our friend's birthday party yesterday was really fun. the kids romped and played in the backyard in the sunshine, then we came inside for presents and yummy cheesecake. we got the birthday boy a little baby doll, and micah picked out a little wooden teething toy, and wrapped it herself. : ) well, i helped with the bow. anyway, the party was really fun, but a couple of hours into our stay, rowan walked up to me and held his arms up, and when i picked him up, he was burning hot! i couldn't believe a fever had come on that quickly. he pretty much collapsed on my shoulder, so i rounded up micah, made my apologies for possibly exposing the other guests, and we left. rowan was acting sort of delirious; he could barely hold his head up, and fell asleep in the car seat with his head lolling forward. i was trying not to panic; i get so anxious anytime he gets sick, now. he did/does have a yucky cough and a runny nose. when we got home, i took his temp and it was only 99 degrees. he felt a lot hotter than that. all three of us got into bed and napped until about 6:oo pm. when we woke up, i took rowan's temp again, and he no longer had a fever. he was fine for the rest of the night, fine again this morning. i don't know what that was about; i guess, some sort of little respiratory infection that his little system was fighting off. it was just really weird, how quickly the fever came and went.
in my mind and imagination, i've expanded the time between when rowan's breathing became very labored, and when i took him to the doctor and subsequently, the ER, to three or four days. in reality, his chest started retracting and his breathing became strident sunday night, and i took him monday morning. i can't seem to convince myself that i did not let him struggle and strive for air for days before finally doing something about it. i think it's because that sunday night, i sat up beside him in bed all night long, watching his chest cave in and listening to him gasp and wheeze. the night seemed to go on and on, until finally the doctor's office opened and i could call and make an appointment. had i known what was going on, i would've just driven him straight to the emergency room, in the wee hours of the morning. i guess that's what i can't let go of: that i could've, and should've taken him sooner. he must've been so scared and uncomfortable, that whole time... i can't stand thinking about it. now, whenever he comes down with anything respiratory, i find myself on high alert, taking off his shirt so i can see how his chest is moving, and pressing my face against his every chance i get, listening for that stridor. epiglottitis is extremely rare, and i know he won't get it again... but i think i've condemned myself to consuming worry for a long, long time.
"epiglottitis in the very young (younger than 1 year) is unusual and occurs in only about 4% of cases." - emedicine.com
"since 1985, with the widespread vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b (or Hib), which was the most common organism related to epiglottitis, the overall incidence of the disease among children has dropped dramatically." - emedicine.com (rowan had not recieved the Hib vaccine when he got sick)
his experience is the main reason josh and i decided to vaccinate our kids, after all. we decided we would rather face the risk of either of them having a reaction to the shots, or dealing with heavy metal toxicity, then see either of our babies in a hospital bed with a tube down their throats ever, ever again. most people probably think this is a no-brainer, and wonder how in the world we ever came to the conclusion that it was acceptable not to immunize our kids. all i can say is we became deathly afraid of the possible link between vaccines and autism, and were appalled by some of the ingredients in vaccines, like formaldahyde, and viruses grown in monkey or cow cells. we read article after article about the growing movement of parents who were saying no to vaccines, and trusting in the strength and ability of their kids' God-given immune systems. it just all seemed completely unnatural and bizarre, and we didn't want any of that stuff injected into our precious children's bodies. but after having two close-calls (rowan's epiglottitis, and we thought micah had rubella while i was pregnant with rowan), the reward no longer outweighs the risk for us. i know rowan could have gotten epiglottitis even if he'd been properly vaccinated, but still. and micah didn't really have rubella, just a run-of-the-mill rash-causing virus... but still.
in my mind and imagination, i've expanded the time between when rowan's breathing became very labored, and when i took him to the doctor and subsequently, the ER, to three or four days. in reality, his chest started retracting and his breathing became strident sunday night, and i took him monday morning. i can't seem to convince myself that i did not let him struggle and strive for air for days before finally doing something about it. i think it's because that sunday night, i sat up beside him in bed all night long, watching his chest cave in and listening to him gasp and wheeze. the night seemed to go on and on, until finally the doctor's office opened and i could call and make an appointment. had i known what was going on, i would've just driven him straight to the emergency room, in the wee hours of the morning. i guess that's what i can't let go of: that i could've, and should've taken him sooner. he must've been so scared and uncomfortable, that whole time... i can't stand thinking about it. now, whenever he comes down with anything respiratory, i find myself on high alert, taking off his shirt so i can see how his chest is moving, and pressing my face against his every chance i get, listening for that stridor. epiglottitis is extremely rare, and i know he won't get it again... but i think i've condemned myself to consuming worry for a long, long time.
"epiglottitis in the very young (younger than 1 year) is unusual and occurs in only about 4% of cases." - emedicine.com
"since 1985, with the widespread vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b (or Hib), which was the most common organism related to epiglottitis, the overall incidence of the disease among children has dropped dramatically." - emedicine.com (rowan had not recieved the Hib vaccine when he got sick)
his experience is the main reason josh and i decided to vaccinate our kids, after all. we decided we would rather face the risk of either of them having a reaction to the shots, or dealing with heavy metal toxicity, then see either of our babies in a hospital bed with a tube down their throats ever, ever again. most people probably think this is a no-brainer, and wonder how in the world we ever came to the conclusion that it was acceptable not to immunize our kids. all i can say is we became deathly afraid of the possible link between vaccines and autism, and were appalled by some of the ingredients in vaccines, like formaldahyde, and viruses grown in monkey or cow cells. we read article after article about the growing movement of parents who were saying no to vaccines, and trusting in the strength and ability of their kids' God-given immune systems. it just all seemed completely unnatural and bizarre, and we didn't want any of that stuff injected into our precious children's bodies. but after having two close-calls (rowan's epiglottitis, and we thought micah had rubella while i was pregnant with rowan), the reward no longer outweighs the risk for us. i know rowan could have gotten epiglottitis even if he'd been properly vaccinated, but still. and micah didn't really have rubella, just a run-of-the-mill rash-causing virus... but still.
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