Nurses are angels on earth.
It happened to us. We had to take our toddler to the Emergency Room (ER), ride on an ambulance, and be admitted to the hospital. It was a very scary and emotional couple of days for the Beck family.
To preface, my husband Jerime and I have a one year old name Hannah. She is our only child that we have at the moment. Jerime and I do not have any major health issues (thankfully). My pregnancy was normal, but I was induced 5 days early due to high blood pressure. My labor and delivery was normal as well, with the exception that our delivery nurse was monitoring Hannah’s heart rate very closely. Her heart rate would drop occasionally, but once she was born, she did not have any major medical issues either. Overall, we are all pretty healthy.
Hannah currently sleeps in her Pack and Play in our master bedroom. Jerime works night shift and it just makes me feel better for her to be with me instead of on the other side of the house since we are there alone. I woke up Saturday morning to her whining, which is pretty normal. She is usually whining or crying when she wakes up. I refer to her as my alarm clock, 7:00 am, on the dot, every day.
On Saturday morning, she woke up whining and I picked her up, changed her diaper, and I laid her in the bed with me to see if she would want to go back to sleep since it was the weekend. Jerime had slept in our guest room that night (sometimes we each do that since we are not used to sleeping with each other due to his work schedule). I noticed that her breathing was very obvious and I just had a feeling that it was not normal. So I made a video and sent it to a group chat that contained my mom and my two sisters. One of my sisters said that it looks like she is struggling to breath, my mom said take her temp, and my other sister said take her pacifier away and see if she is still doing the same thing. With no fever and the breathing not going back to normal, they all suggested that we go to the ER. (Insert crying here). I took Hannah and went to the guest room and choked out the words to Jerime that we need to go to the ER because Hannah was straining to breathe. He jumped up out of his sleep and said “Let’s Go!”
Since we live in Auburn we went to the Free Standing ER off of Shug Jordan. It is really close to our house and it way less busy than the main ER in Opelika. When we got there, we were the only people in the waiting room, which was comforting, considering. We got called back and they put an oxygen meter on her and her oxygen was not too low, but it defiantly was not a normal oxygen level. They tested for COVID-19, Flu, and RSV and you know, those results take a while. They checked her ear and she did have an infection in her right ear. Hannah was a trooper in the ER but did not appreciate all of the people coming in and out. She is a little shy and takes a while to warm up to anyone. The Dum-Dum definitely helped Hannah her warm up to people.
Everyone at the ER loved her Christmas pajamas!
We got the results back from the tests: Negative for all. Which is relieving, but they still did not know what was wrong with my Hannah.
There was a nurse at the Free Standing ER who I went to elementary school with, and she kept checking on us, which was comforting. She finally said that if Hannah’s levels don’t improve then we will probably be admitted to East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC). I could not believe it. A few minutes later the ER doctor came in and told us the news that we were being admitted, and an ambulance would be here to transport us. I have never even been to ER in Opelika, much less an ambulance and now I have to get on an ambulance with my baby.
Fortunately for us, everyone was so friendly. From the nurses, techs, doctors, and EMTs. I felt that Hannah was so cared for. She was such a trooper through the ER in Auburn, to the ambulance ride, to be admitted to EAMC. Once we got to EAMC we were greeted with a very friendly nurse, Angie. It’s amazing that such strong connections can be made in a 12 hour shift. Every nurse that we encountered during labor and delivery and this trip to EAMC, have been so great! Nurses are angels on earth. Hannah got a nose swab again to test for more reasons of why her breathing is off. They decided to put her on oxygen to help her breathing. For a while, we just had to keep her in her bed because she was hooked up to the wall with the oxygen tube in her nose. We don’t really do a lot of screen time with her, but we kept the TV on in the room and we were letting her watch Cocomelon and Mrs. Rachel on our phones. There was just really nothing else she could do other than screen time. Talk about a tough time! A 16 month old being unable to walk around and be free! After Hannah had a nap, we asked the nurse if she could extend the oxygen so that Hannah would be able to get out of bed and walk around and she did!
We were able to play a little that afternoon. The doctor came in that evening and suggested that Hannah be taken off the regular oxygen tube and be put on forced oxygen and have an IV for the night. The forced oxygen, of course, does not have an extender and she had to stay in bed again. When Hannah would nap or sleep, her oxygen levels went down so the doctor just wanted this for reinforcement. One of the hardest things to watch, is your baby getting an IV. Hannah cried and screamed and Jerime couldn’t even watch. It was the saddest thing. Once it was in though she really didn’t pay attention to it. She was still using her hand as normally as she could.
**TRIGGER WARNING**
That night was rough! I had forgotten to tell my sister to get my glasses for the overnight bag she brought us. I literally can’t see anything without my contacts or glasses, but I had to take out my contacts that night. My eyes were dry and my contacts were cloudy from all of the crying I had been doing. Jer took the night shift, getting up every time Hannah cried and whenever her oxygen tube slipped out of her nose. Sweet Nurse Jerime.
By the morning Hannah was doing better, a different doctor came in and recommended that we take the oxygen out and see how she does without it. Hannah was without oxygen and an IV for the rest of the afternoon. The doctor came back in around 6:00 pm and discharged us! We were all so relieved!! We went home with an inhaler, a steroid, and medicine for an ear infection. We followed up two days later and she was allowed to only continue taking the medicine for her ear infection. Hannah is on the mend.
I cannot thank the staff at the Freestanding ER in Auburn, at EAMC, the EMTs, etc. enough. Everyone we encountered were really great and made us feel as ease considering the situation. I am so thankful for my family, Jerime’s family, my work family, our church family, and our friends. I have never felt so much love and prayer. My phone was blowing up with people checking on Hannah. It was simply amazing to know that we have a support system. Having a child in the ER/hospital is the scariest and emotional thing to do, but the staff at East Alabama Health will take care of them. <3
