Vacation Drama

In the last post, I mentioned that I would write about some of the craziness we experienced while on vacation in Arizona and California.  So, here goes....

The night we arrived in Phoenix, we rented a car and drove to our hotel.  While Coley took the luggage cart downstairs, I looked at Michael and realized that he was having an allergic reaction (probably from touching something that had come in contact with peanuts on the airplane).  Coley returned to our room in time to see me trying to get Michael to drink a dose of Benadryl.  Thankfully, Michael responded quickly enough to the Benadryl that I didn't have to use the EpiPen or call for an ambulance. 

After that, were extra vigilant about what Michael touched or ate.  He was fine for the rest of our time in Arizona. 

On day two in California, we had another allergy scare.  Michael was eating breakfast when I saw that he was a little red.  I told Coley I was going to get the Benadryl just in case.  In less than a minute, Michael's eyes started swelling.  Benadryl came to the rescue once more.  Since Michael was eating  the same foods he usually eats, I think he was having a reaction to something that was in the soy milk.  Maybe it was processed in a facility that processes nuts and they didn't put it on the label.  Who knows.  All I know is that food allergies are very scary!

To make life just a little more interesting, Michael got sick while we were at Disneyland.  We were going to spend two days at the park with my friend and her little boy.  After our first day in the park, we went back to the hotel to feed everyone dinner and get Michael and Abby in bed at a decent time.  They were both wiped out from all the fun we had during the day.  Michael had a little cough that day, but nothing major.  That night when I put him to bed, however, his breathing seemed labored and very fast.  Coley and I debated for awhile about what we should do.  Coley went to Target to get a humidifier, but by the time he returned, we decided we better take him to the hospital.  After a little help from the front desk and a phone call to the nearest hospital, we were directed to a children's hospital (only about 10 minutes from the park).

To give you an idea of the seriousness of his condition, we were originally put in room 46 (way down the hall from the nurses' station), but after being checked by the nurse we were immediately moved to room 1A (directly in front of the nurses' station) so they could monitor him closely.  His heart rate was high and his oxygen saturation was too low.  They gave him a steroid and a breathing treatment.  They also gave him blow by oxygen.  The worst part for me was when they had me hold him in the awful contraption to take a chest x-ray.  He was so frightened.  We were told that Michael either had bronchiolitis or the beginning of pneumonia.  Poor baby!

We finally returned to the hotel (after another adventure with two different 24 hour pharmacies) and got in bed at 4:30 a.m.!  What a night!  It was a crazy night, but we were very grateful for the medical care that he received.  The doctor and nurses who took care of him were great.  We were also very grateful that Abigail slept through the whole thing.  She didn't wake up on the way to the hospital, at the hospital, or even on the way back to the hotel.  Amazing!

Needless to say, we did not return to Disneyland for day two.  I was sure Abigail was going to be terribly disappointed.  When she woke up at 9:00 a.m., she said, "Yeah, It's morning.  Today we get to...."  At this point my heart sunk.  I just knew she was going to be crushed when she learned she wasn't returning to Disneyland.  But then she finished her sentence with, "...Mariette's house."  What a blessing!  I can't even tell you how grateful I was at that point.

We did return to Mariette's house that day and spent the rest of our vacation basically preparing for our trip home to New York and trying to get Michael well enough to fly home.  Abby never complained about missing a day at Disneyland.  I think she was just as thrilled to watch "Bubble Guppies" on Mariette's big screen TV.

Even with all of the drama, we did have a wonderful time seeing family and friends.  We just hope and pray that the next trip isn't quite so exciting!

(Once we returned home, Michael went to see his pediatrician.  He is just finishing his antibiotics and is doing MUCH better!)