RSV

I sit here in a hospital bed, typing one handed holding my 25 day old daughter who is sick with RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus).


RSV presents as a cold in most children and adults but some babies with RSV develop potentially serious lower respiratory infections like Bronchiolitis (an infection of the small breathing tubes in the lungs) or Pneumonia.  


Luckily we noticed early that Cora wasn't sleeping well and not eating well so we took her in to our awesome Pediatrician, Dr. Shanna Hall.  She hooked Cora up to a pulse oximeter and checked her out.  She noticed rapid breathing as well as pauses in her breathing and her oxygen saturation dipped down as low as 78%.  Dr. Hall didn't want to see anything below 90%.  She jumped on the phone to find a bed at a local hospital for us.  Josh ran Ethan to our friend's house and as soon as he got back we were on our way to the hospital.  That was Thursday, it is now Tuesday and we are not leaving today.  


.....a week later from home.....


There were many ups and downs in the hospital for me emotionally.  For the most part, I was surprisingly strong.  I would've expected me to be much more of a basket case.  For this I am very proud.  I did hit the wall on Wednesday and allowed Josh to take over the night shift for me.  I was sick with a bad head cold and double ear infection and just exhausted.  Add on top of that, I missed Ethan like crazy.  I couldn't do it any more.
  
Cora's symptoms were fast breathing, retractions, a cough and mucous.  She was kind of fussy for a day or two but after that she acted like a sick baby.  Nothing really bothered her.  Sometimes when something did bother her, she would try to scream her newborn scream but she had lost her little voice.  She required oxygen at all times as well as a few breathing treatments and a tiny dose of oral steroids.  The most important thing for Cora was being observed and the oxygen.  Things did get worse before they got better for her but she got better and that's what is important.  


Cora needed to reach a benchmark of holding her oxygen levels at 85% or higher for 30 minutes at a time before the doctors would let us go home.  It took her several days and many "room air challenges" but on Friday the 21st we were discharged! She is doing very well at home, still on oxygen but her cough is gone and her lungs sound clear.  We are all settling back into "normal" at home for just a few more days with Daddy before he goes back to work.


Lesson learned:  wash hands often and keep sick people away from babies.  Even if they "just" have a cold!