Oh well…

We are back home already.  Three hours after we first left to head to the nursing home.

We only made it 50 miles (1/4 of the way there), and Hannah had already had four hyperventilation episodes by that point.  There was just no consoling her in her car seat, so we had to stop, take her out of her car seat, and get her to calm down enough to put her back in.  The fourth time, we were on the highway, and I ended up just taking her out of the carseat while we were driving and holding her in my lap in the middle seat.  Of course, we drove right by a highway patrol car, but thankfully he didn’t see us.  We made it to the offramp right after that.

While sitting on the offramp, we decided that we weren’t just not going to make it in time.   Hannah was miserable — on top of her having tantrums for being uncomfortable in the car, she was congested, and she was teething.  Just miserable.  Even watching the Wiggles and Mickey Mouse on DVD was a futile attempt at this point.

I called the nursing home to cancel, and I told them we would reschedule.   I ended up taking out the benadryl that we brought “just in case,” and I gave her 1/4 teaspoon just to see if we could knock her out for a little bit so we could make it back home, another 50-mile drive.  It worked like a charm for about 30 minutes while she slept.  She woke up from her quick nap, and she had another tantrum about 20 minutes from our house.  Stopped in a parking lot, took her out of the car, calmed her down, and we put her back in, and she watched the Wiggles all the way home.

I swear, once she saw our house, she had the biggest grin and excitement.  Daddy and I looked at each other like, “Are you kidding me?”  I mean HUGE smile.   As soon as we got her out of the car and in the house, she was just a happy camper.  She started playing with her toys, smiling, and just being calm and happy.

So friggin’ weird.  We know these hyperventilation episodes are usually caused by her having a tantrum.  But in her case, she can’t control how her body reacts when she is having one.  They seem to trigger either her vocal cord weakness and/or laryngomalacia and cause these episodes.  Of course, once she starts hyperventilating, it takes her quite a while to catch her breath.

I don’t know what our options are at this point.  We have to get this nursing home visit done so we can get on the MDCP program and get Hannah the services she needs.   Fly and rent a car?   Rent an RV, but I think there may be restraint laws for an RV as well, not sure.  I have no friggin’ clue.

But we are home.  She is a happy camper again.