dealing with and identifying those asthma symptoms, and we have such a loving and caring family.

Call me a weirdy, but as I said, we knew this was not a life threatening trip. Therefore, I had time to document this event for the scrapbook. Plus, he was just so darn cute. Had it been more serious, I wouldn't have whipped out my camera. Don't worry - I'm not that crazy.

OH! And what a day for this to happen. My dear husband had just gone through quite a trial. Tear gas exposure and getting pepper sprayed in the face - hence the squinty, red eyes. He's such a great dad...