Bubble Boy

Sunday
Eli had been pooping more than usual since Thursday, the 1st, but he started to have aweful diarrhea. He also had a cough and a runny nose.

Monday
The cough and the congestion gets worse and he starts to sound wheezy. I debate about bringing him to the ER that evening, but I assume they will tell me it's just a cold and send us home. He didn't have a temperature, so I decide to wait it out and call Dr. E., his pediatrician, the next morning.
Tuesday
Eli is no better or worse. There was no answer at Dr. E.'s office. I call the BPD clinic in Columbus and talk to the nurse clinician. She says, yes, it's probably a cold and give him some pedialyte for the diarrhea. Later, I give him a bath in some Vicks-type soothing bubble bath and he goes to sleep. Around 9, he wakes up and sounds aweful. Seth described it as "he sounds like he's been smoking for 20 years." At this point he can't even cry. The only sound he can manage to let out is a whine tha sounds like something you'd hear in Jurassic Park.

I decided to take him to the ER. Eli's Grandma Jody went with us. He was running a low-grade temperature when we arrived. When the doctor came in to listen, Eli didn't like the coldness of the stethoscope. I'm not sure whether he was merely trying to get away or if he wanted me for comfort, but he appeared to be reaching for me. It was the first time he'd done that and I can't describe how it made me feel. I've never felt so needed.

The doctor ordered a chest x-ray and bloodwork. Blood analysis showed elevated white blood cells, indicating that he was fighting an infection (no, really?). The doctor said that he didn't see anything on the x-ray, but after it had been read by the specialist in the morning, someone would call me if anything was wrong. He couldn't diagnose Eli, but he prescribed an antibiotic, just in case. We went home, and a cranky Eli stayed up until 5 a.m.

Wednesday
I had a dentist appointment for a toothache at 9:00. I left Eli with Grandma Jody, because Seth was working. While I was in the waiting room, I got a phone call from Eli's pediatrician. He asked about Eli's visit to the ER. I told him about it, and said that I had been concerned because of the wheezy breathing, that I thought it might be a respiratory virus. "That's why I'm calling," he said. And my stomach dropped. "I think Eli might have RSV, the very thing we've been trying to prevent. We'll need to see him today because he might have to be admitted."













Right after my appointment, I drove 30 minutes home, packed up some diapers and pj's, and brought Eli to see Dr. E. He concluded that he needed to be admitted so he could be monitored and receive breathing treatments. We went to Wetzel County Hospital, a small hospital near our hometown, where Dr. E. would still be his physician.

When we got to the room, some nurses checked Eli's oxygen saturation. It was 85%. He was going to need to be put on oxygen. Because he was so congested, he would be put under a tent that would be filled with humidified oxygen. This tent was to be put over a crib. For those of you who don't know, we co-sleep with Eli at home, and he's not been in a crib since he was in the NICU. We tried a pack 'n' play and a bassinet when he first came home, but that last all of 2 weeks. I did not like the thought of Eli having to transition to a crib when he was sick and afraid. I wouldn't even be able to hold him close to me, because he needed the oxygen in the tent. And how was I supposed to breastfeed him? Get into the crib? After voicing my concerns to the nurses, they allowed Eli to stay in a bed with me, something that isn't usually done for safety reasons. I was very pleased.
Thursday
Eli was getting breathing treatments every 4 hours, an antibiotic and hydration through IV, Zyrtec for congestion, and his temperature and sats were checked regularly. When awake, his sats were in the high 90's, and asleep, in the low 90's.

Friday
Eli started to feel much better. He no longer sounded like a pterodactyl, and he was starting to play and smile again. That evening, Dr. E. wanted him to be taken out of the tent for the evening, as long as he could keep his sats up. If all went well, he'd go home in the morning. The nurses checked Eli's sats an hour later, when he was asleep, and he was at 85%. He went back into the tent. Later, we tried again to take him out, but he was at 85% again when they checked him (also sleeping). He stayed in the tent for the rest of the night.


Saturday
Dr. E. came in the morning and wanted him out of the tent and wanted his sats checked while he was awake. An hour later, he was at 95%. He took a nap, and when he woke up, he was at 99%! We were able to go home late that afternoon, and we were sent with a portable nebulizer for breathing treatments, and 5 days worth of antibiotic. We've been home for 2 days and all is good. Eli still has a cough and some congestion, but it's not nearly as bad, and you can tell he is feeling much better.

I am still not really clear on what he had. The chest x-ray showed pneumonia, which is what rsv looks like on an x-ray. A mucous swab tested negative for RSV, but Dr. E. said that didn't mean he definitely didn't have it. His diagnosis was acute bronchiolitis, which, according to wikipedia (not the most scientific resource, I know, but useful for understanding things in everyday language) is a common virus in infancy caused by RSV, the flu, rhinovirus, etc. Just to note, here is the reason RSV and the like affect Eli so badly. A virus can not be warded off by an antibiotic; it can only be left to run its course and the immune system gradually does its thing. Being a preemie, his immune system is at a disadvantage. It's also a respiratory illness, and as you know, Eli's lungs are not as developed as other babies his age. The moral of the story is: if you think your child is sick, it's better to be safe than sorry, especially if he was a preemie.

Here are two pictures of Eli in the hospital. In the first, he is a few days shy of 7 months, and in the second, he's in the NICU and is a few days shy of 2 months. Think he's changed much?