RSV = Addy's 19th Birthday Present
It happened. The dreaded RSV. To most toddlers and infants, it's not horrible, but with a preemie who has immature lungs? A nightmare.
The good news - We caught it quickly. Her oxygen levels appear to be normal. She's pretty active, but has her moments. She's 19 months and not 7 months like she would of been this time last year. She received several months of Synagis LAST year, which obviously probably helped her. Clayton, Addy's cousin & BFF, though we thought for SURE they had the same thing, is RSV FREE! (We think this is because Clayton is 2.5 months older and also obviously has a stronger immune system then Addy.)
The not-so-good news - She's on a nebulizer, which we just flat out purchased as RSV can last a week to 2 or 3 weeks. It's a nasty viral bug. Addy has to be quarantined for 5-7 days away from kiddos that is. This bug to adults is just a cold, but to kids, it's ugly, especially infant and toddlers.
The bad news - Mommy is a nervous wreck. I'm completely worried sick she's going to end up in the hospital. So, please pray we are going to just ride this out at home. Sick kiddos are no fun, but with something like RSV? It's awful...
A little more of a detailed update about all this....
Last week, my parents were on vacation, so my sister-in-law (SIL) and I were helping each other with babysitting so we could both manage work and childcare. Everything worked out great. I had the kids Tuesday & Friday and SIL had them Wednesday & Thursday. They had a blast together and on Thursday it warmed up enough that they were outside playing with side-walk chalk and running around. Addy was plain FILTHY! If I back up a bit though, on Wednesday, when I dropped Addy off, my 2 nephews were coughing, runny nose, and one had a fever. Nothing major, and they are ALWAYS around each other, so I figured it'd be ok. Because, honestly, they are TERRIBLE about sharing binkies, sippy cups, etc. You'd think they were actually brother & sister, and we've been asked in public if they are twins (which is a bit of a sore spot, but then allows me to talk about Reagan, so it sometimes feels ok). SO, yeah right on keeping them away from each other! Addy accompianed them to the doctors office on Wed, which turned out to help because on Friday, when I had them, Addy started coughing, so since they have the same doc, I just called up the nurse and she called in an antibiotic and put her on motrin and pedicare cough. Good deal, or so I thought. Clayton started running a VERY high fever on Friday, so he was clingy and sat on my lap and I kept giving him tylenol, but Addy was up and running so I didn't worry much.
The weekend just got worse, day by day. Saturday was ok. I was giving her round the clock motrin & pediacare and we had to venture to the bowling alley, but she was a very good girl and we were mainly around adults (THANK GOD! I'd feel AWFUL if she were around kids!). She played and got spoiled. We left and she was not feeling well at all, so I ran into Wal-mart with her to get some more pedialyte and search for some foods she might eat. We tried mac & cheese and a pedialyte popsicle for dinner, but she didn't eat much. She did however ABSOLUTELY love that I bought her some new Disney Princess PJs that she picked out. Yes, she pulled the right size and all off the wrack as I was trying to find pedialyte. It's cute though...long sleeve PJ dress...comfy and with the up and down temp, she was VERY comfy Saturday night...
Sunday? was just worse. Cough worse, more mucous, more fussiness, hotter/more feverish, etc. I called my SIL. We conferred. At around 8pm, I questioned taking her to the ER, but then thought about convenient care/urgent care. But, called the urgent care, and they did not do the RSV test, so I found it a bit pointless when I knew my doc would send us down to the hospital for everything the next day. So, my SIL and I set a game plan. She'd call at 7:30 to get us an ASAP appt. Worked great, except Addy woke up screaming at around 2am and I just fell asleep at around 1:30am. and then I couldn't get back to sleep until 4:30am and she woke me up with a phone call at 8:11am for an appt at 8:45am. We were bringing them in together. I woke Charley up and he got her dressed and I got a fast shower and threw some clothe son. When we got there, they actually had one doc with Addy and one doc with Clayton. Worked out well. We stuck around because they ordered a chest x-ray for Addy & a CBC/blood count and RSV test for both. They swabbed both for flu, but both were negative. As soon as the doc put her stethoscope on her back, she went.. "OMG, she's wheezing and very gurgly!" My heart sank. Especially when the flu test came back negative. Call it mommy instinct, but I knew.. I KNEW what it was going to be... RSV.
So, SIL & I headed to the hospital to support each other, though I think she held me up more then I did her. My mom (who is a mother to my SIL too) is stuck out of the country right now because of the ice storm that hit the south, so the earliest flight out is Wednesday, when they were supposed to be back yesterday. So, SIL & I decided to do this together... good thing too because Addy was a basketcase after I had to help put her into the toddler torture device of an x-ray system. Dear GOD! I hope I N.E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R have to do that again! It looked like something straight out of silence of the lambs. She sat on this bicycle seat through a small hole and then the plastic shielf forced her arms straight up (as if she were reaching to the sky) and then they locked the contraption around her. I had to help pull her legs through and it took all 3 of us forcing her. She's VERY strong girl. Tears were just streaming down her cheeks and all I could do was hold her hands and sing to her, but at this point, she was so mad, and coughing harder and almost dry heaving (I've about got tears in my eyes thinking about it again). This was the worst of it and they gave her Cat & the Hat and she carried him into the waiting room where "Aunt T" and Bubbi (Clayton) were. She immediately went to Aunt T and started to calm down. We got them settled and headed back to lab. Luckily, we went to lab first, and they put numbing medicine on their arms. So, when we went back, the blood draw wasn't terrible. Addy's was NOT great because she moved and it took 3 of us holding her down and Aunt T feeding her cheerios to get through it. They BARELY had enough and we had to wait in case it clotted, we lucked out and she was fine though. Clayton handled his blood draw like a champ. And, they both got the RSV suction test, which was NOT fun, but they did pretty well with it. And, then they gave them both a pengiun and the cutest them was to see them all completely tired with bags under their eyes, their coats on, binkies in their mouths, and they are waddling down the hallway with their penguins. They loved them! Actually I'm laying with Addy & she's got her penguin right next to her. I'll have to get some photos up again soon..
So, we headed to go get Addy a nebulizer, and the kids fell asleep, so it allowed me to wait for the machine and not have to come back later to get it. Then we swung by and grabbed us drinks & lunch and then went to McDonalds and got the kids their favorite lunch because neither of them had eaten or drank much at all in the past several days... so we got their faves.. and they ate pretty good. We just wanted them to eat something at this point.
About an hour after that, Tera got a call... Clayton was clear of RSV, but Addy had it. They told her because they want them apart for 5-7 days...uhm yeah, damn near impossible...
So, it's now 10:20pm, and I'm wiped.. Addy is coughing horribly...to the point she will throw up... so we are having to be careful about when we give her antibiotic (she's on a z-pac now) and were trying to flush her with Pedialyte, but EVERY STINKING place I know that sells APPLE pedialyte is SOLD OUT right now and it's pretty much the only want she cares for. So, I bought bubblegum because it's the ONLY flavor I haven't tried yet. She hates the popsicles and just about every other flavor.. but with the puke and now the diarrhea (thanks antibiotics!) and the lack of eating and drinking, we're offering as much pedialyte as we can, but she's just picky I guess. Ee did manage to sneak a breathing treatment in while she slept....she just cries in her sleep... I just don't know how I'm going to leave her with daddy and go to work tomorrow... I know she'll be ok... but I just feel so bad for her... And, I'm scared to death this is going to get out of conrol and send her to the hospital.
So, unfortunately, the one thing we tried SO VERY HARD to keep her from getting....she got... 19 months later. I guess I'm glad she got it now and not earlier, but man.. this ugly viral bug is no fun at ANY age....
Forgive typos..I'm beat and I'm not checking for typos right now...
The good news - We caught it quickly. Her oxygen levels appear to be normal. She's pretty active, but has her moments. She's 19 months and not 7 months like she would of been this time last year. She received several months of Synagis LAST year, which obviously probably helped her. Clayton, Addy's cousin & BFF, though we thought for SURE they had the same thing, is RSV FREE! (We think this is because Clayton is 2.5 months older and also obviously has a stronger immune system then Addy.)
The not-so-good news - She's on a nebulizer, which we just flat out purchased as RSV can last a week to 2 or 3 weeks. It's a nasty viral bug. Addy has to be quarantined for 5-7 days away from kiddos that is. This bug to adults is just a cold, but to kids, it's ugly, especially infant and toddlers.
The bad news - Mommy is a nervous wreck. I'm completely worried sick she's going to end up in the hospital. So, please pray we are going to just ride this out at home. Sick kiddos are no fun, but with something like RSV? It's awful...
A little more of a detailed update about all this....
Last week, my parents were on vacation, so my sister-in-law (SIL) and I were helping each other with babysitting so we could both manage work and childcare. Everything worked out great. I had the kids Tuesday & Friday and SIL had them Wednesday & Thursday. They had a blast together and on Thursday it warmed up enough that they were outside playing with side-walk chalk and running around. Addy was plain FILTHY! If I back up a bit though, on Wednesday, when I dropped Addy off, my 2 nephews were coughing, runny nose, and one had a fever. Nothing major, and they are ALWAYS around each other, so I figured it'd be ok. Because, honestly, they are TERRIBLE about sharing binkies, sippy cups, etc. You'd think they were actually brother & sister, and we've been asked in public if they are twins (which is a bit of a sore spot, but then allows me to talk about Reagan, so it sometimes feels ok). SO, yeah right on keeping them away from each other! Addy accompianed them to the doctors office on Wed, which turned out to help because on Friday, when I had them, Addy started coughing, so since they have the same doc, I just called up the nurse and she called in an antibiotic and put her on motrin and pedicare cough. Good deal, or so I thought. Clayton started running a VERY high fever on Friday, so he was clingy and sat on my lap and I kept giving him tylenol, but Addy was up and running so I didn't worry much.
The weekend just got worse, day by day. Saturday was ok. I was giving her round the clock motrin & pediacare and we had to venture to the bowling alley, but she was a very good girl and we were mainly around adults (THANK GOD! I'd feel AWFUL if she were around kids!). She played and got spoiled. We left and she was not feeling well at all, so I ran into Wal-mart with her to get some more pedialyte and search for some foods she might eat. We tried mac & cheese and a pedialyte popsicle for dinner, but she didn't eat much. She did however ABSOLUTELY love that I bought her some new Disney Princess PJs that she picked out. Yes, she pulled the right size and all off the wrack as I was trying to find pedialyte. It's cute though...long sleeve PJ dress...comfy and with the up and down temp, she was VERY comfy Saturday night...
Sunday? was just worse. Cough worse, more mucous, more fussiness, hotter/more feverish, etc. I called my SIL. We conferred. At around 8pm, I questioned taking her to the ER, but then thought about convenient care/urgent care. But, called the urgent care, and they did not do the RSV test, so I found it a bit pointless when I knew my doc would send us down to the hospital for everything the next day. So, my SIL and I set a game plan. She'd call at 7:30 to get us an ASAP appt. Worked great, except Addy woke up screaming at around 2am and I just fell asleep at around 1:30am. and then I couldn't get back to sleep until 4:30am and she woke me up with a phone call at 8:11am for an appt at 8:45am. We were bringing them in together. I woke Charley up and he got her dressed and I got a fast shower and threw some clothe son. When we got there, they actually had one doc with Addy and one doc with Clayton. Worked out well. We stuck around because they ordered a chest x-ray for Addy & a CBC/blood count and RSV test for both. They swabbed both for flu, but both were negative. As soon as the doc put her stethoscope on her back, she went.. "OMG, she's wheezing and very gurgly!" My heart sank. Especially when the flu test came back negative. Call it mommy instinct, but I knew.. I KNEW what it was going to be... RSV.
So, SIL & I headed to the hospital to support each other, though I think she held me up more then I did her. My mom (who is a mother to my SIL too) is stuck out of the country right now because of the ice storm that hit the south, so the earliest flight out is Wednesday, when they were supposed to be back yesterday. So, SIL & I decided to do this together... good thing too because Addy was a basketcase after I had to help put her into the toddler torture device of an x-ray system. Dear GOD! I hope I N.E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R have to do that again! It looked like something straight out of silence of the lambs. She sat on this bicycle seat through a small hole and then the plastic shielf forced her arms straight up (as if she were reaching to the sky) and then they locked the contraption around her. I had to help pull her legs through and it took all 3 of us forcing her. She's VERY strong girl. Tears were just streaming down her cheeks and all I could do was hold her hands and sing to her, but at this point, she was so mad, and coughing harder and almost dry heaving (I've about got tears in my eyes thinking about it again). This was the worst of it and they gave her Cat & the Hat and she carried him into the waiting room where "Aunt T" and Bubbi (Clayton) were. She immediately went to Aunt T and started to calm down. We got them settled and headed back to lab. Luckily, we went to lab first, and they put numbing medicine on their arms. So, when we went back, the blood draw wasn't terrible. Addy's was NOT great because she moved and it took 3 of us holding her down and Aunt T feeding her cheerios to get through it. They BARELY had enough and we had to wait in case it clotted, we lucked out and she was fine though. Clayton handled his blood draw like a champ. And, they both got the RSV suction test, which was NOT fun, but they did pretty well with it. And, then they gave them both a pengiun and the cutest them was to see them all completely tired with bags under their eyes, their coats on, binkies in their mouths, and they are waddling down the hallway with their penguins. They loved them! Actually I'm laying with Addy & she's got her penguin right next to her. I'll have to get some photos up again soon..
So, we headed to go get Addy a nebulizer, and the kids fell asleep, so it allowed me to wait for the machine and not have to come back later to get it. Then we swung by and grabbed us drinks & lunch and then went to McDonalds and got the kids their favorite lunch because neither of them had eaten or drank much at all in the past several days... so we got their faves.. and they ate pretty good. We just wanted them to eat something at this point.
About an hour after that, Tera got a call... Clayton was clear of RSV, but Addy had it. They told her because they want them apart for 5-7 days...uhm yeah, damn near impossible...
So, it's now 10:20pm, and I'm wiped.. Addy is coughing horribly...to the point she will throw up... so we are having to be careful about when we give her antibiotic (she's on a z-pac now) and were trying to flush her with Pedialyte, but EVERY STINKING place I know that sells APPLE pedialyte is SOLD OUT right now and it's pretty much the only want she cares for. So, I bought bubblegum because it's the ONLY flavor I haven't tried yet. She hates the popsicles and just about every other flavor.. but with the puke and now the diarrhea (thanks antibiotics!) and the lack of eating and drinking, we're offering as much pedialyte as we can, but she's just picky I guess. Ee did manage to sneak a breathing treatment in while she slept....she just cries in her sleep... I just don't know how I'm going to leave her with daddy and go to work tomorrow... I know she'll be ok... but I just feel so bad for her... And, I'm scared to death this is going to get out of conrol and send her to the hospital.
So, unfortunately, the one thing we tried SO VERY HARD to keep her from getting....she got... 19 months later. I guess I'm glad she got it now and not earlier, but man.. this ugly viral bug is no fun at ANY age....
Forgive typos..I'm beat and I'm not checking for typos right now...
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