At this point of time as a mother I don't think anything surprises me anymore. Except today was a bit unexpected!
I kept Carter home from school today because over the weekend he had a fever of 104 and was so sick he would not move (not like him!). So I took him to the Dr. this weekend and he tested positive for influenza A. Which may also be the reason Kate has had stomach problems, and now Preston has a high fever too. No, I did not give my kids the flu shot. I used to get them all the time when I worked in the clinic but haven't in the past few years. But I honestly question their effectiveness anyways as you usually get them in November and they only last three months and don't seem to cover every strain. So it probably would not do any good anyways.
So earlier today my kids, who are supposed to be laying down, are running around and Carter gets a bloody nose. Which is no big deal. He gets them quite a bit especially after a cold. So I usually just have him apply pressure and then I put neosporin or vasoline up his nose.
I go about my usual day and then come and check on him. He is bleeding alllll over the place and has gone through half the box of tissues. So I make him sit on my lap, stick a tissue up his nose and apply pressure myself. After ten minutes I try to pull it out and a ton of (sorry, graphic details) thick THICK blood comes out. Okay now I am concerned. I again hold pressure for awhile thinking it probably has clotted and stopped. But when I try to remove tissue again lots of really thick thick blood. And his nose wasn't really congested in the first place so I figure it had to be all blood and not just congestion. So then I call KC who also is infamous for bloody noses. He tells me that that happens to him too and it should stop. So I again apply pressure for about 15 minutes and still it is not giving.
Carter is acting a bit spacey so I call the pediatrician. The receptionist gets Carter's name and date of birth and puts me on hold. Probably at least 10 minutes goes by. Then someone comes on the phone and says,"Is this so and so's mom?"
"No. It's Carter's mom," I try to ask what is going on but she sticks me right on hold again. Meanwhile Carter is STILL bleeding the same gross blood. So (yes, this is sad) I go online and google search bloody nose. Basically you are supposed to seek medical attention after 20 minutes of attempts. I figure it must have been about 45 and the blood is just so weird and not like him. So I call 911. They tell me they are sending out an ambulance. Okay I am now trying not to loose it in front of my kids. I mean I figured he would be ok I just wasn't really planning on the EMT's coming to my house today (or EVER really). I guess I just figured they would give me some cool advice over the phone that I didn't know and it would magically work. And then I'm like great. If he goes to the hospital what am I going to do? KC has NO extra time to take off and my kids have the flu!!!
So the ambulance comes and they glove up, check Carter's vitals and o2 sats and blood pressure which were all fine. Then they pull the tissue from his nose and NOTHING. They hang out for awhile and inform me of the proper procedure of stopping a nose bleed (thanks guys!). They tell me they have a huge preschool tour (from Preston's preschool, actually!) and I can call them back if I need to. Okay now I feel like a completely incompetent mom.
So Carter is doing fine. He did cough up some blood but it probably just trickled back down his throat. My neighbor called to make sure we were ok and we were talking and I was like shoot I wonder how much this is going to cost because the last time we used the ambulance it cost almost $6,000! (okay I make that sound like we do this often but I'm referring to when the U of U life flight took Kate to Primary Children's when she was born) But she told me a relative is an EMT and is is not billed unless they do transfer. Phew!
So that was a fun little false alarm that I don't want to have any time soon! I just can't believe how freaked out I was. But I'm really just glad Carter is just fine and now he is just really bored because he's not in school. I'm pretty irritated with the pediatrician office. They never called me back. Hello ! What if I fainted and Carter was bleeding to death??? This is not the first thing they have done to make me mad so I feel like this was the last straw. I am ready to fire them.
And if you do see an ambulance or police or any kind of authority come to our house again, it's just because I have finally flown the coop and they are just taking me to the loony bin!!!
I kept Carter home from school today because over the weekend he had a fever of 104 and was so sick he would not move (not like him!). So I took him to the Dr. this weekend and he tested positive for influenza A. Which may also be the reason Kate has had stomach problems, and now Preston has a high fever too. No, I did not give my kids the flu shot. I used to get them all the time when I worked in the clinic but haven't in the past few years. But I honestly question their effectiveness anyways as you usually get them in November and they only last three months and don't seem to cover every strain. So it probably would not do any good anyways.
So earlier today my kids, who are supposed to be laying down, are running around and Carter gets a bloody nose. Which is no big deal. He gets them quite a bit especially after a cold. So I usually just have him apply pressure and then I put neosporin or vasoline up his nose.
I go about my usual day and then come and check on him. He is bleeding alllll over the place and has gone through half the box of tissues. So I make him sit on my lap, stick a tissue up his nose and apply pressure myself. After ten minutes I try to pull it out and a ton of (sorry, graphic details) thick THICK blood comes out. Okay now I am concerned. I again hold pressure for awhile thinking it probably has clotted and stopped. But when I try to remove tissue again lots of really thick thick blood. And his nose wasn't really congested in the first place so I figure it had to be all blood and not just congestion. So then I call KC who also is infamous for bloody noses. He tells me that that happens to him too and it should stop. So I again apply pressure for about 15 minutes and still it is not giving.
Carter is acting a bit spacey so I call the pediatrician. The receptionist gets Carter's name and date of birth and puts me on hold. Probably at least 10 minutes goes by. Then someone comes on the phone and says,"Is this so and so's mom?"
"No. It's Carter's mom," I try to ask what is going on but she sticks me right on hold again. Meanwhile Carter is STILL bleeding the same gross blood. So (yes, this is sad) I go online and google search bloody nose. Basically you are supposed to seek medical attention after 20 minutes of attempts. I figure it must have been about 45 and the blood is just so weird and not like him. So I call 911. They tell me they are sending out an ambulance. Okay I am now trying not to loose it in front of my kids. I mean I figured he would be ok I just wasn't really planning on the EMT's coming to my house today (or EVER really). I guess I just figured they would give me some cool advice over the phone that I didn't know and it would magically work. And then I'm like great. If he goes to the hospital what am I going to do? KC has NO extra time to take off and my kids have the flu!!!
So the ambulance comes and they glove up, check Carter's vitals and o2 sats and blood pressure which were all fine. Then they pull the tissue from his nose and NOTHING. They hang out for awhile and inform me of the proper procedure of stopping a nose bleed (thanks guys!). They tell me they have a huge preschool tour (from Preston's preschool, actually!) and I can call them back if I need to. Okay now I feel like a completely incompetent mom.
So Carter is doing fine. He did cough up some blood but it probably just trickled back down his throat. My neighbor called to make sure we were ok and we were talking and I was like shoot I wonder how much this is going to cost because the last time we used the ambulance it cost almost $6,000! (okay I make that sound like we do this often but I'm referring to when the U of U life flight took Kate to Primary Children's when she was born) But she told me a relative is an EMT and is is not billed unless they do transfer. Phew!
So that was a fun little false alarm that I don't want to have any time soon! I just can't believe how freaked out I was. But I'm really just glad Carter is just fine and now he is just really bored because he's not in school. I'm pretty irritated with the pediatrician office. They never called me back. Hello ! What if I fainted and Carter was bleeding to death??? This is not the first thing they have done to make me mad so I feel like this was the last straw. I am ready to fire them.
And if you do see an ambulance or police or any kind of authority come to our house again, it's just because I have finally flown the coop and they are just taking me to the loony bin!!!
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Melissa