Austin's Blog: RSV & Hospital

Things were going along just fine. I was getting used to being at home with Mommy, Daddy and Brenna. The dogs weren't scaring me every time they came up to try to sneak in a lick or two. Grammie, Grandpa and Mimi had come for a visit which I really enjoyed. Then all of a sudden I got this thing called a cough. It started out small on Sunday; just an annoyance, but by Thursday, I was not feeling so good. It hurt really bad every time I coughed and all I wanted to do was sleep. Waking up to nurse took a lot of effort, and I could only stay awake for 5 to 10 minutes to eat. With the weekend coming up, Mommy and Daddy thought it would be best if I went to see the baby doctor. Uh oh, I'm still not over the circumcision thing, so this didn't sound like a good plan to me at all. I'm only 4 weeks old, so I guess I don't get much of a say in these things.

Friday afternoon, Mommy took me to the baby doctor. The nurse calls us back to the exam room and gets my weight. Holy cow, I'm over 9 pounds! I gained almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks. Breast milk has been "berry berry good to me"! That was about all the good news I got that day. The nurse talked to Mommy about how I had been doing, and she brought in a monitor to see how my oxygen levels were. Now I'm only 4 weeks old, but even I know the importance of oxygen. Apparently my oxygen levels were not up to snuff, since the nurse went out in the hall to call the doctor to the room immediately. The doctor came in and listened to my breathing and my heart and watched my tummy to see how hard I was working to breathe. He asked the nurse to give me some oxygen and my levels shot right up where they should be. I felt so much better with that lovely air streaming into my lungs. Maybe this doctor guy isn't all bad after all.

The next thing I know some guys all dressed in blue came into the exam room asking Mommy lots of questions. I wasn't really listening; I was just happy to have that lovely air still coming my way. Mommy put me in my car seat and I thought we were going to go home. Instead of getting into Mommy's car we got in a thing called an ambulance. The guys in blue strapped my car seat down to what looked like a bed. Again I didn't mind as long as we were moving and the wonderful air kept coming. The guys in blue gave us a ride to a big building called a hospital. There the nurses took over. They stripped me down, weighed me in my birthday suit (still over 9 pounds; yay me), and gave me the once and twice over. Sometimes they let me keep the wonderful air and sometimes they took it away. I didn't like it too much when it was gone. I kind of felt groggy and listless without it.

Now with nurses, you kind of have to keep your eye on them. One minute they are cooing and cuddling you wrapping you in warm blankets, and the next minute they are sticking tubes up your nose trying to suck the gunky stuff out. I REALLY don't recommend having this done; it is not pleasant at all. They tried to tell me that I would feel better after, but I had a hard time believing them while it was happening. The other thing that nurses do in your "best interest" is stick a thermometer up your bum. Is this really necessary? I would tell you if I was hot wouldn't I? I wasn't!

Daddy and Brenna arrived shortly after we got there. It was crazy hair day at Brenna's school and her hair-do and outfit was a big hit with all the nurses and doctors. That was fine with me. It took the spotlight off me for a minute and the poking a prodding stopped. Another doctor came in to check me out and told Mommy and Daddy that he wanted to do an x-ray of my lungs to make sure I didn't have something called pneumonia. Brenna went with us to the x-ray room. It was her job to make sure that Mommy and Daddy didn't wander off. She held their hands and made them stay put. She's so responsible that Brenna.

After the x-ray, we went back to the exam room. The nice nurse in the pink scrubs came to tell us that we were going to spend the night in the hospital, since I really needed the wonderful air (ahh) and the suctioning (ugh). She also told us that the x-ray was negative for pneumonia. Now, I'm not sure what that is, but Mommy and Daddy seemed relieved, so I was too. The other thing she told us was that I had a virus called RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, and that's what was making me sick. The virus had led to Bronchiolitis which was making it hard for me to breathe and creating all that junk in my lungs. She told us that there was a room ready for us upstairs. She seemed very excited that a room was ready and we wouldn't have to wait a long time for one. Again, I didn't really care as long as the wonderful air kept coming and Mommy and Daddy didn't leave.

Mommy's friend, Pam, came to the hospital and took Brenna to get some dinner. Aparently hospitals are pretty boring when you are four, and Brenna was very excited to get the chance to hang out with Pam. Later that night, Pam brought Brenna back to the hospital with some things for Mommy to be able to spend the night. Brenna decided that she wanted to sleep over at Pam's house. This kind of surprised Mommy. It was the first time Brenna had slept away from our house without Mommy or Daddy. She's such a big girl. I hope I'm that brave at four.

I slept fine that first night, but Mommy didn't do so well. There was another baby in the room with us and he cried all night long. It didn't bother me a bit, but Mommy kept waking up trying to figure out if it was me or the other baby crying. Saturday morning Daddy came back to the hospital, and aparently he didn't sleep very well at home all by himself. I guess he's not as brave as Brenna! Pam brought Brenna up to the hospital after a morning of breakfast eating and play. Pam, Brenna and Mommy left for a little while to do something called "retail therapy". One of Pam's favorite stores, Hip and Humble, was having a sale that she couldn't pass up. Daddy told Mommy she should go along to get some fresh air and take a break. After shopping Pam took Brenna to Stephanie's house for an afternoon of play. Stephanie is another one of Mommy's work friends. Brenna had a blast playing at her house with her two kids, Connor and Quinn.

That evening Meredith, another of Mommy's work friends, brought Mommy and Daddy dinner for a break from cafeteria food. After they ate, Meredith came upstairs and snuggled me for a little while. Mommy kept telling Daddy how lucky they were to have friends like Pam, Stephanie and Meredith who come rushing to your side when you need them. I know it made a difference to them to know that Brenna was in good hands and having fun, so they could concentrate on taking care of me.

Over the next couple of days, the nurses worked at getting me to not need the wonderful air so much and to not need the suctioning. I was all for the latter, but wanted to hold on to the former. Finally on Monday, I decided that I could do without the wonderful air, and the doctors let us go home. You should have seen how fast Daddy got all of our things packed up and out to the car! We even made it out of there in time to get Brenna to gymnastics.

Well, that was my big adventure to the hospital. I'm doing much better now. My appetite is back and I'm not so groggy anymore. I go back to the baby doctor tomorrow for a check-up, and hopefully he will say I'm right as rain. I heard Mommy tell someone that she is going to pack a bag just in case...but I know that she won't need it. I've had enough poking, prodding and monitoring for this short lifetime!