Sunday morning Marcus woke up feeling warm. He was around 100.5 degrees and acted slightly uncomfortable so I figured it was teething since he has been drooling non stop for weeks now. I gave him some Tylenol to help with the pain.
He took a short nap around 10am. Around 1pm I was trying to put him down for an afternoon nap and he was just laying there staring at the ceiling. Which isn't like him. He never just lays there, he's always fighting sleep. I noticed he was warm. I took his temp it was 102.6 degrees. I called kaiser advice line. I was ready to take him in right then and there. By the time I talked with an advice nurse I took his temp again and it was 103 degrees. She told me how to cool him off, and to let him run around in just a diaper. She said she could hear him babbling in the background and that's a good sign.
So I did what she said. His fever was still 102.5 degrees when it was bed time. He was exhausted since he missed his nap, so I was going to put him to bed early. I gave him a cool bath and got him ready for bed. I noticed his breathing was short and shallow. 60 or more breaths in a minute. I called Kaiser again. This time I don't think she believed me about his breathing. She said a breath is in and out, I said yes I know that. She also mentioned hearing him babble and said that's a good sign. I told her he is lethargic but alert. She seemed to think it was no big deal. She told me what to watch for and what to call 911 about. She listed seizure, lips blue, etc. and said none of this will probably happen.
I dressed him in just a onsie turned the heat off in his room and checked on him often. I didn't go downstairs because I didn't want to not be able to hear him on the baby monitor since we have a noise machine in there. About an hour after he went to bed I heard him let out a cry/whimper and went in to get him and lay him on our bed so I could take his temp and monitor his breathing. As I was trying to take his temp he looked up at the ceiling in a trance. I said Marcus, Marcus...trying to get him to look at me. Touched his face to get his attention everything. Then he moved his head to the left while looking up to the left and wouldn't move it. I grabbed him and ran down stairs to get my phone and call 911.
While on the phone with 911 he was still looking up to the left and wouldn't move his head. He was barely breathing. They were shallow gasps about every 5 - 10 seconds. When they would happen every 10 seconds I was terrified he was going to stop breathing. Then he eventually looked at me...still in a trance and started trying to reach at my mouth. His breathing at this time was still every 5 - 10 seconds. It was so scary I thought he was going to stop breathing any moment and I would lose him.
Then he started vomiting, so I put him on his side. That's when the paramedics got there. It was like slow motion. He was still vomiting a little after they got there.
We went to Doernbecher emergency department. They didn't do much other than give him ibuprofen and then took his temp before we left and it was still 102.6 so they gave him a Tylenol dose. They said to keep our appt. we had on Monday for him so they could do follow up testing. They said to keep up with the ibuprofen and Tylenol and to give him his does when due, don't wait for a fever. We got home put him to bed and he broke his fever at around 2am. The next morning he seemed fine.
Went to our 10am doctors appointment. She checked him out said everything looked good. I asked her why did he have a fever. She said probably something viral and that these seizures usually happen on the first day of a illness. I told her he has been sick for 3 weeks, and brought up the possibility of an infection. And told her about his congestion at night. She said some babies they just get congested at night (funny that it didn't start until he got sick). She said everything sounds good and that if his lungs got bad or what not then they could look into that but since he sounds fine they wouldn't do any testing. I asked about a blood test she said that wouldn't tell us anything?!? I told her something is wrong with him, I don't know what but something isn't right. She just looked at me like I was crazy.
I normally would get bitchy with her but I was way too emotional about the whole situation still.
I told her OHSU told me to keep giving him Tylenol and ibuprofen back to back and asked if I should continue that. She said no I wouldn't do it unless his fever comes back. I told her I was going to do what OHSU said because I can't handle another seizure. I left the appointment feeling very angry and frustrated and cried on the way home.
After we had been home for a little while, his temp was around 100.5 degrees even on both the Tylenol and ibuprofen so that made me suspect if he wasn't on it it would be up there. Every time he was due for his Tylenol dose I would take his temp. Sure enough after I put him to bed when his dose was due I took his temp and he was 103 degrees(he was sleeping in the lightest onsie I could find and no blankets so it wasn't from overheating). I woke him up to cool him down. Called kaiser... they didn't seem to care. Said the same BS, it was like the same as the night before. I was panicked that he might have another seizure. I called them back again and the one nurse lady finally said well maybe he has an infection in his lungs and that's causing his fever. Finally someone agreed with me. I told that nurse I'm waiting for the viral symptoms to start, that would make me feel better. Until then I want to rule out that it's not an infection. I thought a fever was our bodies way of saying hey something's wrong. You'd think in toddlers they'd want to be sure since they can't say hey it's hard to breath at night when I sleep, or my chest hurts.
I know that these fevers can be caused by viral but since he isn't acting sick at all I'm worried about infection. We are going back to the same doctor today and I wont leave there until a chest infection is ruled out. I don't care if his lungs sound clear. Are you having him take a deep breath? NO. That's what they instruct adults to do to listen. So maybe your missing something.
