Christine got sick for the first time at 2 months with Bronchiolitis. Sadly, it revisited her several more times, and because it was a virus there wasn't a lot we could do, but wait it out. The breathing treatments were only somewhat and sometimes helpful. This bout was much worse than before. We had been doing breathing treatments all week, but she wasn't improving so I took her to the doctor Thurs. morning (June 5) thinking they would just tell us to keep doing what we were doing and send us home. They tested her oxygen level and it was low. She got 2 treatments with the nebulizer in the office and her level was still below 90. (Target level is 94). We got sent to the ER.
A great friend took the older girls while Christine and I went to the Children's Hospital in Atlanta. She was so great to take them spur of the moment not knowing when we would return. I still didn't realize how serious her low oxygen level was. We were admitted to the ER and they did a chest x-ray showing that she had pneumonia. She was also hooked up to oxygen and we were brought to a regular room so they could watch her overnight. A culture was sent out to see if it was bacterial or viral. It came back showing that she had the Human metapneumovirus which can be really bad in some people, especially those with weaker respiratory systems. It is a similar virus to RSV. Anyway, it hit poor little Christine very hard.
Early Friday morning she seemed to be doing a little better and they had decreased the oxygen level a little. Around 10am the nurse was checking her vitals and her oxygen dropped again. They increased the level and it still wasn't raising. They put her on a hi flow oxygen at the highest level and her level still wasn't maintaining. We were sent to ICU. She stayed on the hi-flow, but her levels still dipped into the 80s. That night they put a BiPAP facemask on her to hopefully increase her oxygen level. It looked so uncomfortable, but Christine was such a trooper! Her levels maintained with the mask. She wore that till Monday morning when they switched back to the high-flow.
She was on the upswing. Her chest x-rays were looking better, but still cloudy. On Friday morning when they put her on the high-flow oxygen they had to give her an IV. Any food would obstruct the airways so she wasn't allowed to eat. I was still nursing her just at night, so I didn't realize at the time that Thurs. night in the hospital would be my last time nursing her. I was close to finishing so it didn't make sense to pump and start again. They switched her to regular oxygen on Mon. afternoon and then Tuesday she had breakfast! She was so excited. Even when I mentioned eating, she wanted something right away and chowed down her goldfish till her breakfast came. We were released straight from the ICU on Wed around noon. It was great to come home and all be together.
To prevent future cases like this we give her breathing treatments twice a day and so far have not had any signs her her getting sick. We hope this continues into the fall, but at least we have more we can do with her now and can work more on prevention.
 |
| Mark came to visit with the girls on Thurs night. |
 |
| Sleeping in the ICU |
 |
| Tolerating the face mask |
 |
| A card from her sisters to feel better! They also made her several videos to help cheer her up. She watched them about 100 times and they always helped her feel better. When she was getting the IV put in, Adriana sang her Twinkle on the phone and it really calmed her down. |
 |
| Bubbles! |
 |
| Snuggling together in her crib |
 |
| Snuggling with her buddies! |
 |
| Waving hi |
 |
| EATING at last!!! |
Her first meal in 4 days and her last meal in the hospital.
 |
| No more Oxygen! Hooray!! |
 |
| One last treatment before we leave. |
We are so glad to be done with this and hope we don't have to do it again. Everyone couldn't get over what a happy, cute baby Christine was and we couldn't agree more.
