What a crazy couple of weeks we've had! This is going to be a long post, so you can skip it and just look at the pictures if you want.
It all started when Kylee came down with a cough 3 Fridays ago. By Sunday she sounded a little wheezy, but was still happy as can be. I took her to an Instacare doctor that day and he said her lungs sounded fine and her oxygen levels were fine too. He gave us orders to take her to the respiratory clinic at the hospital to have her lungs and throat sucked out if things got worse. Monday night she woke up around 11:30 pm, which is unusual for her since she usually sleeps 12 hours without interruption. She had a fever of 101 and the wheezing was worse. Her throat sounded really scratchy and she threw up every time I tried to feed her. Worst of all, when I took off her clothes and saw her chest heaving up and down, I could tell she was working really hard to breathe. I called the on-call nurse at her doctor's office and she told me to take her to the ER. At the hospital, they tested her for RSV (positive) and did a chest x-ray (it showed she had bronchiolitis). Her oxygen levels were low and her lungs sounded pretty bad, so they put her on oxygen and had a respiratory therapist come and suction her lungs (they stick a tube down her nose and it sucks everything out). The ER doctor wanted to send us home right away, but I was concerned because her oxygen numbers were consistently in the high 80's and the nurses had told me anything below 90 was bad. I convinced the doctor to let us stay a little while to observe her. They put us in a private room in the ER and we tried to get a little sleep. Finally a little after 5 am, they sent us home. I had a feeling we'd be back soon.
She went right to sleep when we got home and didn't wake up til about 1 pm or so. When she did, I knew we needed to get the the respiratory clinic at the hospital. Her chest was retracting A LOT and her nostrils were flared and she seemed so sick (all things they said to watch out for). At the hospital, they suctioned her again. I guess this is usually all a baby needs to make her oxygen levels go back to normal, but it didn't help Kylee at all. Her numbers were in the high 70's and low 80's instead of the 90's where they were supposed to be. To add to that, she hadn't kept any milk down in over 24 hours and hadn't had a wet diaper in at least 12 hours. Because of all that, they decided to admit her to the hospital.
I was convinced we'd only be there a day or 2. After all, she was normally a healthy baby and we just needed to get her hydrated. But 1 day turned into 7 days!
She was so dehydrated when she was admitted that they couldn't find any veins to put the IV in. They finally had to put it in a vein in her head. Every time they had to draw blood for tests, they'd spend an hour searching for veins, but usually ended up drawing blood from veins in her head. Poor little girl. I had my own bed in Kylee's room, but didn't get much sleep the whole week we were there. It's almost impossible to sleep when nurses and doctors come in every couple hours to take her stats, suction her, change her IV bag, or come in because her oxygen monitor's alarm is going off every minute.
Her first 2 days in the hospital were horrible. She was wheezing so badly and was working so hard to breathe that her whole body would shake like she had the hiccups. In fact, one time when Ethan and Austin came to visit, Ethan asked if she had the hiccups. She was working so hard to breathe that her little body was absolutely exhausted. She slept all day unless they were poking her with needles or suctioning her lungs. Her vital signs were looking pretty bad, and when they tested the carbon dioxide levels in her blood, it didn't look good. The nurse told me that if things didn't improve quickly, they would need to fly her on a life flight helicopter to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake to be on a ventilator. I was so scared when I heard that. It's hard to believe that such a simple virus can do such awful things to tiny little babies. I was awake all night worrying about her breathing and praying that her body would be strong enough to fight it.
Adam gave her a sweet blessing that she would be strong and healthy. The next morning (I think it was after the second night there, I can't quite remember though, because the whole week is one big blur) Kylee's nurse came in and said the carbon dioxide levels in her blood were lower, which was a very good sign. She said that based on how hard Kylee was working to breathe, she thought they would've gotten worse. We are so thankful for all the prayers from our families and friends that helped Kylee pull through the worst of it.
The rest of the week was spent suctioning her lungs every three hours and trying to get her to eat without throwing up. No matter what I did, she would start gagging after drinking her milk and she'd throw it all up. On Sunday night I decided to feed her for one minute increments. It seemed to do the trick, and she kept her food down for the first time in over a week! They released her Monday afternoon, but sent her home with a home oxygen tank since she had trouble with her oxygen levels while she slept.
Thursday we went to her pediatrician's office for a checkup, and she received a clean bill of health!! He said if he hadn't of known she'd had RSV, he would never have guessed because her lungs sounded so clear.
We are so glad to be home, and her brothers are especially happy to have her home. Poor Ethan was soooo worried about her all week. Thanks to all our family and friends who helped with the boys, or brought us dinner, or said prayers in our behalf.
There's just something so cute, but so sad about a little baby in a hospital gown. All the dumb tubes and wires made it so hard to move her around the room.
Kylee absolutely hated her binky before the hospital, but it really comforted her while there, and now she loves it!
