Lauren's reaction started out like any normal reaction she has had in the past. Not too big of a deal. I took a picture and posted it for a few friends of mine with babies the same age as Lauren because I know people are always curious as to what a reaction looks like.
A few minutes after I posted it, Lauren started crying a lot. Like she was uncomfortable. I started getting ready to take her to Urgent Care. I kept calling Justin hoping he would answer. By the time he called me back, Lauren could not hold her head up. Her eyes were swollen and they kept rolling to the back of her head. She could not stay awake. Justin asked if her lips were blue. Well, she was "asleep" on my shoulder so I walked in to the bathroom to look and her top lip was blue, the bottom one was white.
I hung up with Justin and called 911. They asked me what my emergency was and I told them that my baby was having an allergic reaction. The dispatcher then said to hold while she got emergency services on the line too. There was a ringing, and then a different operator picked up and again asked what my emergency was. They asked for my address and I was starting to get upset. I tried talking as slowly and clearly as I could, gasping for air in between words. Tears streaming down my face. The operator said that help was on its way. I went down stairs to open the front door and wait for the paramedics to arrive. The operator asked if she was breathing and I remember saying I don't know. I do not know how to tell and he said to see if I could see her belly rising and falling, so I put her in a cradle position, and watched. I stuck my face by her mouth and could feel her short, fast breaths.
She laid limp in my arm for the longest 7 minutes of my life! I continued to watch her little belly go up and down to make sure she was breathing. Finally I could hear the sirens coming. Then from the front door, I could see the ambulance round the corner at the traffic light. I knew they were only a few more moments away. I was so thankful that the ambulance was first to arrive. Lauren laid with her eyes closed the whole time, having no strength to open them in my arms. She would try to open them when I talked to her and told her everything was going to be okay, but she could not keep them open.
Lauren heard the sirens too and perked her little head up. The neighbor dogs (3 boxers) were going nuts and had apparently busted through the screen and the medics were at the bottom of the stairs thinking they were going to get attacked, so they hesitated coming up the stairs.
I heard the first medic start up the stairs and then he turned around and went back down. I think he forgot something. Finally, the first medic rounded the top of the stairs and I said hi. They all got inside finally and immediately hooked her up to an oxygen saturation monitor as well as a heart rate monitor. Her heart rate was 160. (I later found out it should have been around 110) They asked me her weight and I said just shy of 30 pounds. (Later realizing, she is only 24 pounds) They gave her a shot of Benadryl and she did not flinch or cry.
The four firemen went back downstairs, and waited there. Our entry way is small and was crowded with junk because I had been organizing stuff. The medics sort of hymed and hawed about transporting her. I said we had great insurance and they said, we are taking her then. So one medic carried Lauren down stairs (he looked like my dad and Lauren actually went to him) and I got the carseat out of the car. I handed it to another medic and he strapped it to the gurney.
As they were loading Lauren in to the ambulance, Justin pulled in. He had called a few times while the medics were treating Lauren, and finally I answered. He was wondering where he should go. I said to come home. He came over to Lauren and said hi to her. They strapped her in to her carseat, loaded me in the ambulance with her. I gave Justin orders to get a bottle and more diapers and we were on out way to Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego. The paramedic gave her a bear. It was sweet. She held her book and her bear and fell asleep on the ride there. They warned me that it would happen. She was doing okay. Once she fell asleep. They hooked her up to the oxygen and heart monitors to make sure she did okay. And she did. This crazy mommy took a picture of sweet Lauren riding in the ambulance with her camera phone.
When we arrived, they rolled her straight in to emergency and they asked if this was the baby with the allergic reaction. They said yes and immediately came over and were talking to her and observing her. They were asking me a million questions about names and birth dates, insurance information, social security numbers...all the while, I am trying to watch my baby. They were moving her to a room and I wanted to go with her.
They got her out of her carseat and off the stretcher and handed her to me. I was trying to sit the diaper bag and blanket down and get Lauren and stay out of the way of the doctors and nurses working on her. It was crazy. They were handing me things to sign and asking for billing addresses...seriously, chaos. Justin arrived a few moments later with the stroller(?!?!) and said it was a long walk back to the car. Justin held her while we waited for doctors and nurses to come and go with tests and medicines. Her face was really itchy and red.
They were getting ready to send us home, when I noticed a bright red rash covering her thighs. I asked the doctor if she had squeezed her hard when she was doing some tests and she said no, not like that. At the same time, her rash moved from around her mouth to her whole head and her eyes were swelling up. Her arms were also covered in a bright red rash with white spots. They had previously suggested steroids and I said no, but came back and said that she really needed them to stop the reaction so I said go ahead.
The prednisone made her reallllly itchy. Unfortunately, it was Manicure Monday and I had not trimmed Lauren's nails, so she had really awesome claws to itch with. She was so tired and trying to get comfy to fall asleep, but could not stop itching. I asked Justin if he had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on his phone, and sure enough he did, so he turned that on to help distract Lauren from the itching. Another little boy heard the music and wanted to watch too, so we turned it down super quiet so he would not be sad. You can see how red and splotchy her face is.
She quickly lost interest and just wanted to sleep. We tried to feed her some of her bottle, but she was not interested. She rolled over on her side and fell asleep. That was short lived because the nurse and doctor arrived and needed to check her temp rectally, check her rash and hook her up to an oxygen monitor. I was holding her and her oxygen monitor kept going off. I was thinking...is she dying, or is she just sleeping? It was scary.
Her rash did not improve, so they came in and told us they were going to have to give her a shot of epinephrine. (Epi Pen) and they had to do it the old fashioned way, big needle jabbed in to her leg and held there for 10 seconds. We layed her on the table. I held her arms, Justin held one leg and the nurse held her other leg. She only cried for a second, and the fell asleep.
I handed her over to Justin because I desperately needed to pump. Fortunately, the hospital had a hospital grade pump that I was able to use. As I am getting ready to pump, Lauren coughs and then throws up all over Justin in two giant splashes. He was soaked. Shirt, pants and the floor. The nurse said she had been waiting for it and was happy to see that she made it to that point...Justin on the other hand, was so grossed out. He handed Lauren to me and headed out to the car to see if there was a chance that there was a shirt in the car. He took the stroller and the car seat with him. The nurse ran off to find him a new shirt, and there happened to be a shirt in his size. Hooray!
It was so wonderful because people donate shirts to the hospital. Shirts that are extra from charity events and what not. Who would ever think that there is a need for adult sized shirts at a Children's Hospital? So Justin changed in to his new shirt and I pumped. It was so awkward...so so so awkward. Lauren started to improve after she had the shot of epinephrine. She had not peed since the reaction started, so they made her drink some Pedialite before we left. She rejected the bottle, but drank 2 teaspoons from a syringe.
Here she is with her daddy (in his new shirt) and all her cords on her toes and back. It was so sad to see her all hooked up.
And with her mommy right before we headed home.
They gave us all of our paperwork, took our copay and sent us on our way. We stopped at the pharmacy to get her Epi Pens, Benadryl and Steroids, while she slept in her carseat. We also went through the McDonalds drive thru because it was around 6pm and I had not eaten yet. She played a little bit when we got home and then went to bed and slept her normal 10 hours.
So scary! Poor baby!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. That must have been so scary. I'm so sorry Lauren, you and Justin had to go through such a scare. I hope she is doing much better by this point.
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