Slight Change of Plans

So, we were all set tonight to go to our new hospital for the "36-week pregnant" hospital tour. Neither Eric nor I were especially looking forward to it, as we went through it last time at our old hospital, and we now know that 90 percent of it is pretty much pointless. But the 10 percent that is helpful, ie. "where do I check in when I'm in labour" is pretty indispensable. 

We were all set to go....

Until about 30 seconds after I left the office that is...when my cell phone rang and it was my daycare provider in an absolute panic because Kieran is non-stop coughing so hard that he is gagging and she wants us to come get him NOW. This coughing we have seen now a couple of times, as it appears that our boy is pre-disposed to asthma type breathing issues whenever he gets a cold. A few weeks ago we went through this, and after a traumatic trip to the walk in clinic where Kieran was put on a breathing machine, we walked out with an inhaler and a tentative diagnosis of "he's too young to say its asthma, but....". That episode subsided, but here we are a few weeks later, with another cold and more non-stop coughing. 

This morning, he woke up with the same gagging cough, and I decided to stay home with him, and off we went back to the walk in clinic. I made Eric come with me in case Kieran wound up on the breathing machine again, which as I discovered last time is definitely a two-person job. But no machine...this time were given a second inhaler and the same diagnosis of probable asthma. But he seemed fine by this time, so we dropped him off at daycare anyway and I decided to go into work after all. 

After getting the call from daycare though I worried the entire drive home because I've seen how scary it is when it's clear he is having trouble breathing. But we actually got there in record time (thank God the snow hadn't yet started to fall). We get him home and give him his inhaler, and he is screaming as usual and then as I'm giving him the last puff, he all of sudden stops breathing. Now, let me tell you, there is a WORLD of difference between "having trouble breathing" and actually NOT breathing. As it turns out, I had seen the former, not the latter. Kieran was obviously panicking, flailing around, his face was beat red but no air is getting anywhere. Eric was holding him and jumps up and starts slapping his back to get him to breathe. I'm just standing there helpless. And then he finally managed to take a breath and is coughing and gagging and crying and I think I'm going to faint.

So, yeah, we went to the hospital all right, just not for the tour. 

Thankfully, the hospital offers a Kids Clinic, which is basically a walk-in clinic staffed only by pediatricians, with all the benefits of going to emergency  such as immediate X-Rays etc. It also is similar in ridiculous wait times, but I think it's worth it. We got more or less the same diagnosis as before, but this being an actual pediatrician, he was more versed in treating "probable asthma" in babies and gave us more tips and pointers on managing any future attacks and changed up the prescriptions were we given this morning.

So, yeah, we were there for 3 hours, came out of the hospital to the dreaded snowstorm and now Kieran is sleeping peacefully in his crib. Breathing like an angel. Poor baby. 

On a side note: the area where we were waiting also one of entry ways to get to Labour and Delivery (I know this, because we were at the same hospital where Kieran was born and I learned it on that valuable tour). During our three hour wait,  a Chinese couple comes in. The woman is hugely pregnant, seems like she's in labour, but is obviously unable to walk. The husband asks someone to get him a wheelchair and as they are putting her into it, Eric notices she is bleeding profusely and as they rush past us, I can see the woman is barely conscious.  I'm no expert, but I know that bleeding like this is not good at any time in pregnancy - no matter how far along you are. I cannot get this woman out of my mind. I hope she, and her baby, are OK. 

Thank God, this day is over.