RSV


My poor little "baby-cakes" is so sick. I'd been warned about the dangers of having a newborn in the winter and thought he had avoided all the colds floating around the house after Christmas, so this one totally creeped up on us. Last Saturday he was just fine. We went shopping, out to lunch as a family, and hung around having fun. Then that night he slept from 9 PM until 9 AM. Starting at about 4 AM I was checking on him every hour, but he was always sound asleep. When I finally did find him awake he was trying to cry and scream but nothing would come out! He was completely hoarse. As the day progressed he started coughing and his nose got really stuffy. Because it was Sunday I just called the nurse at our pediatrician's office and she said to monitor his temperature (come in if over 101.3) and told us the respiratory distress signs to watch for. That night about 10 PM his temperature reached 101.3 but fell pretty quickly with tylenol. I took him into the pediatrician's the second the office opened Monday morning and it was confirmed he had RSV.

The doctor referred us to the suction clinic at the hospital where we've been going 2-3x a day to get his nasal cavities suctioned out. By Wednesday I felt like it was getting worse. His fever was gone but he was having a lot more trouble breathing and his chest was retracting, which they warned us was a sign of early distress. I took him to the pediatrician's and initially his oxygen was only 86 which is very alarming. They were going to admit him but decided to try suctioning and a breathing treatment first. This brought him up to the low 90s so they prescribed suctioning and breathing treatments 3-4x a day and said to not hesitate to bring him back to the doctor's every few hours if I'm worried. We spent the day going back and forth to the hospital, and last night he seemed to be breathing a little better.

Last night he slept until 4 and then started a coughing fit that would not end. I took him to the suction clinic at 5 AM and they cleaned out A LOT of phlegm and he has been breathing better today. He is throwing up about 2 out of every 3 feedings and coughing a lot. Today he spit up some green phlegm but he doesn't seem to be getting worse. We have a doctor's appointment first thing tomorrow morning so hopefully we will hear that he is improving.

It is so hard to see your little baby struggling to breath and coughing so much. But in between coughing and vomiting, he is a smiley little baby.

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