Brenden had a rough night Saturday night, waking up repeatedly, crying for no apparent reason, asking Jenny to hold him but squirming around when she did. Finally, she decided he might have an ear infection or some other problem and took him to the doctor. Since it was Sunday morning, his pediatrician’s office was closed, so they made their first visit to CareNow, an urgent care center. The folks there decided that yes, he probably had an ear infection, but the more serious problem was that Brenden was having trouble breathing. Along with a chest x-ray, they administered a couple of breathing treatments and a steroid shot. They helped, but his oxygen levels wouldn’t stay high enough, so they suspected an asthma attack and referred us to the emergency room. We chose Cook Children’s in Fort Worth.

I figured an emergency room visit for one of our boys was inevitable, but I figured it would happen after Brenden broke an arm, not for a breathing problem. Since B seemed fairly happy despite his difficulty, I definitely preferred this reason for our first visit. CareNow called ahead, and we were taken back within five minutes. Toddlers who can’t breathe make healthcare people nervous.

If you have kids and need to put them in a hospital, I recommend a children’s one. A trusted source told me that regular hospitals are afraid of children, especially young ones. Cook was full of nice people who understood that kids need love, patience, and entertainment, people who understand that toddlers squirm a lot and pull off their blood oxygen monitors. They provided stickers, children’s books, and a variety of movies in the exam room. Since we spent nearly five hours in that room, those were welcome distractions. We watched part of Finding Nemo and most of Cars.

Brenden handled the whole experience pretty well. The hardest part was keeping him fairly still so that the monitor would stay on his big toe. He got one more breathing treatment and a dose of liquid prednisone. By evening, his blood oxygen levels were pretty good, and he had returned to his happy, active self. The ER doctor diagnosed him not with asthma, because his lungs didn’t sound asthmatic, but with bronchiolitis, a viral infection of the bronchial tubes. He prescribed an inhaler and a round of prednisone and finally let us go home.

My sister and I both grew up with asthma, so breathing difficulties don’t scare me as much as they scare most people. When I heard that CareNow suspected asthma, my heart sunk. Since asthma runs in my family, I fear that my sons will develop it, too. I was diagnosed at age 3. Either of them could still develop it, but I was happy to hear the final verdict that this particular incident resulted from a short-term infection rather than a lifelong condition.