ticket to ride

let me preface this by saying that i have so many posts started and beach pictures to post, but they have taken a back burner to the craziness that began yesterday after preschool.

so, when i found out i was expecting our third bundle of joy (and joy, she is), i was told by several seasoned mommies that the thing that changes most is the amount of time you spend at the doctor. we have never been regular appointment holders at any one doctor, but miller's skin has caused us to visit quite the menagerie. we have been to two pediatricians, a dermatologist and an allergist. with each step, we have seen miller's skin improve. our visits were driven by a desire to improve his eczema, but we did eventually end up at an allergist because we feared he had food allergies due to two reactions that occurred between 6 months and 1 year. the first occurred during friday night dinner when his big sister touched his arm with her food covered hand. she was eating strawberry yogurt and a salad with ranch dressing. the reaction subsided with benedryl. the second occurred at preschool when his teachers supplemented his lunch with a townhouse cracker. once again, a trip to target for some benedryl did the trick. when we did go to the allergist, miller had a skin test that revealed allergies to peanuts (4+), wheat (4+) and corn (2). they told us he is not to eat peanuts and gave us an epipen, but said the others could stay in his diet unless his skin improved when removed (it did not and that is another story of 10 miserable days).

fast forward more than two years to yesterday afternoon, i am feeding spencer when everyone starts asking for a million things-water colors? scissors? snack? milk? yada, yada, yada. i ask for them to wait one minute until spencer is finished or josh gets home. when he arrives, he dishes out several snacks and they sit on the floor to enjoy them. while they are eating, miller makes a gagging noise, but keeps eating-not at all uncommon for miller, he LOVES to eat and very littler can deter him. at the point he starts coughing. and coughing. and coughing. he sits with me for a while and wants me to carry him around-a little clingy. josh makes dinner and miller helps while coughing. he drinks some water and some milk, but still coughs. when asked, he says he is fine. when he begins to eat dinner (salad), he says, "i want this out." he doesn't eat dinner at all. he is scratching (not uncommon after a week at the beach or a day at preschool) and coughing. i asked it he wanted something different and he replied,"no, i will eat it when i get this out," and gestured towards his neck. hmmm . . . . josh gives him some benedryl as we are beginning to think he may be having an allergic reaction. we notice his cheeks are red and he is really scratching, so i ask josh to carry him to his room so we can see him in better light. when we take his clothes off, his knees are covered in whelps and he has red dots on his thighs. all of his typical eczema areas are severely inflamed and warm to touch. i decide to call the after hours line to talk to a nurse. while we wait for her call, miller begins to wheeze but is still carrying on a conversation and appears to have no difficulty breathing or communicating. he also starts asking for medicine and climbs onto the changing table to get his topical cream from its basket. i am definitely starting to think this is more severe. josh reads the epipen instructions where we notice it has an expiration date and it is nearing it. (people we have never seen anything other than some hives and they were more that 2 years ago.) when the nurse calls back, she says we need to go to lebonheur urgent care just in case he is having a respiratory reaction. we decide it is best for josh to take him because i need to be able to feed spencer. 

josh takes him to urgent care where it is relayed to me that he is having a severe respiratory allergic reaction. he receives a shot of epinephrine. they attempt to give him oral pretizone, but he screams and "spits up" (miller's words). so, instead they give him an albuterol treatment and start an iv of pretizone, benedryl and fluids. then, they tell josh they need to keep him overnight in case of a secondary reaction. they call an ambulance to transfer him downtown. so, now, josh must call his unsuspecting wife and tell her this information. he begins with the good news/bad news question-really? all i hear is your baby boy (who is screaming bloody freaking murder in the background) has to spend the night in the hospital without his mommy (while josh comforts his shrieks of terror with "it's okay, buddy." is it??) 

he looks so tiny

they transfer him downtown in the ambulance (first picture and the second ride for our family this year). josh has to ride with him as he is terrified. they arrive and are put in an exam room. when the nurse walks in to assess him, it is our friend, jodie! what? i didn't even know she still worked occasionally (and she doesn't very often). after the doctor assessed him, he said he thought miller could go home. great news to this momma who just wanted to hold her baby boy! when jodie told josh, he said "that's great, but we don't have any way to get home." it just so happened that jodie was getting off and had a car seat in her car. so, after all the paperwork was complete, she drove them to the pharmacy and then to josh's car. josh arrived with a very sleepy boy asking for ice cream. he literally fell asleep in my arms as he finished his ice cream. we have a follow up with our pediatrician tomorrow and he is on pretizone for the next week. but all in all, God carried us through this extremely scary situation and we are thankful to have a healthy little boy today!