I'm not crazy--this kid really is sick

Drew is in the hospital with pneumonia. We took him to the ER last night because he was coughing nonstop and having trouble taking a breath. He was coughing so much he wasn't able to eat lunch or dinner. We gave him a breathing treatment, but it didn't seem to help him. When I called the nurse for the third time this week she said whatever he has is getting worse everyday and you need to take him to the ER. She had the Dr. call ahead to let them know we were coming and we loaded up the kids and drove to the UC Davis Medical Center.

I hate the ER. I hate the crowded waiting room full of sick people. I hate the people who want to chat with me when I am just concerned about making sure my son is ok. And I don't especially love the security guards on a power trip. But we found ourselves at the dreaded ER once again.

I was doubting whether or not we needed to be there. Drew was coughing less and seemed more able to breathe while we waited for triage. When they first took his O2 sats they were 75, which isn't incredibly low for him. They found us a bed in the Pediatric ER (it was in the hallway at first) and put him on some oxygen. He was NOT happy. He was very irritable, he didn't want to read books, sing songs, or play with the toys they had. And he did not want to wear the oxygen mask. He cried and whined non-stop until he had a chest x-ray two hours later. For some reason that calmed him down and the same tech we had two days ago did the x-ray. He gave Drew Thomas the Train and Lightning McQueen stickers, which I could tell made him happy.

Once the x-ray came back they were able to compare it to the x-ray from a couple days ago and said that he had an emerging pnuemonia on both sides of his lungs and would need to be admitted. Since this is his third time being hospitalized for pneumonia I wasn't really worried or upset about it. I know he'll be fine after a few days of IV antibiotics. The hard part is the IV. They tried four times before I asked for the transport team to come and do it. The Dr. kind of looked at me like I was crazy and asked if she could try once more. I didn't want to let her, but I did and she didn't get it. Poor Drew was screaming, crying, shaking, turning bright red, kicking and flailing. I started to cry too. They called the transport team, but they were out. I said we'd wait. I remember from May when Drew had rotavirus it took ten tries to get an IV in. The transport team was eventually called and they were the ones who got it in. By the time it was over he was exhausted. But they told me to ask for them next time and not wait until all his veins are shot from everyone elses attempts. Unfortunately I didn't remember until after five sticks. It took three more tries from them, but they finally got it in.

I brought Ava home and Dan stayed in the hospital with Drew. I am going back this morning to spend the day with him. Hopefully he can just have a relaxing day of playing in the playroom and watching videos. I haven't heard anything specific from the Doctors yet, but I think he will just need a few days of IV antibiotics and for his sats to come back up. Please keep our family in your prayers.