Sick Boy For Christmas :(

I didn't ask Santa for much for Christmas this year.  Honestly, I can't remember what I actually did ask him for.  However, I'm pretty positive I did NOT ask him for a sick little boy.  :(

Poor Jonas has been a trooper while dealing with the typical run-of-the-mill winter yuckies.  (One of the reasons I'm not a fan of Winter).  At first it was just the sniffles and a cough.  I debated on even taking him in since most people say  "Ehhh, their bodies are built to handle this stuff.  Kids are overmedicated anyway.  Builds their own immune system when their bodies are allowed to fight it off.  Etc."  Plus, it didn't help that nothing is offered over-the-counter anymore for one year olds.  Boo.  So, I let his body have a stab at trying to kick the ickies.  It didn't do it very good or very quickly in my opinion.  He was achy and sickly for most of the "Bell Family Christmas" and I was feeling sorry for the guy.  Plus, sad at how much sleep he and I were both losing by battling this congestion.  By the time we got back from our pre-Christmas weekend with my side of the family he was pretty sick and miserable.  

I decided to spend our Christmas Eve day in insta-care with a sickly little boy, his older sister, and about a million other people.  Lovely eh?  Luckily, I made it a point to get our booties in there super early to beat the rush.  Which explains why I don't think any of us had our teeth or hair brushed.  We were doing good to just get our clothes on.  The wait itself wasn't too bad.  Within the hour they had called us to the back.  It was that wait that was a little bit longer than I was anticipating.  I thought, well, they'll probably just give us a scrip for an antibiotic and send us on our way.  Nope, that would have been too easy.  And apparently the little guy was a bit more sick than I had anticipated.  They checked his breathing and it was about 96%.  I didn't think that was too shabby but apparently they can't discharge you until it's between 98-100%.  Then they gave him a breathing treatment to break up the nastiness in his throat.  Then they told us we needed to get his chest x-rayed to rule out Pneumonia.  Whuh?  I just thought it was a cough!?  We went down and got him x-rayed.  Addison was actually pretty good through all of it, with just a few moments here and there.  She and I both had to stay out in the hallway while two guys took him to get x-rayed (since I'm pregnant).  Jonas did pretty good without me and we were quickly on our way back to the clinic room.  Luckily it was all in the same building so we only had to traipse the hallways over and over again.  While we waited for the x-ray results, we kicked back in the clinic room and watched Yo Gabba Gabba on my phone.  The doctor came in and said she thought it was just Bronchitis but there was a small spot on his x-ray that made her think it could possibly be Pneumonia which would obviously require hospital admission pronto.  I guess I'm the only clueless one that didn't know pneumonia=hospital stay.  The doctor wanted one more check at ruling out Pneumonia before sending us on our way so she sent us down to get his blood drawn/pricked at the lab.  He was obviously NOT a fan of this but it was definitely necessary to make sure his white blood cell count wasn't elevated and fighting infection (aka pneumonia).  After that was all over, we were free to go home and the doctor promised she'd call once she got the results.  In the meantime, we had a couple of scrips to get filled for the little guy that would hopefully provide some relief soon.  

Baths were the only thing that seemed to make the sick little boy happy.  It probably helped that he got the whole tub to himself.  That doesn't happen often around here.

Suffering through a breathing treatment in the clinic.  Poor thing looks so sad but he handled it like such a big boy.  I'd think this process has to seem a bit scary and odd.  Luckily, the doctor let us keep the mask as a souvenir.  It has provided lots of entertainment.

Later that day, the doctor finally called and said that it wasn't pneumonia (phew!) it was just a case of bronchitis and the antibiotics would do the trick...along with the breathing treatments we had picked up at the pharmacy already.  I was glad we wouldn't have to spend Christmas in the hospital.  I was also glad that we could get most of this nipped in the bud before Christmas so he could enjoy a little bit of the big day....even if he was medicated during it.  However, one thing they did catch on the blood prick/lab was the boy had some low iron levels.  Which was likely due to his appetite not being normal since he's been sick.  He can usually put away some serious food folks.  She recommended after the holidays to have his doctor request another lab/blood draw to make sure he wasn't anemic.  Once again, that involved ANOTHER blood draw that was even more painful than the first.  This was the "stick-the-needle in your tiny little arm and leave it there while they got the blood" type of draw.  Thankfully, sister got to play with her cousins which allowed me to put all my energy into holding the guy down and then consoling him afterwards.  He did NOT like it a bit.  I think the nurse was more worried about me than him and kept assuring me it'd be ok.  I wasn't enjoying myself but I figured Jonas had more room to complain than I did.  All I had to do was hold down a very strong little guy and hope/pray that they got his tiny vein on the first try.  Thankfully they did and thankfully we were able to get the little guy a nice doggy balloon to take away his pain after it was all said and done.  Results?  He was only borderline low iron levels but we have to go back again in March to confirm it's back to normal. :(

Nursing the wounds/blood draw at Mercy with a doggy balloon.  I think it helped me more than it did him.  ;-)

I'm just so glad to finally see the little guy get better after all his sickies.  He's been dealing with it better than I would have but it always breaks my heart to see him when he's achy and miserable and coughing up a storm.  I just wish they could put some medicine out there for guys his age that could give him some relief from all of this.  :(  Boo for recalls!

And another random story...after our morning in insta-care on Christmas eve, we went to eat a quick lunch at Wendy's.  Jonas had crashed in his carseat and Addison and I were able to kick back and dine together.  We both looked a little sad since we weren't bathed or brushed from our crazy busy morning.  However, she must have charmed her way into an old lady's heart because this random woman came up and asked me if she could give Addison a toy.  Um, sure?  Thinking it was just going to be a little happy meal toy.  Instead, it was a full blown doll.  It was so kind of her to do and Addison just loved that doll and we made sure to let her know how appreciative we were of her.  Even if she did think we were some homeless family that was finally getting their first warm meal of the season.  We were pretty pathetic looking but apparently we worked it to our advantage.  It makes me very grateful we live in such a nice area and surrounded by such nice people.  It was a little gesture that really meant a lot to a 3 year old girly.  I'm convinced she loves that dolly more than anything Santa brought her for Christmas the day after. ;o)

A little girly and her dolly.  She is in love.  And I'm in love with this town and it's nice people.