Friday, February 17, 2012

SIck, sick, sick

So, Ethan has finally gotten off his 5 day post on the couch. He is slowly returning back to his normal self. I can say that this was the longest, hardest, most emotional illness we have gone through so far with him. He was not even close to being the energetic kid we know. He could barely eat or drink and wouldn't really move. He slept terribly and napped on and off while watching movies. We put in at least 3 calls to the doctor as well as the visit we made there on Monday. Diagnosis: very bad chest cold (probably RSV but it's not usually tested in older kids unless they have other medical conditions). Bad news about his diagnosis, there's no medications to treat viral infections, we just have to ride it out. I think we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with him, he's eating more, he actually slept in his own bed last night and he played a little at Grandma's house today.
But of course, now we have 2 children, what the older one gets from school or church or wherever else, the younger one gets from him. Lucy had a small fever Tuesday night and didn't sleep well. Wednesday, she was coughing a bit and we noticed a small wheeze. Thursday morning the wheeze was a lot worse so back to the doctor we went. I guess we were very fortunate that we even got an appointment, the office was short 1/2 of their staff and is booked with sick and well visits, they were sending most patients to urgent care. Once in our appointment, we found that she weighs 17 pounds, 12 ounces and her oxygen levels were good (higher then her brothers). They tested her for flu and RSV and the RSV came back positive. RSV is a viral infection (aka not treatable) that is like a bad chest cold (sound familiar?). It can cause respiratory distress and could potentially be very harmful to babies. With Lucy's age, health, the fact that she has been nursing well, having regular diapers, her temperament is wonderful, she was sent home with the instructions to watch her breathing, if it looked like she was struggling, get her in. She's been doing well, still a happy baby (unless she's tired), the wheeze goes away when she's sleeping (thank God, cause I was checking on her every 15 minutes last night), she let me sleep in about 2 hour increments (not great but not as bad as it could be).

What do you mean I have RSV?

That's terrible news!
Those pictures were actually taken on Valentines Day, before our little miss was diagnosed with RSV. These were taken after

Look at those boogers!!



After going through this, I can't wait to have a date night with my husband. We have been such a team going through this (how do people do this with 3 sick kids, there's more kids then parents).

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