The first trial…

Poor little B is in hospital. It started with snuffles last night and he cried all through the night. It sounded like he had a blocked nose so was having difficulty feeding which is what usually settles him. 

Also the night before I ended up starting antibiotics as my caesarean scar seems to have gotten infected, so he seemed unsettled then as well – I googled it and apparently antibiotics can give them tummy ache. I felt really bad but was told to continue to take the antibiotics. But this was nothing compared with his blocked nose and crying. 

So between us we are in the wars. I don’t feel terrible with the scar, but it was starting to hurt when it previously hadn’t hurt, and was making me worried it might get worse. So I ended up waiting a long time in hospital to get it checked out and they gave me antibiotics. 

Then yesterday T had a routine endoscopy so we waited another long time in hospital. He has one once a year to check out his digestion. It was all clear but he has a big bruise from the IV. 

Then today I decided to take B to the GP as he was still snorting and snuffling in the morning. I figured it was a cold but don’t know what you can do for a three week old baby so thought I would ask. 

The GP reception said to come back in the afternoon so I duly took B to the coffee shop where I had some breakfast, and then home for a brief sojourn with Dog, and then back to the GP. 

After waiting a longer time, I then saw the GP and he was quite abrupt, verging on rude. Mainly because I didn’t hear him calling for us and apparently he called five times. Well I think they call B’s name rather than mine so I’m not clued in to answer to it. And also he was over the other side of the room. Anyway. 

He was horrified when he saw the video I’d taken of B snuffling. I did a few so I could show them what was going on. He said to take him to A&E. I was surprised as I had thought it was a cold and not too serious but he told me to go to the hospital. 

So… I got the bus to the hospital. (T is back at work and I’m not allowed to drive post c section.) Waited at A&E and then went to children’s triage. Then got sent to the children’s ward. Got B hooked up to the monitor where they check his heart rate. It was a little high for their liking but his temperature was okay. T arrived from work. 

They kept him on the monitor for a few hours. T went home to walk Dog. (Poor Dog! I felt so guilty as only expected to be at the GP for about an hour.)

The doc said she thought he had bronchiolitis which is apparently very common. It means he has some swelling or fluid in the lungs. Because they can’t blow their nose or whatever it makes them miserable and can interfere with feeding. 

Anyway as B had been in the sling since the morning, he was less snuffly, I think because he was more upright. The doc said she could discharge him or keep him in overnight and monitor him. That he doesn’t need treatment now but if anything gets worse then to bring him in. 

Apparently they weren’t too worried as he was feeding well. She asked about sleeping and I said he had not slept well last night. Also that he prefers to sleep on my chest. But obviously I know co sleeping can be dangerous. She said when he has this that co sleeping was the most dangerous and definitely not to do it. 

Also I asked as I was really worried it might be an allergy to Dog. Which would just kill me. But she said it was most likely a viral infection and unlikely to be dog allergy. Thank goodness. I figure he didn’t have it when he came home for the first three weeks so hopefully we won’t have to deal with that. 

I wasn’t sure what to do but in the end we decided that it was probably better to monitor him. T agreed and he came back to drop some stuff off for me and stayed a while until we got transferred. We are now on the children’s ward and have a private room with a cot for B and a single bed for me to sleep in. His bed is slightly tilted at least so hopefully more comfortable for him. 

B looks so tiny. He’s hooked up to the monitor and so I feel slightly better that I’ll hear it go off if his heart rate goes too high or low. It does beep periodically but the nurse said it would be constant if anything bad happened, which they were not expecting. I have a call button and also an emergency all hands on deck button so I figure B is in the best place. He’s been weirdly completely settled and sleeping peacefully. Perhaps as he slept hardly at all last night. 

It’s B’s 24th night in the outside world and he’s spending it in hospital.