Million $ Baby Continues...

Matt and I always joke that Cole is the million dollar baby.  We went through a lot of infertility treatments to get pregnant with him, then I had several doctors appointments and sonograms while I was pregnant, also had the cerclage done, and then after he was born he has had a few medical procedures for his kidneys.  Thank God for health insurance!!  He is worth every penny that it would have cost to get him here, but it's so nice to not have to be drowning in medical bills now that he is here.

The medical saga continued over the weekend.  Our little guy started spitting up a lot last week and it had mucous in it.  I didn't think too much of it because he was still very happy and acting healthy otherwise.  I planned to just ask his doctor on the 21st at his 2 month check up.  However, on Friday he started to have this really nasty cough.  I could tell it was coming from his chest and it also sounded mucousy.  I knew that something was just not right.  I called his pediatricians office on Friday night and they said there wasn't much they could do for him right then, but if I still felt like he needed to be seen I could call their office on Saturday morning and make an appointment.  He slept pretty good on Friday night, but woke himself up a few times coughing.  I called first thing on Saturday morning and they said they could see him at 8:30.  Once we got there they checked him out and did a test for RSV.  He tested positive.  RSV is a respiratory virus that can be deadly in infants if not treated.  Their airways are so tiny they have a hard time being able to catch their breath.  They said it looked as if we caught his early enough that he would be okay.  But to be on the safe side, they admitted us at Bromenn for 24 hour observance.  Not what we expected to do with our weekend, but I would sit in the hospital for a week if it meant that my little guy was being well taken care of.  (Side note:  My baby now weighs 10 lb 13 oz and is 22 inches long...growing like a weed)

Breathing Treatment @ Bromenn

Help me feel better mama!

While we were at the hospital they did breathing treatments with a nebulizer every 4 hours and they also gave him a few doses of a steroid.  It seemed like after each breathing treatment he felt a little bit better.  It was a very long night...  Matt and I traded off sitting in the "recliner" holding him upright so he could breathe easier.  While one of us was doing that, the other was trying to catch a few hours of sleep in the hospital bed in the room.  Not comfortable.  Plus the fact that the temperature of the room went from inferno to ice cold and then back and forth.  There was no comfortable temperature.  One minute we were bundling up and the next stripping down b/c we were sweating.  They monitored his oxygen levels and his heart rate all night.  Both were fine all night.  It was reassuring to us to be able to see the numbers on the monitors and know that he was not in danger.  However, his coughing stuck around and he has a lot of mucous drainage down the back of his throat that he is choking on.  Poor guy!!  This past week I had a terrible cold that turned into a sinus infection and I know I felt terrible, so I can't imagine how Cole feels.

All of the nurses loved his little smiles

They sent us home from the hospital around noon on Sunday and we kept a close eye on him all afternoon/evening.  He seemed to be doing fine.  Then I got up around 3 a.m. to feed him and he couldn't catch his breath.  He was wheezing really hard and had labored breathing.  We took him to the Emergency Room because it was pretty scary to watch.  Once we got there they told us we did the right thing by bringing him there.  They gave him another breathing treatment and steroids and sent us home by 6 a.m.  Then we went to see his pediatrician at 9 a.m.  He gave us a nebulizer to have at home and told us we could continue the treatments every 4 hours until Wednesday when we will go back to have him checked again.

Sleeping it off with daddy

It's been a scary and exhausting few days watching Cole be so sick.  I know that he will be okay, but no one likes to see their kid not feel well, especially at only 8 weeks old.  I would do anything to make it go away for him.  I was supposed to go back to work next Monday, but I have decided I will take one more week off.  I want to be with him until he is back to normal and I also don't want him to expose anyone at daycare to this nasty sickness.  Although Cole has not been feeling good he has been such a good baby.  He has been smiley and happy through most of the past few days.  I am so lucky to have him!  I love my little guy and hope in the next few days he will start to feel better.

Fun picture from the other day.  I am ready for my baby to be healthy again