olivia vs rsv round 3

i was so happy when we got through christmas with no major illnesses. i (very stupidly) let myself think we made it through the winter (yes, i know winter just started) without getting rsv. WRONG!!

back story: november 2009 - our first round with rsv. olivia misses her first thanksgiving b/c she couldn't be around large groups of people. then january 2010, rsv round 2. see this post. so i can pretty much diagnose rsv with no help from a dr. :)

back to now...rett text me on sat afternoon letting me know o was running a fever and had some chest congestion. (we're pro's now at determining if congetstion is head or chest..) so i advised him to treat the fever (tylenol/motrin 3 hour rotation) and to give zyrtec. on sunday there was no change. he brought her home about 4:30 and she was wheezing! i still can't fathom how he didn't notice the wheezing (but he's a man so go figure..) jenny came over sunday night and noticed mild retractions when she breathed but she didn't elaborate about what that meant. (now i know it's BAD!) o had a TERRIBLE night sunday night so i called the dr first thing monday morning. we got there at 11 and by 11:15 i could hear nurses whispering about "sending her on." they immediately put us in a room and did a breathing treatment without even seeing the dr. then dr. khanfar came in and i could see the look on his face and it wasn't good. he assessed her and called a nurse for another breathing treatment. he closed the door then opened it again and looked at me. i must have said something and his reply was, "i'm trying to decide if i should admit her." i was SHOCKED. he did an rsv test and it was positive and she also had the croup. she wasn't breathing, she was grunting and was in distress and i didn't have a clue. (i swear she was running and playing all sunday night, monday morning and even in the office waiting room.) after the 2 breathing treatments she got 2 shots and he told us to come back in a couple of hours. we left there at 12:15 and returned at 1:50 (i couldn't wait any longer!) her breathing had slowed and she wasn't grunting anymore so he sent us home with meds and a new breathing treatment. we went back today for a follow-up and her breathing is much better (not completely better - she's still retracting when breathing) but she now has an ear infection. (#2 ever and the 1st was caused by rsv, too!) we're still doing breathing treatments, antibiotics and steriods and we have to call them friday morning with our thoughts on how she's doing. he may order a chest x-ray just to be on the safe side before the weekend is here.

whew! hope you kept up! i can't thank my mom enough - she moved in with me sunday night and has been here ever since so i could work and not use all my sick days in the first week of the year! but i think it's worn her out! she's headed home at lunch tmrw and i'll be on my own (except for help tmrw afternoon from my fab little sister and o's daddy is picking up some slack on friday.)

i have to give it to olivia...she's a pretty good sick kid, relatively speaking. she's pretty whiny but the dr today told me the steriod will do that. we've not had any MAJOR meltdowns and with the exception of 3, her breathing treatments have gone well. we had to get creative and give her babies treatments! whatever works!

after almost being admitted on monday i talked to jenny and told her what was going on. she THEN tells me we should have gone to the ER sunday night/monday morning. now you tell me... :) i can't believe i didn't notice that my little girl was in distress. i feel aweful. but she was playing and acting fine. i mean, i knew she had rsv, i was just going to the dr for confirmation. i had no clue about the other. so lesson learned. the croup isn't nearly as "scary sounding" as i thought it would be. people had warned me that you think your child is dieing. i didn't think that. now i know....

we're on our way to being healed and that's what matters. nex year i'm going to BEG for the rsv shot. i think after 3 rounds of it we should qualify. damn insurance companies...