As Jaiden’s 1st Birthday approaches, I am reflecting on all of the amazing moments I have had with him over the past year. It has primarily been my husband, Jaiden, and myself, for a majority of the time, and it will always be a year I cherish. Despite the rewarding, surprising, and challenging moments, there is one that happened when Jaiden was 2.5 months old, that I will never forget.
It was late September 2020, and Jaiden woke up at his usual time. He wasn’t that hungry, and I started to notice he was breathing a bit odd. I called my husband… he said it should be fine, but something didn’t sit right with me. I called the nurse emergency line to check with them. They said to keep an eye on it. After an hour or so of watching his neck make odd movements while he breathed (he wasn’t gasping for air, but something seemed off), I notified my husband that I would be taking Jaiden to the hospital, and asked if he could meet us there.
Of course, taking your infant to the hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic is nerve-wracking in itself. The hospitals have done a great job with protocols, and do their best to make you feel and be safe, but there is still a bit of fear. Upon arrival, we went to the emergency entrance, as soon as they knew it was our son, who was an infant, we were ushered in right away and given a room. Jaiden was hooked up to a monitor for his heart rate and oxygen levels. However, his oxygen levels kept going up and down. The doctor came in, did a quick check, and then he talked to someone outside the room (which I know is never good). Jaiden’s monitor started dipping again, and within 20 seconds, 3 people came into the room, and ran Jaiden and myself (who were on a bed), down a hallway, and into a room with 20 people. No one was talking to me, and all I heard was someone say “I think it’s his heart”.
They quickly did a chest x-ray while Jaiden lay on me. They put an oxygen mask on him, they did a COVID-19 nasal swab. They took blood tests, they did and EKG, they continued to have endless specialists in and out of the room, and eventually did a spinal tap test to ensure he did not have meningitis. While this was happening, my husband was outside the hospital waiting (as they have a limit for people allowed into the hospital due to the pandemic). My husband was eventually let in, and he was able to be with us for a little bit. Jaiden started to get a fever, so they gave him infant Tylenol to try and get it down, and we were wheeled from the emergency room into the pediatrics ward, to be kept in isolation until the COVID-19 swab came back.
That evening, we were informed he did not have COVID-19. His temperature returned to normal, and his breathing seemed to adjust. His EKG was normal, just a bit elevated (which was to be expected because of all the people poking him). However, his blood tests showed he was fighting something. I was to stay the night in the hospital with him, and my husband had to leave as they only allowed one parent in at a time. I didn’t sleep that night, as I constantly watched the monitors, and my poor little one hooked up to an IV with antibiotics, as they wanted to start some *in case* it was something they hadn’t caught just yet. Shaun slept in his car outside the hospital, and by “slept”, I mean, sat in his car, and stared at his phone all night.
The next morning, Jaiden got more blood taken, we had another EKG to ensure that everything was normal, and Jaiden and I began to read books that Shaun had brought from home. The blood tests again came back that he was fighting something, they just didn’t know what. His temperature remained fine, and his breathing was once again normal. They wanted to keep him another night, so I again, did not sleep. The following morning, they did more blood tests, and I anxiously awaited the results. They finally came back normal, and I was advised in the late afternoon that he was probably fighting some sort of bacterial infection. The antibiotics would have done nothing, and his little immune system fought it off – but, you can never be too careful, especially with a newborn. In the end, they think the reason his oxygen levels were all over the place was because of his constant wiggling, and he kept getting the monitor off. We were finally sent home, and I was so, so happy to finally be home.
I still reflect on those days as the scariest of my life, but I also know there are some parents who go through much more serious situations. I am grateful this situation was only minor, and his immune system fought off the bug on it’s own. The biggest takeaway is: as a parent, you know what is best for your child. You know your child better than anyone else, trust your instincts. Although the worries I have as a parent may never fade, my love continues to grow every day, and that is something I will never take for granted.
