Dexter's First ER Visit

Dexter made his first visit to the Emergency Room (or, as it was called at Children's Hospital in St. Louis, the Emergency Unit) today.  I am as surprised as anyone that it was not a result of blunt trauma, self-inflicted knife wound, fall from the roof, etc.  As it happened, Dexter was enjoying a leisurely breakfast of grapes and strawberries when I noticed his lips were turning kindof blue.  He was still pretty happy, though, so we let it go for a while.

I decided after breakfast that yes, his lips were definitely blue.  He shouldn't have been cold, walking around a 71 degree house in adorable fleece footie pajamas, but I figured we'd try a warm bath anyway.  In said warm bath, the blueness spread to his nose and cheeks and was also present on his hands and feet.

He also had some seriously explosive toddler diarrhea after breakfast.

Since the pediatrician has office hours on Saturday morning, we called anyway.  An hour later, they called back and said "even one episode of turning blue is serious. Go to the emergency room, and don't go locally. Either go to Children's or Cardinal Glennon."  Um, ok.

So Desmond got to spend an extra afternoon with Grandma and Granddad while we went to Children's with Dexter.  Since he wasn't really sick (thankfully - there was some sad stuff in that room, like teeny tiny ambu bag masks for infants), we were able to focus on how cute he looked in his little hospital gown.

See the biohazard trash can next to him?  Yeah. Perfect toddler-height toy.  Perhaps the only oversight in a room otherwise well-outfitted for kids.

They had a fun car toy thingie attached to the wall that kept him distracted for a little while, at least.

While we were waiting, Dr. Choudhury gave him his very first ever popsicle!  He did a great job with it and only  made a little mess.

The prevailing possibility for a while was cardiac issues, so Dexter got a chest x-ray.  He was very good about being still for it.

 

And, said x-ray looks good!  Look at his cute little teeth up there!

 

He also got an EKG.  We thought he stayed awfully still, playing with that little toy.  But apparently there was a LOT of movement on the (normal) EKG.

By the end of our visit, Dexter was wiped out.  He fell asleep on my shoulder for the last 30 minutes or so, and that was his nap for the day.  

Official diagnosis?  "Random fluke cyanosis."  Uh-huh.  I'd be more worried if he'd shown any other signs of illness during the whole thing, but he was laughing and playing just like normal the whole time.  Naturally, we failed to get a photo of Blue Dexter, but everyone seemed to believe us, at least.  And even if we'd had a photo, it's not like they would have been able to diagnose anything from it. 

In any case, here's hoping we don't have any more episodes of cyanosis, "random fluke" or otherwise.  Dexter did a pretty good job of staying pink for the rest of the weekend (except for a brief period during swimming lessons on Sunday, when I can guess he was a little bit cold), but we are keeping an eye on him.