Whew what a weekend!

First of all...THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for Nate over this long and worrisome weekend. What started out as a very lovely evening at dear friends Becky and Tim's for dinner ...turned into an endless night of frustration, fear and anxiety. Over coffee and dessert on Friday night, Nate started that seal-like cough. It alternated with wheezing and heavy breathing, so we took him to St. Mary's Hospital. After triage, we were taken to emergency care where he received 2 different breathing treatments among other oral medications trying to rule out everything. After 3 hours we were sent home, but Nate wasn't well, just a little better than when we had arrived. At home, I tried to sleep with him on the reclining couch to keep him upright, tried putting him in his crib that had been adjusted to an incline, taking him outside in the cool air....the shower....the boiling water....whatever and nothing worked. We took him back at 4:30 AM only to be told by the doctor and the respiratory specialist that they thought they'd see us back again. (gee....thanks) After yet another breathing treatment, the doc says he can't treat Nate anymore....that none of the medicines he is giving is working well enough and that we should go to a hospital that has a pediatrics unit. He called St. Vincents and told them we were on our way. The doctor on the floor was the same doctor that had treated Nate last year, and his response was "no way are they driving him here. You get them transported by an ambulance because I'm not taking any chances." Now...it wasn't great being back in the PICU. But it was comforting to see Dr. Taylor and the nursing staff that had taken such good care of Nate last year. We were scared, but it wasn't the same diagnosis as last year....and the transport was for cautionary purposes....and the test came back parainfuenza 3. We were admitted early Saturday morning and had to spend the night Saturday night. We were hoping to go home Sunday morning, but Nate required another breathing treatment early Sunday morning, so he had to stay for another 12 hours. We were released at 4 PM on Sunday...YaY! The next hurdle was to see if Nate was safe to travel, because we had been planning a trip (by air) to Arizona! So Monday morning we saw Nate's pediatrician, and he gave us the thumbs up to travel. Nate is taking steroids by mouth to help keep his airways open, and he's doing a lot of coughing, but we were told to expect that. Now he's doing so well....he is happy and healthy and it seems like last weekend was a very very bad dream. I'm still recovering from lack of sleep! But wanted you all to know how he is, and to thank everyone for their wonderful, kind words and prayers. It is so comforting to know you care so much. Thank you! ps he's been crawling like crazy!