Saturday the 15th of July I took the twins to see Frozen on Ice. This was a great treat on the weekend before school went back. It was the night time show and due to this, it would be a late night.
Hubby was looking after Alexander and the girls and I were off to a night out. A night for just the girls, which my kids were very happy about.
They love their brother but like the fact that they get to spend some one on one time with mummy.
We left super early and it was lucky that we did as later we ended up having issues with traffic and finding the parking station. (more about the parking issue later)
In the car, the kids and I played eye spy. and then a game they created about finding colours of cars. It was all fun until I decided to try and find a purple car. Yes, these are rare and therefore the kids decided it was all too hard and they took a nap. Oh well at least I had some quiet time before the show happened and the madness of parking and trying to find where we were supposed to be.
I got to the venue with an hour to spare but that was soon whittled away to about 20 minutes or less due to roads being closed. Yep there were road closures which meant that I could not get access to P6 parking station and my GPS kept on telling me to go back, but it had no idea that the roads were closed. Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice.
Yep there were road closures which meant that I could not get access to P6 parking station and my GPS kept on telling me to go back, but it had no idea that the roads were closed. Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice.
Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice. You can imagine my annoyance at this and not knowing where to go to get to where I needed to go.
On my second pass at the same place with the road closed I decided to continue straight. I had no idea where I was going other than away from the P6 parking station but just had to keep on going.
I was worried that I would be late and not make the show. Would I ever find this elusive P6 parking station?
I was annoyed that I was 1 hour early and now I might be late and miss things.
There was no way to stop to get directions as there was so much traffic that this was impossible.
My bet paid off and I saw that there was a sign to P6 parking. Phew!
I kept on going and followed the signs and hoped that there were no more road closures.
We managed to get to the venue with enough time for a quick toilet break and to get the twins an Olaf mug with shaved ice.
Then it was announced that the show will be starting soon and we had to find our seats. Geez…. I was lucky that we did not leave later.
Stupid road closures.
I initially thought that we would be there too early and have heaps of time with nothing to do. How wrong was I.
An announcement was made and we had to make our way to our seats. The show was going to start soon. How exciting and very happy we got there in time.
The lights went off and the show started. The kids were super excited and we all had a fabulous time, and yes we all did sing “Let it Go” and more.
Frozen on Ice was a great family show for kids. You can dance, take photos, sing and have fun. Perfect for little kids and adults too.
The show ended at about 8pm. By the time the kids and I walked to the P6 parking station it was about 8.30pm. We didn’t have dinner and promised kids that on the way home we would eat something but I didn’t think it was going to be so late.
On the way to the show, Julia said the following.
“Mummy, do you think Alexander is still awake?”
Mummy to Julia, “No it is too late for him, he would be asleep by now.”
Then Julia said this….
“Well Mummy if Alexander is awake Daddy has failed!”.
Geez, this is a bit harsh I thought.
But I was so sure that Alexander was fast asleep, and hubby was busy watching a show or doing something on his computer without interruption. You will learn how wrong I was soon.
On the way home I stopped and got dinner for all of us and then we got back in the car for a huge drive home. The kids slept nearly all the way home.
I got home at about 10.30pm or could be later.
I opened the door to reveal Alexander running around and playing. He was excited to see me and said, “Mumma!”
Then Julia looked at me and said, “See, Alexander is awake……”
I then saw hubby in the kitchen looking like a wreck.
He had the baby bath on the counter tops and had just finished giving him a bath and changing his clothes for the millionth time so I was told.
At about 6.20pm Alexander had started throwing up and did not stop. Hubby had not had a chance to sit down or even get himself dinner.
Hubby then gave me a blow by blow description of what went on and how horrible it had been.
I did feel for him and it is horrible when kids are sick, especially babies. However I have been faced with three kids throwing up and also myself at the same time. Yep and being the only one dealing with it all. Not fun at all!
When the twins were little they got sick like Alexander and I had to manage with two babies being sick and then me also getting sick too!
I did sympthaise with him but I told him that he should be grateful it was just one baby this time!
Hubby did a great job and held down the fort in trying times.
So this sickness did not stop until Monday morning. Anything we gave Alexander he threw up.
Monday morning he woke and was just looking limp. He was very floppy and not well.
I tried to get water into him but he guzzled it and then it all came back up. Oh shit….. not good.
I then limited the amount in his sippy cup to try and make sure he kept it down. This worked for a while and then he passed out on my lap. He was snoring and just so tired. Not good at all. So limp still.
A doctor needed to see him to make sure all was okay. I could only get into the local doctors at midday and that for me was not quick enough. I was getting very worried about him.
I got organised and packed a bag and took Alexander and myself to the hospital.
On the drive there he screamed and carried on. He was upset. He was still not well and mummy was taking him somewhere!
I got to the hospital and the lady could not hear me well over his screams and just had to ask for name and date of birth due to him being screaming mess. I waited only a few minutes and then saw the triage nurse. He was lovely and asked about what had happened. I told him what had gone on.
Alexander had his immunisations the Wednesday before, Thursday he was good, Friday he went to daycare and then Saturday night he was sick. I did explain that hubby thought it was related to a bread roll that he fed him as it happened quite quickly after he ate this food. I was not so sure, as the other kids were not sick from the same bread rolls.
The triage nurse took blood for blood sugar levels and then other things. He weighed Alexander but only with me being on the scales with him due to the fact that he was so upset and still screaming (he screamed for at least over 2 hours).
His weight on Wednesday the 12th of July was about 11kgs. His weight on Monday 17th of July was 10kgs. He had dropped 1 kg not even in a week. (Note: I had his 18mth health check yesterday (27th July) and his weight was 10.3kgs so not great but at least he is putting the weight back on).
The triage nurse said that his blood sugar levels were very low and could be dangerous. Shit really! Oh no!
He found us a bed in emergency and said that they need to see if Alexander’s levels can be increased while we are there. Patches were also put on the back of Alexander’s hands in case a cannula was needed (this was never used and the patches numb and have a form of anesthesia so that it does not hurt the babies as much).
Alexander was given a lemonade icy pole ice block. He loved it and ate most of it. However he did try and eat the foam cup the nurse made to catch the drips and cried when some of the ice block fell on the floor.
One nurse gave him some diluted apple juice but he did not want this.
Another nurse tried the hydralyte ice blocks but Alexander did not like the flavour.
One nurse Alexander loved. He had a real way with kids and Alexander thought he was funny. After being in emergency for about three hours Alexander had calmed down a bit. He was not great, but had not thrown up.
They did give him a tablet that dissolves in his mouth to help with the nausua. The cool nurse came back and he wanted to see if Alexander’s sugar levels were going up.
I asked the nurse what Alexander’s sugar levels were when we were in triage? I was told that they were 2.2, and this nurse said that is extremely low for a baby or anyone.
After the second test I asked what the levels were? They were 3.3, and this nurse seemed happy that they were going up. He did say that they are still low.
The doctor came to see us again and said that he is happy that he is calmer, and is looking a little better. They did not need to run any further tests and I just had to try his sugar levels up.
The nurse told me the following:
- Low blood sugar can cause people to go into a coma
- Babies and young kids cannot store the sugar so need a daily amount to keep their levels up.
- If things changed to come back immediately.
I left the hospital and it got me thinking. If I had waited till midday to see the regular doctors would he have been even worse? Would he have gone into a coma or maybe had something else happen? I don’t know and it is a scary thought. I am just grateful that I took our little boy to the hospital and got the help we needed.
I do know to give kids food and drink and when they don’t want either it is hard, however I was not thinking about blood sugar at all. This did not even enter my brain that this could be an issue. It makes sense though.
Due to Alexander not eating and drinking his system was really needing sugar.
I got a whole box of lemonade icy poles and he as been eating with honey on bread.
At the time of writing this post he is much better and back to his usual self. His appetite has come back and he is making up for the lost days when he did not eat.
Did you know that levels under <2.6mmol/L can “cause symptoms and/or signs of impaired brain function.”
Now this is frightening and it could have possibly happened to my boy. His levels were 2.2 when we came to the hospital and seeing these numbers, and what can happen sent a chill up spine.
The illness ended up being a terrible episode of gastro, and that I later learnt that Alexander picked up from childcare.
Alexander was much better Tuesday the 18th but the bug hit me too. This past weekend Julia and Lillian have also been sick but with the twins it only lasted 24 hours. The only person that has missed out is hubby.
Blood Sugar levels are super important when ill
I know that you need to eat and drink but if a child refuses to do this the blood sugar drops. My kids are not big people, and also don’t weigh a lot. If they drop any weight they get hit harder I think.
Making sure that your little ones have something to help put the sugars back is ideal. Here are some suggestions:
- Store the hydralyte ice blocks in the freezer. They can keep and then you have them handy.
- You can buy the hydralyte drink premixed and you can keep in the fridge. This puts back the sugar and electrolytes so great when not well.
- If your kids don’t like the flavour of the hydralyte ice blocks you can always use a lemonade icy pole or any flavour that means they will eat it.
- Honey toast or adding some honey to drinks.
I don’t like giving kids too much of one thing and I am big believer of moderation in relation to sugar. However if you have not eaten for a while you need it.
I hope this helps create awareness on what could happen.
A HUGE Thanks to the lovely and quick staff at the Blue Mountains Hospital. We are super lucky to have such great health care in Australia and I am very grateful that Alexander got looked after so well. So a big thank you to you all!
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