Germs, Germs, Everywhere

This post is brought to you from a hospital room on the pediatric floor.

Poor Elby has RSV. And it only took an urgent care visit, ambulance ride, and 2 ER visits to discover it.

He started coughing on Friday. His breathing started sounded really bad on Saturday, so we took him to an urgent care for what I thought would be just a prescription for breathing treatments. Uh, wrong. We didn't even make it 2 minutes into the exam before the nurse called the doctor over, the doctor took one look at his oxygen levels, one listen to his chest, and informed me that they were going to need to call 911 and have him transported to the hospital via ambulance. 

They gave him oxygen and a neb treatment and by the time EMS got there his sats were back up in the 90s. It was so surreal being wheeled into an ambulance for what I thought was just a cold. I can now check that off my bucket list and hope to never be inside one of those again. It was the fastest we've ever gotten into the ER since we got to bypass the waiting room, so at least there's that. 

The ER doctor told me it was just a case of bronchiolitis and that he didn't need to check for RSV because the season was pretty much over. He said I could take him home and just keep a close eye on him but to bring him back in if he got any worse. No pressure or anything! Needless to say, I was an anxious mess all night long. His breathing was still labored the next day and he was retracting even more, so I brought him back to the ER even though I was second-guessing myself and wondering if I was just being paranoid. So glad I went with my gut. His O2 levels had dropped again and breathing treatments weren't helping, so the doctor admitted him and sure enough, he tested positive for RSV. 

And because that isn't enough drama for one weekend, Rick called me while I was at the ER Saturday night to let me know he was running a fever and felt like death. He caught the stomach virus that I had earlier last week. And of course Harrison's fever showed up yesterday. Because that's apparently how we roll. 😷

I joked that our germ-infested house is obviously cursed. But in reality, this is one of those tangible illustrations of God using our struggles and trials for good, and a perfect example of how He puts us right where we need to be, right when we need to be there. I may not have a huge skill set, but I have my fair share of experience taking care of babies with respiratory issues. And I can only speculate, but I would say there's a good chance he might not have been taken to the doctor had he still been where he was 3 weeks ago. I am sad for his mom that she's not here with her baby. I can't imagine either of my kids being in the hospital without me there by their side. There's obviously nothing I can do to change their circumstances, but I can most definitely stand in the gap and fill in for her the best I can while she's not able to be with him. I can love on him, comfort his cries, rock him to sleep, and most importantly, pray over him for restored health.

And speaking of Elby, now for an update! He's been with us for 3 weeks now. He is the sweetest, most easy-going baby I've ever met. He eats like a champ (as if that wasn't obvious, ha!). He is also a great sleeper. He's somewhat serious, but when he flashes that adorable toothless smile it's worth the wait. He rarely fusses. He loves to play and interact and is at or ahead all of the normal 6-month milestones. He's trying to crawl despite the 21 lbs of chub weighing him down. He's over the 99th percentile for weight but only in the 10th percentile for length. He's the sweetest little butterball baby and we all completely adore him!