It isn't the Hilton, but it will do!

I mean, the service is great and the food's not bad, but the towels and bed/bedding could use an upgrade!

I'm talking about Texas Children's Hospital in Katy. Why??? 'Cause that's where we vacationed for the past 30 hours! Bennett got worse by Monday after being diagnosed with Croup the previous Thursday, and here's how it all went down:

Sunday, November 20th

• Bennett slept most of the day. Woke up for bottles and a few pictures of "sick Bennett", but he was just exhausted from coughing and all that goes with the croup.

Look at those eyes. They just say "Mommy I don't feel good."

Monday, November 21st

• 6am--I fed Bennett and got him ready for daycare because Jeff said he'd take him. He spit up on me 3 times after having coughing fits while trying to burp him. Not the normal spit up--mucousy type spit up. Put him back in bed. He was warm, but so was his room due to the vaporizer. He'd cooled off enough by the time feeding was done for me not to worry...
• Between 7 and 8am--Jeff got him out of his bed to take him to daycare. Found him lying in spit up (this is so sad...I can't even picture what B thought...)
• 8:45ish--Jeff got Bennett a dr. appointment
• 9am--Dr. appt. They couldn't find the oxygen saturation level for him after trying with 3 different nurses. Called in the dr. (who is normally VERY relaxed) and when he heard about him not keeping food down and the saturation problem, he immediately said to go to the ER. In the midst of all this, they also gave B a breathing treatment and the dr. didn't think it helped, which was also a reason for the ER visit.
• 9:45ish--Jeff calls me to say he's headed to the ER. Yes, I'm in the middle of class. Yes, I've told my students I won't answer the phone ever...unless it has to do with my child. Yes, I teared up in front of them when I told them I now had to get them working so I could leave school and go to the ER with my 3.5 month old baby.
• 10:15--leave school, get lunch for us, run home to get a few things for B, and get to the ER by 11ish.
• Luckily, the Dr. called the ER to explain the problem, so when Jeff got there with B, he got admitted to a room before even finishing filling out the forms! We were in the ER until about 4pm, but had people in/out the entire time, so the time went by fast. Bennett got another breathing treatment, suctioned MANY times (yeah--that was fun!), and an IV because he hadn't had a bottle since 6am. (Anyone who's been around B for a day knows that this was VERY unusual since he's a champion eater. This is how we truly knew it was not good. The day before he was his normal self, only missing one bottle because he slept that much more. Behavior wise, he was happy every time he was awake!)

Waiting on a breathing treatment. (pre-swaddle...they had to undo it each time they messed with him, but I kept him in it!)

Have you ever seen a happier "sick" baby? This was obviously after the IV was put in. THAT was fun!

• 3:30-4pm--We got admitted to TX Children's to stay overnight so they could watch B. We had the best nurses and Bennett flirted with them as is his usual! Breathing treatments, IV, and suctioning were going through the night. We used a gift card for a meal, which was nice, and hunkered down for the night. We didn't even have to do anything when the nurses came in to check him every few hours.
  

The latest in fashionable hospital attire--modeled by the infamous Bennett!

We tried to keep him propped up by raising the head of the bed, but that didn't work...he wiggled himself down like normal!

• B was so exhausted that he never woke up for a diaper change or rectal temperature check. Now THAT is tired! The only time he woke up was when he got a breathing treatment or was suctioned. He cried the entire time (but with his eyes closed) and as soon as it was done and he'd been held/calmed for about a minute, he was completely out again. We've never seen our boy that exhausted and we don't ever want to see it again. It takes a lot out of you mentally and emotionally to see your child go through something like this.

Tuesday, November 22

• 4:15am--feeding (trouble breathing again, so I called in for suctioning and had to wait an hour since he'd just eaten)
• 5:15am--suctioning. This was the absolute worst one yet because the mucous was so thick that they had to change tubes after they'd started. I was literally at the end of the bed moving/wringing my hands/crying and couldn't wait to get him when they took it all away.
• 6am--Jeff left to go feed the dogs and go to work. I hung out reading/pumping/relaxing until 7:30 when the cafeteria opened. I got Starbuck's and some great taquitos for breakfast that just started my day off right!
• 9am--stopped the IV to see if Bennett would eat enough to possibly let us go home today
• Between 9am and 3pm--2 breathing treatments and 2-3 suctionings. A few feedings and lots of rest. The nurse came in and told us we had a choice to stay or go. The dr. came in later and told us to go. I wanted to stay (hello??? Service is excellent and I'm hanging out with my baby and reading/relaxing all day!). We went home.
• 4pm--got home and put B back to bed. He had 1-2 more feedings before bedtime and the rest has been normal since then (thank goodness!) Still has congestion, but nothing like what it was, and we're so thankful for our pediatrician and the nurses/doctors/respiratory therapists at Texas Children's for helping to get him better!

All in all, it was a scary "first-time parent" experience, and I'm so glad that Jeff had decided to take Bennett to daycare when all this began. If it had been me that this happened to and I had to take B to the ER by myself and wait for Jeff, then I would have been a mess! Thank goodness for small miracles! The good news is that we have this fabulous children's hospital 10 minutes away, but I hope we don't have to go back!