Pneumonia.. again.

I'm such a slacker...
I'm having camera issues, plus we are moving.. again, plus we had a nice 5 day hospital stay, days after reading this.. I'm so behind.

Asleep in the ER

So Lil'K got a runny nose, that came along with a lovely fever.  As soon as she started showing symptoms.. we made sure our Emergency bags were prepped and ready to go, we knew it was only a matter of time until Lil'C would get it too.
Two days later he started showing symptoms.  The day after that she had a nice fever and he went into the 100s (at night) so we called the Ped and had them seen (Monday).  They were both rather chipper at the appointment and Lil'C's lungs were pretty clear with mild "crackling" (yes, that is a medical term) in his upper lungs.  By Wednesday Lil'C's fever had spiked to 103.8 (again at night) and his runny nose had turned green, Lil'K was almost finished with a very slight clear runny nose.  Her's had actually never changed colors.  By noon we were packing up and heading to the hospital, which took longer than expected since we were out of practice.

What's a bored little girl to do?  

 

Drive an IV pole like a car, that's what.

We had cranked his O2 up to 1.5L from .5 and when we got there they had to crank him up more.  For a few days he was actually at 5L!  He ended up needing steroids since it was a viral pneumonia.  They also put him on antibiotics, even though they don't do anything for viral, to protect him from a secondary infection while his immune system was weak.  

3G Geek. IPad Boss

Thankfully this time it was only lungs and no heart issue.
He had to have nebulizer treatment and something we had never had before... IPPB.  If you have no clue what that is, like myself...  It is kind of like a nebulizer except it oscillates.  It sounds like a train and has to be held on tightly.  Hubby had to hold down Lil'C for each treatment every 4 hours.  We all hated it... but it worked.  It broke up the gunk in his lungs and he went on the mend.
So we now have a ton of meds, but he is feeling much better and getting back to his old self.  His toes, fingers and lips have stopped turning purple when he pulls off his O2 for to long.  He is also back to only wearing it when he sleeps, which is nice. 
We were also in the middle of potty training when all this hit and it kinna triggered a regression.  We are slowly getting back to where we were.  Speaking of which... does anyone have any hints for teaching a toddler to pull his own pants up and down when he has poor movement on one side??  

(Days later)
Seriously slacking on the blog..
Lil'C is back to his normal O2 and meds.  Although I added a probiotic (this one) once he got off the Antibiotic, thanks to a suggestion from Kate.. and I think he has really been needing one.  I think he has been on so many really strong Antibiotics throughout his life that it has pretty much destroyed his gut flora. 
Since he started solids he has had trouble gaining weight.   I'm thinking all of the antibiotics are part of the issue.  Breastmilk naturally contains probiotics and whenever I would get serious about giving him yogurt he would gain some weight.. now with this probiotic he is obviously putting on weight and growing.  He has chubby cheeks again, has finally outgrown all his 18mo (yes my 3yo has been wearing 18mo) clothes and is suddenly able to reach things he wasn't able to when we got back.  It is really kinna crazy.  I need to look at his discharge papers to see if  I can find a height and weight to compare it too.

See the cheeks? He is saying "vroom"

So... 2 Questions for all ya'll....  Any help on the potty training with a weak side?   Have you seen a sudden health change after starting probiotics in someone you know (or yourself)?