What?

Yesterday morning I dropped Baby O off to daycare as normal.

By the end of the day, he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Seriously.

Baby O’s been stuffy for WEEKS now. Since his tubes surgery, when he got that nasty cold; he’s never really shaken the congestion.

So when he developed a cough overnight on Tuesday, I didn’t really think much of it. He’s one of those babies that coughs when his postnasal drip gets heavier. I just assumed that was the case again. I told J that we should brace ourselves, because I was pretty sure Baby O was catching a cold. We made plans for splitting the days if he DID get sick.

Daycare called me at 2pm yesterday and said that Baby O was running a slight fever, but he’d been fussy all morning. So I left work and went to go get him.

When I got there, it was clear he was sick. His eyes were glassy. His cheeks were flushed. He just sat in my arms and rested his hot little cheek against mine.

The ONLY reason I called the pediatrician in the first place was because one of his ears was bright red and hot to the touch. I was sort of worried about an ear infection.

So we went to the pediatrician’s. And when we got there, and I realized that his beloved bear blanket was still at daycare, I thought “well, it’ll be quick. Look at the ears, and we’ll be off.”

Two hours, a 102.7 fahrenheit degree temperature, two pulse/oxygen readings, a nebulizer treatment, two chest x-rays, one diagnosis, and one VERY exhausted baby later… we left.

I’m still in shock. He was FINE in the morning. Had a cough, but his temperature was normal. (I took it to make sure that he was okay to go to daycare.) And when his provider called me, she told me that his temp was higher than normal, but it was a low grade fever.

It’s clear this morning that he IS very sick. If I hadn’t taken him yesterday, you bet your bippy I would have taken him first thing this morning. Because today it’s clear he’s having trouble breathing. He can only take rapid, wheezy, shallow breaths.

From the googling I’ve done, apparently bacterial pneumonia CAN come on that quickly. Has an incubation period of 18-72 hours.

Just nuts, that’s all.

And I’ll tell you.

I am tired of sick. I keep hearing that good weather = healthy babies.

Summer cannot come quick enough for me.

And my poor, sweet, sick Baby O.