Baby Blue

When an ER nurse apologizes for how crabby a medication might make your baby before she even hands over the prescription, you are in real trouble.  It wasn't that I didn't heed her warning, I just couldn't imagine it having that great of an effect on my sweet Baby James.  After all, he had been such a trouper through the fever, the cough, and the start of an upper respiratory infection (hence the need for the ER trip). 

 Well, after having James yell, not cry, but yell inconsolably for 48 hours, I now know better.

It should be just written into one's travel plans, that when you fly, especially with small children, someone will inevitably get sick.  And this being James first flight, he was the lucky winner.  It started out as your basic virus.  While it was no fun to see him sick, the fever just made him sleepy and cuddly (his Ama, Apa, and I took turns and sometimes fought over who got to snuggle him).  However, while he wanted to be sleeping, he only would stay that way lying on someones chest. 

So I only felt slightly guilty when I agreed to letting his Ama have him one of the nights.  I know she treasured those hours with him, and I treasured the much needed sleep. 
But when started to show all the tail tell signs of a secondary infection in his lungs, I did not mess around...to the ER we went...twice. 

Just hanging out at the ER

Between the two appointments he was given pretty much everything under the sun, and I learned two things...a baby on steroids is miserable (for everyone) and my little boy has an unnatural love for breathing treatments.  The nurse and respiratory techs were in awe, as they administered the first treatment, when James immediately grabbed for it, talked to it, and then happily (and correctly) put it in his mouth.  I guess the normal reaction for children it to back away from the noise and vapor.  But not my boy.  I attribute this behavior to subconscious memories of his NICU days when he received breathing treatments multiple times a day.  But regardless, his fascination and delight made giving him the treatments much easier over the next several days.

So while being sick on a vacation probably wasn't the most fun he could have had, James received great care and there was more than enough love and willing arms to get him to a full recovery.