Lessons

Last week was …. interesting, in the Chinese way of the word. Zac woke up sick with tonsillitis Monday morning, and my cold had turned to laryngitis over the weekend, sending my voice on a little vacation. Zac wants to be read to, endlessly, when he’s sick. Which I’m usually happy to do. When I have a voice.

Monday night was eventful and I learnt several things:

1. If deliberating about taking a baby to emergency, don’t bother with Nurse On Call. The 20 questions 20 different ways routine is only tolerable when you’re deciding whether you need to go to a GP; it is rage-inducing when watching your child’s lips, hands and feet turn blue.
2. If you start a call to an ambulance, finish it, even if it means staying on the line long enough to tell the super slow operator that you’re going to drive to emergency yourself.
3. If you don’t finish the call, expect your front door to be broken down by the ambulance officers when they arrive and no-one answers the door. (presuming that you call from a landline, because that has to be how they got our address)
4. Even if you live 10 minutes away from emergency, getting an ambulance is preferable as there is medical attention on the go, but more importantly, ambulance officers can take priority when you get there, ensuring that you’re seen quickly. Obviously this point only applies when you’re really, really, really worried and frightened that your child is getting very sick very quickly.

Awful night with Zac, and no verdict on what went on. The triage nurse thought it was febrile convulsions, the dr thought a virus with high fever, Rafe thinks the probiotics reacted badly and I don’t know what to think. Zac woke up at 10:30, and wouldn’t settle. When I picked him up I could feel that his whole body was shaking. I rocked him for a few minutes, waiting for it to stop, assuming it was fever. Started to get a bad feeling and feel sick in my stomach so I asked Rafe to call Nurse On Call. During the 15 minute call, the shaking continued and Zac’s lips, hands and feet started turning blue. Finally the nurse said yes, take him to emergency. Whilst Rafe was getting keys, I noticed Zac’s breathing becoming more laboured so I yelled to call an ambulance, however when Rafe called, I heard the prompt service begin and just though “we don’t have time for this” so told him to forget it and drive us instead. Just before arriving, Zac had a huge vomit and then stopped shaking. Whilst reporting in, his colour slowly returned to white (a vast improvement on blue) and we spent the next couple of hours at the hospital, waiting. As he became more normal, and tired, we just wanted to take him home to get him some sleep, but couldn’t until the dr was happy to let us go. A very frustrating situation once you feel sure that the emergency is actually over.

Whilst there, Rafe got a call from the police, explaining that the ambulance had arrived and broken down our front door to check for anyone unconscious inside. Reassuring to know and I felt terrible – they have far more important places to be and things to do than break in to an empty house. Lesson learned. The police waited outside our house until we got home as they wouldn’t leave it unsecured. The lock of our door was on the floor! Judging by the crescent on our door, they used a small battering ram. 

And that was just the start of the week. Fortunately the rest of the week involved less drama, although doing a job interview with next to no voice was also a first.