Poo on the swine flu!

On Saturday afternoon, we decided to work outside. I had offered to keep my friends three kids, so that they could get some moving done, and my kids love to hang out with her kids, so it worked out for all of us. We cleaned up the yard, that Salmon has destroyed. We cleaned off the back deck, and cut wood. I even went to the grocery store with 4 kids under the age of 4! I got lunch ready, and sat all 5 kids down to eat, and they all scarfed down the food. All but one of them...Owen. I checked his forehead, and noticed he was a little warm, but nothing too bad, so I gave him some Tylenol, and put him down for a nap. Then I laid Ben down for his nap, and turned on Noggin for the other three kids, so they could relax. After about 20 minutes, I heard Owen crying, so I went in to check on him, and I decided to take his temperature. He hates for me to stick a thermometer in is mouth, so I don't, I take his temp in...you guessed it, his butt. His temp was 99.5, which is nothing for a kid. His nose was a little runny, so I gave him a tiny bit of benedryl, thinking he was having some allergy issues. Both of the 2 year olds took 2 1/2 hour naps, and when they woke up, everything seemed fine.

We took the kids home, and went back home and made dinner. Then we decided to watch bolt on netflix. At 6:35, Scarlett yawned, and said, "I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open", and two seconds later she was out. I decided I had to get up and move around because I was falling asleep, and Mike had been asleep for 20 minutes. Just me and Owen were awake. At 7:30 I went in to get Owen to brush his teeth and get him ready for bed, and I noticed he was EXTREMELY hot! So again I took the butt temp, but this time it was 104.5. I called my mom, who rushed over to stay with Scarlett so we could get Owen to the ER. Let me just say that this is not normally what I do. I would normally put him in a cool bath to drop his temp, and then see how things go. But given the H1N1 scare, I was not willing to risk anything.

By the time we got to the hospital I could tell he was getting warmer. WE walked into the waiting room, with all of the other sickies, and waited for a nurse to look at him. Luckily we did not have to wait long, because I was thinking about yelling, "HE has swine flu!" so people would leave so we would get bumped up in the ER line. There were two nurses, and they took all of his clothes off, and took his rectal temp again, and the nurse said, "oh shit it is 105.5", twice. That could never be a good sign I thought, and it freaked me out! Then while I was holding him, they were asking me questions, and I could not think, I just started crying. They got him to a room, and the doctor came in, and said he is going to be here a few days, and we are going to be running tests, and he needs an IV immediately. SO some more nurses came in along with two nurses that we knew, and they said you can hold him down or we can put him on a board and strap him down. I said, "I will hold him". Then one nurse said, "well you are going to have to hold him tight, do you think you can do that?" I thought about saying, "look at me, do I look like a frail mouse to you?!" but, I said I will hold him thanks.
Mike held his arms down, and I held his legs, and the poking began. The first nurse tried and after two tries she was told to stop. I was getting mad, because it sounded like this was practice for her. Lesson 1, always request a skilled IV tech. Then one of the nurses that I knew, said she was going to try, but she could not get it either! I said "Okay this is the last try!" So they said, one of the anesthesiologists were in the building, so they asked if we wanted them to call him, and we said heck yes! he came in and finally got it in. During this I stared to see spots, and had to ask someone to hold Owen for me, because I was about to pass out! So I sat down and started crying AGAIN! My mom was in the waiting room, and could not come in because there was a limit to two people in the room with him. she had no idea what was going on other than he had a dangerously high temp. One of the pastor's (and one of our closest friends) was somehow allowed to come back, and I asked him to go let my mom know what was going on so she could stop worrying. After they got the IV in and Owen had started calming down, I went out in the waiting room, and had a good cry. I don't even know what I said, but I just cried. I told my mom to go see him, and then a nurse walked in and said she would let my mom and John (the pastor) go back with him.
When we got back to the room, Our nurse friend Kathy, came in to take some blood samples. She said that the worst part of her job it taking blood from kids, because they see her around town and immediately start crying! But they got his blood, and he started to calm down enough that he fell asleep. He was so traumatized that he kept jumping in his sleep. It was awful! They said that only one of us could stay overnight with him, and because I was feeling sick, Mike said he would stay. So I went home and could not fall asleep, because my baby was lying in a hospital bed without me...again! The Last time Owen had to be hospitalized, I got the stomach flu and had to let Mike stay with him. I woke up early the next morning and went to stay with him so Mike could sleep. Owen actually slept good the whole time we were there. He slept through his breathing treatments, and vital checkings. He kept saying, "Scarly GO?" which means where is Scarlett. That is what he calls her. Every time a nurse or doctor came in to see him, he would say, "no like it!" I was a little heartbreaking!
We are now home, and I am so happy. The doctors said that we did the right thing by bringing him in immediately. He tested negative for influenza A, but the won't have the H1N1 results back for a few more days. They said they are pretty sure that it was a form of H1N1. So my message to all the other moms that read this is this:
1. Take your kids to the ER as soon as they start to get a high fever. DON'T HESITATE!
2.Make sure you ask for trained professionals, not people in training.
3.Get vaccinated!