Eli's First Visit to the Emergency Room

We went from this: and this:
to this in two days (Eli never usually bums out on the couch!!):
I started feeling crummy on Sunday night, but Eli didn't show any signs of being sick until Monday... he was coughing and fussy and not really himself. By Monday night, his cough was getting worse and he was up a few times when the coughing was so bad that it woke him up.

On Tuesday, I was starting to worry about the severity of the cough, so we went in for a sick visit at the pediatrician's office so the doctor could check his lungs (his breathing was very raspy from the congestion). Everything seemed fine that afternoon and the doctor said to call back if Eli's breathing seemed worse. But basically, it seemed like he just had a virus, maybe the flu. At the same time, I was battling a cough, runny nose, sore throat, headache, fatigue, etc.

By Tuesday night, things took a turn for the worse. We put Eli to bed at 7 p.m., but he was waking up every 2 hours, miserable from a deep, unproductive and painful-sounding cough. He had a lot of congestion and had trouble coughing in the right way to clear it. The night before, he woke up choking on his phlegm (sorry, I know that's gross), so I was nervous about that happening again. Each time that he woke up, I would feed him, calm him back down, and he'd go back to sleep.

However, by 3 a.m., he woke up very feverish and couldn't stop coughing the painful cough, which was upsetting and he was crying too. Each time that he coughed and then tried to breathe in, it sounded like a struggle and was very labored. I of course did not get a video of this, but I can't think of how to describe what this sounded like. It was just horrible. I woke up Ben and called the doctor's office so I could talk with the doctor that was on call that night. After hearing Eli's coughing/breathing over the phone, she recommended we take him to the emergency room.

At this point, we were still thinking Ben would go to work the next day, so I said I was fine to just take Eli so Ben could get some rest. I bundled my poor little guy up and we drove over to the hospital. They took his temperature - it was 102.1 - scary for a baby, so they gave him Tylenol to bring the fever down. He was also given a steroid shot to help open up his airway and then a nebulizer treatment (where liquid medicine is administered with compressed air via a tool that you hold in front of the mouth/nose, it looks like steam from a humidifier). Eli's breathing definitely sounded better and he fell asleep, but after about 45 minutes, his breathing started to get raspy and congested again. We did another nebulizer treatment and they decided to admit him to the pediatrics department so they could monitor him.

Throughout the day, Eli was poked, prodded, checked, connected to a machine that monitored his heart and oxygen rate, and none of this made him very happy! He tested positive for RSV and has croup. These are both viruses, so there really isn't an antibiotic or medicine that will make these go away. But his breathing seemed better by the end of the day, so we were finally able to go home. Ben stayed home from work, so he was able to be at the hospital throughout the day and helped a lot. We finally left the hospital around 5 p.m. and were SO happy to be home where Eli would be more comfortable (he barely napped at the hospital).

Last night, Eli had a much better night and woke up about every 3 hours to nurse, but I didn't care since he probably needed the extra fluids (during the day he ate every HOUR!! Crazy). Today he is still coughing a ton and under the weather (as am I), but there is definitely improvement. We'll go in to the pediatrician tomorrow to check his ears in case they become infected from the nasal drainage and to follow up on everything since the hospital.

Last night my parents brought us a delicious meal of pot roast, fruit salad, and homemade rolls. And they cleaned my kitchen! The Chamberlain girls from church stopped by to see if there was anything they could to do, which was so sweet and thoughtful of them - I was worried about spreading our germs though. A friend today just dropped off a yummy lunch and juice (thank you Katie!) We feel so blessed to have wonderful friends who have called and emailed - thanks for all of your love and care! I'm off to take a nap while Eli is sleeping...

Below is the awful crib in the room on the pediatrics floor - Eli hated it!!