Ben's 1st trip to the Hospital - It was a DOOZY!

Last Tuesday, I took Ben to the doctor for his 9 month check-up. He was a healthy, happy boy. He is tall 29.5 inches(80th percentile) and skinny 18 pounds 1 ounce (15th percentile) with lots of brains, his head circumference measured in the 80th percentile. He had a bit of a runny nose, but I thought it was because he is teething. Yes, he is 9 months old and still no teeth. Not a single one.

Well, the following day he woke up and was a fussy boy from the moment he woke up. He is normally a very happy boy who doesn't cry much. I knew something was wrong, but again thought he was crying because he was teething. I gave hime some motrin but it didn't really seem to help. So by the time he woke up from his afternoon nap it was clear to me that something was really wrong.

He started running a fever. I took his temp and it was at 101.8 so I gave him tylenol and called Wayne at work. Ben was having difficulty breathing - his little belly was moving in and out really hard and really fast. So we decided to call the pediatrician (who was about to close for the day). His nurse said he needed to be seen and to take him to the pediatric after hours clinic.

Ben was the first one to be seen and the doctor told us it was a good thing that we brought him in. He had croup and bronchiolitis. He received a breathing treatment and a steroid injection. That helped him, but he was still having trouble. So he received two more breathing treatments. He really seemed to like the breathing treatments, it was the only time that he stopped crying the entire three hours we were there. The nurse even turned on the nebulizer to get him to calm down so that she could check his oxygen levels.

So at that point he was improving, but still not enough for the doctor to feel comfortable with sending us home. They did all they could do for us there and then sent us to the hospital. Ben received breathing treatments every 2 hours through the night and the next day improved enough to stretch it to every 4 hours. He had a nasal canula, which he despised and constantly tried to rip out (that is why there is so much tape stuck to his cute little face). They monitored his oxygen levels and would increase or decrease the oxygen as needed.

He was finally released from the hospital on Saturday evening and it was the best feeling in the world! It is SO good to be home!! We are so happy that our little guy is better and continues to get better with each passing day. We have been able to space out the breathing treatments a little more each day and soon he won't need them at all. He is certainly feeling better, getting his appetite back and acting more like himself.

Thank you to our family and friends for your thoughts and prayers.


Ben developed a special bond with one of his nurses. He about broke his neck trying to flirt it up with her while she was at the nurses staion and he was in his high chair.