That's the question we had to answer at 11:30 last night. Any parents' nightmare...became our reality.
Here's how the night played out....
Matt and I enjoyed a yummy dinner of crabcakes, shrimp, and artichoke last night for dinner. Poor Mya can't ever really enjoy her Daddy's awesome cooking due to her egg allergy. We read labels religously and really only give her things that we know are cooked in a controlled environment. So, while we feasted on our seafood spread, Mya dined on chicken nuggets, oranges, and artichoke. As she was finishing up her dinner, I noticed a red rash around Mya's mouth. Just so happened to look very similar to the rash she had after she ate eggs. So, I watched her carefully and noticed no other symptoms of an allergy attack. I also reflected back on what she had eaten. Nothing contained eggs. Could she be having a reaction to the shellfish that was on my fingers?
I put Mya to bed at 7:oo as usual. All was well. At 10:45, Mya awakened screaming. I went to her room and checked on her because she is usually a champion sleeper (7-7). While in her room, I noticed she was doing a lot of heavy breathing. Was I being paranoid since I knew she had a rash prior to going to bed? I watched her lay in her crib, just staring up at me as though she was struggling to breathe. Now panic was setting in. What do I do? Who do I call? I held her for a long while as she lay latharically in my arms. At one point I thought she had finally fallen asleep because it sounded like she was snoring. But, Matt told me that she was awake. She was obviously struggling to get in air and was beginning to gasp for air. I had the Epi-pen by my side, but was terrified to use it. Matt and I decided that we needed to call her pediatrician. It took awhile to call back, but finally the Dr. returned our call and said, "You HAVE to use the Epi-pen NOW and call 911." Holy SH*T! I actually tried to talk the doctor out of this....but when she repeated herself, I knew it was time to set my nerves aside and help my baby girl. SO..... I got her out of her pajamas and with extremely shaky hands, jabbed that Epi-pen into my baby girl's leg. She screamed as the needle went into her legs and tears rolled down my face. While this was happening, Matt was on the phone with the 9-1-1 dispatcher.
Within minutes, a squad car, a firetruck, and an ambulance all arrived at our house. During our wait, Mya had vomitted ALL over Matt (which in retrospect is actually very funny!). As the paramedics checked her out, she would look at me and say, "All done Momma." Ugh, heartbreaking. The paramedics decided she needed to go to the ER. So, into the ambulance Mya and Mommy went. Daddy followed close behind. That was a looooong, rough ride. Mya was so confused and scared. She asked for Dada and repeatedly told me she was all done.
We arrived at the ER and the Dr. (not my favorite person) quickly checked her out. He gave her some benadryl and some steroids (in case she had Croup.... whole other story.... thought her gasping for air and barking cough was Croup and not a reaction. I totally disagree so I won't go into all that). He then said he needed to observe her for 3 hours. WHAT??? It was about 12:00 at this point. My rigid time schedule was already WAY off and he wanted my 18 month old to stay away until 3 am? Seriously? He didn't come to check on her once while we were there, either. Mya was pretty lathargic during our ER visit. But at about 2:00 she got her second wind and wanted to run around the ER. We decided we would let her be a nuisance and cry and whine so that the staff would get sick of us. We ended up persuading the Dr. to let us leave at 2:15. Again, he NEVER even checked her vitals before we left.
We got home around 2:30 and she was sound asleep by 3:00. It was a LONG, SCARY night that no parent wants to experience.
I talked to her pediatrician today, and she said it seems as though Mya has an extreme shellfish allergy. Great....add that to the list. I no longer think Epi-pens are a waste of money ($100), and I am so thankful that I actually paid attention to the training I got 4 years ago while teaching in Addison. I am so thankful that this didn't happen on a night that Matt worked late. I am so thankful that my baby girl is ok.
Don't judge.... I of course had my camera in my purse. So, what any good blogger would do, I took pictures (well...Matt took pictures).
12:45 am: We were waiting....waiting...waiting..... What exactly were we waiting for?
Mya was getting a breathing treatment. She was actually trying to stick the tube up her nose and into her mouth. This treatment lasted about 15 minutes. The Dr. that NEVER checked on us thought we were doing it for 3 hours.
Mya was pretty lathargic the entire time. Like Mother like Daughter...she loves having her back, belly, arms, anything tickled to be relaxed. Please ignore my outfit, clothes, and hair. I was in bed and not prepared to be out in public.
Did you like it, Daddy?
