1-2-3 RSV

Though we had a great time back in Texas over the Christmas break, we definitely had our fair share of drama...in the wonderful form of sickness!

First, it was me. This animal-loving girl is allergic to just about everything...including cats & dogs! That wouldn't be a big problem except that we celebrated Christmas at 5 different houses where a total of 7 dogs and 2 cats reside. Yeah...it was a disaster waiting to happen. I single-handedly improved the Claritin & Mucinex stock index last week! It was insane!

Then, it was Chris. The Texas weather (70 degrees when we arrived and 43 degrees the next day!), the mountain cedar, and the dry air really did him in. That then turned into a nasty upper respiratory mess, and by our 5th day at home he was coughing up a storm!

And lastly, Miss Elli. We took her to Cook's Children's Urgent Care on the 29th because she seemed like she was having trouble breathing. They stuck a long tube down her nose and into her throat to suction out enough mucus to test for RSV. It was terrible. There is nothing worse than seeing your child go through that much discomfort. But she was a trooper, and only cried for about 30 seconds while the tube was in her nose...me, on the other hand...I cried a little longer! Then it was off for some chest x-rays. Another traumatic event for our little girl. We had to hold her down on the table, and hold her tiny arms over her head. Again with the tears...so sad. And finally, the Dr. came back in and told us that she did, in fact, have RSV. For those of you who don't know about it, RSV is basically an upper respiratory infection, but for babies it can be very dangerous. It can very easily turn into Bronchitis, or Pneumonia so you have to be very careful. We thought we'd be given some sort of medication...ummm, no. They just tell you to go home and watch to make sure she doesn't get worse.

So, what's worse than the wheezing, coughing, chest-rattling, runny-nose, and difficulty breathing? Well, they can't really tell you. Our Dr. said if her lips start to turn blue, or if she's gasping for breath, that we should bring her back in. Are you kidding me?? Not going to happen. Needless to say, we were back in their office on the 31st because, in my opinion, she was worse. Apparently, she wasn't, but I wasn't about to wait until she turned blue to take her back in! They suctioned her nose again, gave her a breathing treatment, and even gave us a nebulizer to take home with us. Since I have asthma, I had innumerable breathing treatments as a child, and I absolutely hated that we were already giving Elli her first one at 4 months old. It just broke my heart. After a thorough checking out, they sent us home once again.

Fast forward about 7 hours. At exactly 1AM on Jan 1st we pull into the ER at the Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth because Elli now has a temp of 103. Panic!! We were seen very quickly, and we were informed that she now had an ear infection on top of the RSV. I can't tell you how badly I was feeling for our girl. They gave us ear drops, amoxicillin, and a run-through of how to suction out her nose effectively. We were out of the ER by 3AM, and we braved the "crazy New Year's Eve'ers" as we made our way back home once again.

Even though she was so sick, she was just as pleasant as she could be..."talking" to us, smiling, and just being her normal sweet self. Even during her breathing treatment, she just coo'ed, and tried to eat the plastic mask. If it hadn't been so sad, I probably would have laughed!

Here's our baby on New Year's Eve...hopefully the year can only get better from here :)