My father-in-law just got in from Mexico so we headed out to breakfast together followed by some errands and shopping. Part of our stops was the pediatrician's office...
(REWIND TO THE WEE-HOURS OF THE NIGHT)
The baby kept me up ALL NIGHT LONG. I think I wanted to throw him out at a few points throughout the night. Thank God for my husband! He really kicked in and kicked butt! Thank you... my sanity thanks you and my son thanks you! :)
This morning baby woke up and had the hardest time nursing. His sinuses were so congested, he kept choking. The poor little guy! He scared me a little when his respiration rate became quick and labored while in a calm, relaxed state. I called the pediatrician's and they said to bring him in for an evaluation, especially because he's only 19 days old.
Before we made it to the docs, Jacob sneezed a few times in a row and I was able to extract some of the deeply rooted nose mucuses (a.k.a. boogers) that came to the front of his tiny nostrils before he sucked them back in. It helped tons! Finally my baby was able to breath! I sighed in relief. But still, he needed to be checked out by a trained professional.
One of the NPs at the office examined him. Her name is Laurie and we've seen her before. She's our second pick next to our favorite doctor. Anyway, Jacob's respirations were in the mid-50's (they need to be under 60), so they were high, but still in the OK range. His SaO2 was 100%, also very good. His lungs were clear. His sinuses are clogged, but deeply rooted, not in the nostrils. Just to be safe, she swabs him to check for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). It takes 15 minutes for the results to come up, so I nurse him in between.
Laurie returns with the news - he's positive. (Imagine my BIG FROWNING FACE here.) We are sad. My poor Jacob is only 19 days old and he's sick. We speculate who gave it to him. It is probably me - I've been having some nose issues. Or it could be my 3-year old - he's a preschooler and who knows what those kids are carrying. Or maybe it was Daddy - he works with tons of people and could have come into contact with someone's RSV-infested droplets. It's no use trying to figure it out. The good news is that it should take only 7 days to run its course... and who knows which day it is today (1, 2, 3?). Hopefully we're well on our way through this.
Then Laurie tells us that they hospitalize infants this young for RSV to make sure they are monitored for respiration and O2. She tells us that they won't do that at this time for Jacob since his lungs are clear, O2 is 100% and he hasn't run a fever (did I mention it can come with fevers?). What we have to do is keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't stop breathing or start rapidly breathing (way to avoid a mild heart attack in a parent, eh?). We're also to watch for fever, continue to keep the humidifier on and use good hand hygiene, and start using saline drops/spray in his nose to help keep the mucus moist. Unfortunately he'll probably end up swallowing all that yuck which may make his bowel movements mucus-y as well, but that's OK if it means he can breath freely. If he gets worse during the weekend, we need to call the office and the on-call doc will admit him for monitoring.
She also said not to freak out.
And that has been our Friday.
(FAST FORWARD TO NOW)
Hubby came home from work after picking up his dad and getting the news that Jacob needed to go to the doctor's. He's hanging out with the kids and myself in our room while my toddler is mesmerized by "How to Train Your Dragon". Well, hubby is trying to do his homework while the TV plays (a difficult task for any man LOL). My father-in-law is napping and I'm blogging. Next up, working on my speech for next Wednesday and getting my paper done that is due Sunday. I don't want to be typing while the Bears are kicking Green Bay's butt. :)
Please say a little prayer for a speedy recovery for Jacob, finished homework for us parents, and a Bears-kick-butt game on Sunday. And as always, thanks for reading!
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