First Emergency Room Visit

So, as I've been writing, Kaelyn has been sick. When we called the advice nurse and explained her symptoms (and ours), we were told to just let her ride it out. They gave some advice on when we should take her in (fever, earache, wheezing, etc.) After some discussion, Roger and I decided it would be best to make her an appointment anyway. I thought she might have a sore throat and wanted to get her something to make her more comfortable. Not only that, but Wednesday she started eating much less than normal and dehydration was an issue.

I made the appointment for Thursday morning. Her regular pediatrician was out that day, so I made the appointment with another doctor. Roger was able to rearrange his schedule to take her, so I just went to work. Her appointment was at 9:15 and when Roger called me at 10, I expected him to just tell me that the doctor said she was fine and maybe gave her a prescription. Instead, he was telling me that he was taking her to the hospital and that she would have to stay for a few days. He told me that the doctor was concerned about her breathing and worried that she may have some bigger lung problems than just conjestion.

The doctor had called ahead to the pediatrics ICU, but they hadn't gotten back to him on having a bed ready for us, so we went to the emergency room and I met them there. On the way, I called the doctor to hear from him exactly what the problem was...he totally panicked me. He told me that she was very sick and he felt like if we had waited even an extra day to bring her in, she could be seriously ill. In the emergency room, they checked her oxygen levels (94% and 100% after the breathing treatment). They tried to draw some blood...and it took 4 of us to hold her down. She was screaming from the pain and I cried. Next, it was chest xrays and then up to the ICU.

Kaelyn's oxygen level stayed at 100% all day Thursday. The xrays showed that she had bronchiolitis, which was caused by the virus she caught from me and Roger (let me just say my guilt level was really high). She started eating better and while not as much as she normally does, enough to keep her hydrated and off an IV. She never developed a fever and amazingly, was happy and smiling at everyone. We spent the night in the hospital that night...the longest night of my life. Kaelyn's oxygen levels remained high...lowest it ever went was 97%. It was clear that she was improving and by Friday seemed like a normal, healthy, happy baby...with a cough. We spoke to the doctor again on Friday afternoon who told me that Kaelyn was through the worst of it. Basically, she had the exact same thing as me and Roger, but with her tiny body and never having been sick before, they weren't sure how she would react...example, the baby we shared a room with had the same thing, but developed pneumonia overnight where Kaelyn was getting better. The PICU doctor explained her hospitalization in a much less scary way than the pediatrician did the day before. Where the pediatrician said that she might have lung disease and could be very sick, the PICU doctor explained that they want to hospitalize babies with the virus to make sure that they get better (as they are expected to) or if they develop something worse, to have them where they can get immediate care (like the baby who developed pneumonia). While Kaelyn was in danger of getting sicker, it was only because she has never had this virus for doctors and us to know how she reacts. (It's a totally different blog, but I have a very strong opinion of how doctors explain things to patients...the pediatrician had me believe that if we hadn't brought Kaelyn in, she could have died...which the PICU doctor assured me would not have happened..she either would have gotten better on her own or sicker and caused us to bring her in again...definitely not as scary).

Kaelyn was able to recover without antibiotics (which the doctor said probably wouldn't work on the virus anyway), no iv, no oxygen, etc. The doctor asked me if I thought the breathing treatment she got in the emergency room helped. And considering that once she got it, her oxygen levels never dropped below 97% and she got her appetite back, I said yes. They decided to release us Friday night (to my and Roger's great relief!). They sent us home with nebulizer, so that we can continue to give her vapor treatments to help with her conjestion. She's still coughing, but sounding much better and she's eating as much as she always does.

I didn't like being in the hospital (too many memories of the NICU after she was born) and knew that I could never leave and go home without Kaelyn. The thought of going home without her almost caused a panic attack. Luckily, Roger understood why I refused to leave and stayed with us so we could all be together.

It was a scary few days, but we've made it through the first sickness and hospital visit. She is healthy again and we are all at home together...life couldn't be better!