About 2 weeks ago, Rylee started coming down with a cold...again. She had a cough for about 6-8 weeks when she was a month and a half old, so I was just thinking this was all starting up again. I was worried she might have an ear infection because she was a little more fussy (keep in mind she was still a smily, cooing baby) so I decided to set up an appointment with the pediatrician. She was also pretty sleepy, again I was just figuring this is the normal thing for a sick baby because their body is trying to fight off the infection.

So, I took her to the doctor and right away they checked her O2 saturation which was down to 84! Then the doctor had to do an RSV swab, no fun. For this swab they take a wire with a q-tip end and stick it up the baby's nose and into the back of their throat. As you can imagine, this was not a fun experience for Rylee and she started gagging and choking. The doctor flipped her to her side and started bulb suctioning all the gunk out of her throat. It was sad! Poor Rylee had no idea why they were doing all this.

Next step was to get a chest x-ray. So I held Rylee with the O2 over her nose, and the nurse held the oxygen tank and Kambree in the other arm (of course, Kambree was taking her sweet time and not wanting to cooperate, hence the nurse holding her). The x-ray read pneumonia in the right lower lobe of the lung and the swab was positive for RSV. The doctor told me I would probably end up at the hospital with her. Dang.

So thankfully I was able to call a good friend from the ward to come pick up Kambree and Carson was able to get a ride over to the clinic with a coworker. Once the Peds unit was open at the hospital we went right over as a direct admit. (I was thinking the hospital visit would be overnight, Dr. Brown then informed me that the average visit for a baby in Rylee's condition is 4 to 5 days!)

Unfortunately Carson had a test that he had to take so he dropped us off to get admitted and he followed up later after his test and after things at home were taken care of. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Rylee got to be hooked up to an IV for fluids, an oximeter to monitor her saturation, suctioned, and given an IV antibiotic. Her breathing was pretty rapid and labored and there was a definite decline in her health from that morning. Luckily my parents were in town to pick up Kambree for us and so my dad and Carson were able to give Rylee a priesthood blessing. By Wednesday, she reached the peak of the illness and started getting better. Still wheezy, but definitely a happier baby.

After this, the story gets boring... we stayed there from Monday to Sunday with the same thing...every 4 hours they would do the suction, every 6 hours they took her vitals, and I sat in my chair and either worked, read, or held Rylee. Very anti-climatic. Thank goodness! Carson would join us after work and was a trooper coming to see us everyday and still juggling work and school. It was even his birthday that Tuesday, so we celebrated by watching a movie together in the hospital room and eating Costa Vida (compliments of Maren - thanks!).

Sunday we took Rylee home on oygen and with the BBG suction machine and the oximeter. By Wednesday she was off the oxygen, and Thursday at the doctor's appointment he told us she sounded much better and we could send the medical supplies back to the company. Yay!

Hospital Visit: March 7-13, 2011 Poor Rylee got called a boy every day we were there...I guess I should have taken a more girly blanket or put a bow in her hair - haha.

*This post is for my journaling, not for a pity party. I am grateful that this visit was not for something worse and that she was able to recover so quickly! Also, thank you to everyone who helped out! It was eye opening to see how much support we were shown and I really hope I can do that for others! Thank you everyone! It was nice to have people to talk to everyday on the phone because it gets kind of boring sitting in a hospital room after awhile;)