My Christmas break started a week early this year. It wasn't really a break though. I need to back up a little. 2 weeks ago today, I took Ellie to our pediatrician. She wasn't sleeping, had a cough, runny nose and slight fever. He diagnosed her with a virus that needed to run it's course. By Saturday she was awful! Neither of us were sleeping, her temp was 103.5, horrible cough and lots of wheezing. Off to urgent care we go.
The doctor working did a step test, which was negative. But, there wasn't anyone to do a chest X-ray. She diagnosed her with an upper respiratory infection. Well, my momma instincts knew it was more than that. The antibiotic the doctor gave her was horrid and she vomited it up every single time I gave it to her. By Monday she was pitiful and I was terrified. I won't even post pictures because they are so sad. I didn't even put them on FB. Only sent to my family and closest friends.
Anyway, back to the pediatrician we go. He took one look at her and ordered all sorts of tests. I'm so thankful for the office we go to. They do everything right there. He'd already mentioned admitting her to the hospital because her O2 sats were 88. So I texted barry and told him to come asap.
The chest X-ray showed pneumonia so he told us he was admitting her and to walk next door to the hospital. There is a breezeway connecting the two buildings. Barry arrived just in time to walk over with me. When we arrived on our floor, they sent us right to our room. We did all the admit stuff over the phone from our room and Barry just walked downstairs to sign the paperwork. The nurses came in and got things going immediately. They were fantastic, explaining everything in great detail. They hooked up her IV, then did an RSV test and taped on the nasal cannula for her oxygen. 15 minutes later we knew she also had RSV. They started her on a strong antibiotic and she basically laid in my arms all day. It was just so scary and pitiful. I knew she was in the best place, but having your baby so sick is awful.
Our friends and family were fantastic! They came up to pray with us, brought us food and just came to sit. I know I say it all the time but, we have the best friends and church family!
We ended up staying three days. She was on oxygen the first 24 hours and then they slowly weaned her off while keeping her O2 levels up. It was a balancing act, but they finally got her off. We had the best nurses and other health care providers! They were truly amazing!!
We came home in time to have a few days to rest before our Christmas with Barry's family. Ellie still isn't 100% but she's back to her normal, sassy and sweet, almost two year old self.
I have a new appreciation (not sure that's the correct word) for mommies with sick babies.
We celebrated Christmas with Barry's family and then had a Christmas Day snow. It was beautiful. I'll have a separate Christmas post soon. Now we are enjoying some down time with daddy home for the week.
Not sure how to type below each pic from my blogger app so here goes:
The first pic is our first day in the hospital after we were all settled.
Pic 2: breathing treatments at home...every 4 hours
Pic 3: Christmas Eve!
