RSV Part II: The Hospital

Sigh.

It might have been Monday morning, or Tuesday. I have lost track at this point. Liv's fever had spiked so high. So high she began having a seizure. Within moments, we were in the car flying back to the emergency room for the 3rd time in 5 days. Shaking and trembling, I gave the nurse our name and waited to be called.

Olivia's soft sobs turned into gasping hysterics. Thankfully, a blessed nurse heard her gasping and was alarmed enough by it she rushed us back without having to wait for the dozen or so people ahead of us.

They checked her oxygen. Low. So low. Steroid treatments, breathing treatments, chest x-rays, hundreds of tears. Admission.

We were in the hospital for 4-ish days. So much frustration and so many tears (on my part). Poor Livi couldn't keep her oxygen up, dropping into the 80's and then the 70's. She slept. We paced. We watched her sleep. We listened to her breathe.
We held her. Snuggled her. Loved her.

My baby. She is a fighter.

Sweet Haley flew in to spend the week with me. Sweet Nichelle didn't leave my side for days. Sweet Tami/Tasha/Brittney/Brooke provided food, company, and much needed comedic relief.

So many prayers were said for us. So many prayeres were felt by us. I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and kindness by everyone. Thank you, thank you, thank you (you know who you are). The phone calls, the emails, the texts, all the kind words have meant SO much to me. I have been graced with the most amazing and gracious loved ones. We feel blessed, we feel loved.

RSV Face

My baby has RSV.

This week's been a killer for Liv.

It started out with just some general fussiness and Livi just being a grump. I spied her first tooth had broke through a few days ago and figured that was the culprit.

Then the cough started. And it just didn't stop.

Then a fever. Then weird breathing.

I didn't like it. Something bothered me about this and I couldn't let it go. So night I decided to take her Urgent Care, if for no other reason than to calm my troubled mind. I needed to know she was ok even though a part of me knew she wasn't totally.

"It's just part of teething."

"It's nothing, she is fine."

"You really think she is sick enough to take to the doctor?"

People remarked, thinking I was overreacting. But I took her anyway.

I called my sweet friend Nichelle to meet me at the clinic as Brandon was still at work and I didn't want to go alone. Within 20 minutes of being there, I had my answer. This mother's intuition thing is pretty fierce.

RSV Positive.

The doctor urgently and firmly instructed me as to what needed to happen next, who I needed to call, and what I needed to watch for, continually asking me for reassurance that I would be following through on all said instructions as quickly as possible. Within an hour and a half, Nichelle and I had her prescriptions, a blessing was given, fellow mommies of babies called (Poor Sydney has RSV, too) , a nebulizer in our possession, and her first breathing treatment.

We hadn't been home long before I noticed Olivia's breathing was contracting deeply into her ribs. Nichelle and I looked at each and immediately knew we were taking her to the ER.

Thankfully, she was seen quickly. She was given a concentrated breathing treatment, monitored for awhile and sent home.

It has been exhausting, sleeping in shifts, constantly holding and comforting my sweet little one, attempting to get her to eat, doing laundry, trying to get a meal in (Thank you, Britney!), keeping track of all the meds, and trying to retain one iota of sanity. Nichelle is a saint. She has been amazing while Brandon has been gone working. Between the two of us "we make on fully functioning adult," as she puts it. Oh, Nichelle...I'm so grateful for her right now.

Now, among the masses of blankets on the floor, treatments and medications given every four hours, snuggles, and tears we are savoring a quiet moment while Olivia sleeps somewhat comfortably

Keep Olivia in your prayers. We need her little body to be strong and to have her back to her happy sweet self.

6 Month Love

Such blue eyes

We love:

Baby Legs

Clicking tongues

Laughing till we lose our balance

Rolling in circles

High pitched squeals

Daddy's games

Snuggling after naps

Pulling our socks off

Eating our toes

Dancing

Singing songs

Eating books

mini letters

• Dear Economy,
• Please stop sucking. Thanks.
• Dear Doctors of the World,
• Enunciate. It's imperative I understand you.
• Dear Husband,
• I've been a crap wife lately. I'll be back to normal next week. Thanks for understanding.
• Dear Shaun-T,
• I love you....but then, I hate you.
• Dear Lost,
• You confuse me. I'll miss you when you are gone.
• Dear Ms. X #1,
• Stop stealing my words. I'm on to you.
• Dear Ms. X #2,
• I do not care. So, why do you?
• Dear Sleezas,
• I miss you. Come play.
• Dear Momma,
• I miss you. Just move here, ok?
• Dear Laundry,
• Do yourself. That would be great.
• Dear Esophagogastroduodenoscopy,
• You have too many syllables. I'm just sayin.
• Dear JaLee,
• I'm happy my dream is comin' true. I'm so happy about Aubrey!
• Dear Neflix,
• You are a brilliant idea.
• Dear Complete Strangers,
• Quit inquiring about my fertility. I don't like explaining myself.
• Dear Ms. X #3 & #4,
• You are idiots. Big ones.
• Dear N, L, T, A, T, S, B, H, K, A,
• You guys are pretty dang important. I hope you know that.
• Dear Tri-Cities,
• Continue to have winters like this. It makes me love you.
• Dear Spring,
• Hurry faster.

Oh. I might be an idiot.

So.

I made the awesome discovery that Olivia likes paper. She is completely amused and enthralled by it. At first I think, Fine by me, cheap toy! So very simple and it keeps her captivated for a rather lengthy amount of time (for a 6 month old).

Wow, I hurrah to myself. I'm brilliant!

So.

This afternoon on the way home from running some errands, Olivia gets a bit fussy. So what do I do? Give her a piece of paper. Cause she likes it. And I'm awesome to think of it. And it makes her happy.

We pull up to a stoplight and I glance back to check on the little miss and this is what I find.....

That's right. She ate it. Like, a lot of it. ( In my defense, she didn't eat all that as I found little pieces stuck to her face and straps of her carseat.)

I fed my baby paper.

I pulled the paper from my happy baby's hands and listened to her yell at me the rest of the way home, telling me exactly why I was mean for taking away her beloved paper and intermittenly smacking my own forehead at every thought of my idiotic-ness.

Yeah. Like I said. I'm brilliant.