RSV outbreak in the Midwest

I realized I hadn't posted anything entertaining or otherwise for quite sometime now. Unfortunately I don't have anything overly amusing to post, so I'll post just a general update on what we've been doing.

We've been going to the doctor's office.... a lot.

First B was sick. He was running a fever and I believe he threw up a little. His fever was getting a little too high, so we made a trip to the ER. That was fun. Luckily we got there at a slow time so we didn't have to wait very long to be treated. Diagnosis: RSV (Brochiolitis according to my memory of what the ER doc said) They gave us meds and sent us on our way. Later we called our Pediatrician (Love her) and she told us the ER docs are idiots (I may be paraphrasing a bit there) and called in another prescription for us to give to B.

B got better. The next week he was back at daycare having a grand old time. He's a climber. He loves to stand on things. He is also graced with his parents balance. So he falls. This time he was standing on a toy and fell into the window. Luckily he didn't break the glass, but he did hit his head on the ledge. Gave himself a pretty good gash. The babysitter was mortified. She told me later this was the first little one she's had fall and hurt their head. It bled quite a bit, but what made everyone nervous was how tired he was acting afterward. We were worried about a possible concussion, so back to the ER. I wasn't there for this one, but the short story is B was fine. Apparently the ER here does not do stitches to head wounds ( or infants I'm not clear on that ) but they will do staples. B's mom said, I think he'll live without a staple in his head, so back home he went. I totally agreed with this decision.

A week goes by with nothing exciting.

The following week, B starts acting sick again. One night B's mom notices he's pulling a little when he's breathing. He doesn't have a fever and seems to be in a fairly good mood, so we decide to wait a bit and see. We don't want to go to the ER and have them just send him back home because he doesn't have a fever. The next morning he's no better so we take him into the pediatrician first thing to see if she can squeeze him in. We're willing to wait, luckily he gets in first thing.( While in the waiting room we meet the other baby in the city with the same first and last name. No relation. Odd. ) By this time B is really starting to act down and is running a fever. The doc has him directly admitted to the hospital. The buildings are connected so we go straight over. There we find out there are no available rooms at the moment so we have to wait. While waiting  B pukes. At this point I run home to get B and B's mom something else to wear and some supplies for what we're assuming is going to be a possible overnight stay. While I'm away they manage to get us in a room. I get back in time to be there when they give B an IV. A process B does not approve of. He also did not enjoy the chest X-ray, although he's getting to be a pro at them. They get him on IV antibiotics, fluids (for dehydration), steroids (to make him big and strong) and start breathing treatments. Later that evening his O2 levels drop even lower so he has to go on O2. Let me tell you, keeping those little tubes in his nose was no fun for him or us. We end up spending I believe 4 days and 3 lovely nights in the hospital before we get to go home. There was not a lot of sleep, but overall it could have been a much worse stay. As stressful as it was, I think we had it pretty good. By the end B was as stir crazy as we were and he was ready to go. I want to say that all of the nurses and other staff that worked with us were excellent. I felt that we were taken care of very well.

B is doing much better. He's off all his medications now and we're slowly easing off the breathing treatments. There have been so many children with RSV that it's starting to make the local news. For the record B had RSV which either caused or was caused by a slight case of pneumonia. He also had an ear infection. To make sure he was really feeling good, this all caused his asthma to flair up.

Let's end on a positive note. To prove that B is doing better and that he is in fact my kid, the other day he reached down and honked his mom's boob while saying "Boob". Horn blood runs deep in that one.