Illnesses- RSV

As I mentioned in my introduction, Eli had RSV when he was 6 weeks old.  I wanted to tell this story because it's really about mother's intuition, even more so than about his illness. But I did want to touch on RSV because it is pretty serious. I had never had a newborn before, but when my older son, Seth, developed a bad cold, I knew it was a good idea to watch Eli for signs of catching it too. Our pediatrician had mentioned that RSV was going around and it could be dangerous for a baby.  Now, at this time, Eli was in the full swing of dealing with his reflux, too, so I had to carry around a terribly fussy baby and care for a sick 3 year-old all at once. No way to keep them completely separate.  I remember that on that Saturday, Eli started coughing. No big deal. By Sunday morning, he seemed really congested, and I just knew something was wrong. So off to Urgent Care we went. The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner we saw treated me just like an overprotective, over-worried, hypochondriac new mother. Of course, while we were there, Eli did his "I'm so charming" act and didn't cough once. She did say he sounded congested, but was about to send us home when I mentioned RSV, so they did a test.  We were actually ready to walk out the door when she peaked her head back in and said, "His RSV test was positive, but he seems ok.  Just go home, give him some chamomile tea (for a 6 week old!), and watch him. If he gets worse, go to the ER." She then sent in another nurse to go over some instructions, and I related my concerns to her- she also sorta blew me off. So we went home. I felt like, "Ok, I need to buck up and just deal with this."  I watched my 6 week-old baby get worse and worse- we put him in the steamy bathroom while the shower ran, we suctioned his nose with a bulb syringe, etc, and I wondered what "if he gets worse" actually meant. So Monday morning, I called our pediatrician. Her nurse didn't blow me off, but I think she failed to realize a key point: for older children (like Seth) and adults, RSV is nothing more than a bad cold. For babies, it can be very serious and lead to pneumonia and other respiratory problems, or, in severe cases, they can stop breathing.  So she told me to "watch him" and call again if he got worse.  Well, he got worse. But again, there is this fear of being just an "overprotective mother", so I kept trying to care for him at home. Monday night he slept very soundly most of the night- I kept checking his breathing and worrying. On Tuesday morning, I laid him down on the changing table to change his diaper, and saw him pulling his chest up really hard to try and breathe. He sounded like his lungs were full of cotton and could barely take a breath. I called the pediatrician again, and they said to bring him right in. We went in, and the nurse, upon seeing him in his carrier, said, "Oh my gosh! He can't breathe! Get him out of there!" They put an oxygen monitor thing on him, and he was under 90% (again, not so terrible for an adult, though concerning- but for an infant, terrible). The doctor rushed in and said he needed a breathing treatment ASAP and if his oxygen didn't come up, she'd have to put him in an ambulance! The word "ambulance" just shook me to the core. How did we go from "he looks ok, give him some tea" to "ambulance" in under 48 hours? We got his oxygen up to 93% and the doctor instructed me to drive straight to the hospital and she was calling to have him admitted. We were in the hospital for 6 days. 6 DAYS!!! I was furious that I didn't push the Urgent Care doctor more to do something- we learned she could have prescribed a nebulizer that would've helped clear his lungs. My pediatrician said she would always admit a 6 week-old with RSV even if he "seemed ok", for observation because they can get bad so fast. In the hospital, Eli had to endure breathing treatments and deep suctioning (they stuck a tube up his nose and down his throat to remove mucus) every 2 hours. This was because infants do not have the ability to expel mucus like older kids and adults. It just sits in there and makes them sicker and sicker. He had two chest x-rays to check for pneumonia. He didn't even turn a corner till day 4. So it was scary and hard and expensive and a very good lesson for me. From then on, I listened to my instincts and tried to not let anyone make me feel like just an overprotective new mom. And who cares if you are, anyway? Just be that, and if you're wrong, you're wrong. But if you're right- at least you know you've taken care of your baby. I shudder when I think of that Monday night when he slept so soundly- I worry he could've stopped breathing at any time. So I vowed to never do that again!