RSV Sucks!!!

Most of you heard that we spent most of last week in Primary's with sweet Kenadee and her nasty RSV. Here's how it all went down... (Warning: Long, probably rambling story ahead! But, I want to remember all the details...)

On Thursday the 21st, I noticed that Kenadee was getting congested. Nothing too bad, so I pretty much ignored it. By Saturday, she was worse, and starting to cough. I still ignored it. Sunday, however, she sounded awful! She wasn't eating like normal, and a lot of what she was eating was coming back out. And, we're not just talking baby spit up- we're talking projectile vomit, out the mouth AND nose. She was miserable. So, Sunday night, we packed her up and took her to the Instacare. (Thank goodness for Instacares that are open until 10 p.m. on Sunday nights!!) When we got there, they diagnosed her with bronchiolitis- a virus that is commonly caused by RSV. They deep suctioned her nose (just about the worst thing EVER), and sent some of the mucous to the lab to have it tested. They sent us home, but told us to watch her really closely, and to take her back if she needed to be suctioned again, or if her respiratory rate was over 60 breaths per minute. They also gave us a prescription for their bronchiolitis clinic to have her nose deep suctioned as many times a day as needed for up to seven days.

Monday morning, she was worse, and definitely needed the suction. She was working so hard to breathe, and her respiratory rate was close to 70 for a whole hour. She had eaten less than half of what she normally does, and was still throwing up. So, instead of going back to the Instacare, we called her pediatrician- I trust that guy with everything! He's amazing! When we got there, they gave us the results of the labs- she was, indeed, RSV positive. They checked her oxygen levels- 94%, which is ok but not great. They also deep suctioned her again. Dr. Valentine warned us that RSV is usually its worst on days 5-7, and said that chances were he would be seeing us again on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning, sure enough, she was even worse. So, we took her back to Dr. Valentine's office. There they did a bunch of tests that all came back "borderline". Her temperature was 100.4- they send them to the hospital at 100.5. Her oxygen level had dropped to 91%- they send babies to the hospital with a level below 90%. She had only eaten 4 oz. formula since midnight (it was almost noon), but her weight was exactly the same as it had been the day before- a dehydrated baby would have lost half an ounce or so. They did a complete blood count, and her white cells came back at 12- they send a baby to the hospital with a white count over 12. They also did a chest x-ray, which the doctor said, "wasn't good, but looks like I expected it would." It was so frustrating to know that she was getting worse, but that she still wasn't bad enough that they could do anything. So, they deep suctioned her nose again, and gave her an antibiotic injection just in case she had an ear infection or was developing pneumonia on top of the RSV, and sent us home.

Later that afternoon, she still wasn't eating, and I noticed that she was feeling warmer than normal. She didn't have any tears, and her little mouth was so dry. I took her temperature, and it came back at 100.7. So, I called Dr. Valentine again, and lost it on the phone with him. He asked about her eating, and when I said she still hadn't had any, he told me it was time to go to the emergency room. I completely lost it at that point. He told me he knew how I was feeling- like I was a bad parent- and reassured me that I definitely wasn't. He even told me that 5 of his 8 kids had ended up in the hospital with RSV, and "that's over 50%!" He told me that taking her to the ER was the best thing for her. So, I packed up the kids and headed out. (Thanks to my mother-in-law for dropping everything, and taking my kids without any notice!)

All the way to the ER, I kept telling myself that I was being paranoid, and that Kenadee was fine. I even told my husband to turn around and go home at one point, I'm so glad he didn't! When we got there, they checked us in, and took her into triage. The triage nurse was AWFUL! She basically confirmed how I was feeling, and kept saying that she was certain Kenadee was fine and that they would be sending us home. She wouldn't listen to anything that I said, and was so rude the whole time. When she sent us back to the waiting room to wait for the doctor, I lost it again. I couldn't believe that someone that horribly rude was working in a children's hospital... Anyway, they finally called us back to see the doctor, and she finally put my mind at ease that I had done the right thing. She told us that they were worried that since her fever had started several days into her illness rather than at the beginning, there could possibly be a secondary infection causing it. They were going to have to do several tests to check for the most common infections that come with RSV- ear infection, bladder infection, UTI, and meningitis. That meant more blood draws, a catheter to get a urine culture, and the worst of all, a lumbar puncture- a.k.a. SPINAL TAP! I was so scared for her. They started her IV, and then left us sitting in that cold room for a while. They were monitoring her temperature (still elevated) and her oxygen levels the whole time. And, it's a good thing, because her oxygen dropped dangerously low. So, they started her on oxygen, and after several minutes, they came back to do all of her tests. She was a trooper through the whole thing! I couldn't believe that I was crying more than her! After the tests were done, they told us that she for sure needed to be admitted, and that we would be there for at least 36 hours.

So, we headed upstairs to the 4th floor to the Infant Medical Surgical Unit- sounded scary, but at least it wasn't the NICU. We got to our room, and realized that we would have a roommate for our stay. (He was the cutest little 3 month old, with more hair than I have ever seen on a baby!) While the nurse on the 4th floor was getting us all situated, the phone in our room rang. She asked if anybody knew we were there yet, and when I said no, she answered it for us. She handed me the phone and said it was some doctor. I was completely confused, but took the phone and said hello. It was Dr. Valentine. Calling from his home. At 11 p.m. Just to check on Kenadee. (Did I mention how much I love the guy?) He told me that he was certain that we made the right decision, and that she would receive the best care possible. It was at that point that I finally realized I wasn't completely paranoid.

The next several days were spent with numerous sets of vital signs, and even more deep suctioning of her nose. The nights were completely sleepless. The poor girl was on oxygen the whole time, and was still such a trooper. We became close friends with our roommate and his parents, and got to know Primary's better than we ever wanted to.

The doctors gave us several criteria for Kenadee to be discharged: she had to be eating normally, her tests had to all come back clear, she only had to have deep suction done twice in 24 hours, and most importantly, they wanted her off the oxygen. We tried over and over to get her off the oxygen, and she would do great when she was awake. But, anytime she went to sleep, her levels would drop off again, and they would have to put her back on. It was so scary to know that she wasn't getting enough oxygen when she slept because I don't watch her as closely when she is asleep. On Wednesday night, we had a nurse who was determined to get Kenadee to go the whole night without her oxygen. Her levels kept dropping, and the nurse would just come in and wake her up. I was getting so irritated. Finally, around 3 a.m., I looked over and noticed that Kenadee's lips were turning blue. I started to panic, just as the alarm went off to tell the nurse that her levels were too low. When the nurse came in, she noticed Kenadee's blue lips, and said it was probably time to put the oxygen back on. Uh, you think? So, it was back on the oxygen for the time being.

On Thursday morning, our roommates got to go home, and we were happy for them, but sad to see them go. The nurse told us to plan on having another roommate soon. But, several hours later, no one had come. We started to get excited to think that we would have our own room for the night. But, our excitement was short lived. The nurse came in around 5:30 and said that there were two babies in the ER that needed to be admitted, but didn't have RSV. She explained that they didn't want Kenadee to pick up anything else (she didn't say what the babies had), and that they didn't want to pass RSV to either of those babies. So, she asked if it would be ok if they moved us to a different room with another RSV baby. We agreed, and that may have been the biggest mistake we made! Haha!

In our new room, we met a sweet 4 month old Samoan baby and her grandma. This poor girl was SO much sicker than Kenadee, and she just cried the whole time. So, we already weren't getting any sleep, and then the craziest thing of all happened... At 1 a.m. Friday, the baby's dad and 5 kids showed up to visit! These kids ranged in age from 16 down to 2. They paid no attention to the fact the no kids under 14 were supposed to come visit, OR that visiting hours ended at 9 p.m., OR that there were people on the other half of the room (US!). After about 20 minutes, a sweet nurse came in and kicked them all out. Thank goodness!

But, on a positive note, they took Kenadee's oxygen off at around 3 p.m. on Thursday, and she made it the whole night without it! Her levels still weren't really high, around 91%, but they were good enough to be off! So, when the doctors started rounding around 7, they told us we could go home finally! They signed her discharge orders, and we got out of there just after 10.

I am so glad that Jonathan didn't listen to me and turn around on our way there. The doctors and nurses (for the most part) were incredible, and they took such good care of Kenadee. She is so much better now, and I think that most of it is because she was there. Her oxygen levels are still a little low when she sleeps, but definitely in the safe zone. I'm so grateful that we live so close to such an amazing facility, also.

Thanks so much to everyone who called/text, sent messages on facebook, came to visit, and especially prayed for us. We could feel all the love, and it helped us more than any of you know!!



In the ER, just before her spinal tap...


This picture was taken right after they started to do deep suction on our first roommate. Kenadee was always so worried about him. Whenever he would start to cry, she would get the saddest expression on her face and try to find him. If he stopped, she would go back to her normal self, but if he started to scream, she would cry, too. It was so sweet!


She looked so tiny in that big bed.


I hated that she had to be on oxygen the whole time, but she looked so cute with the tube on her face!

Whew! For those of you who made it all the way to the end, I high five you!! :)