It has been such a LONG time since I last blogged, I feel awful about this fact. I love my blog, the connections I make from it, the weight off my shoulders from being able to vent about things and the smiles I get from comments from my loyal readers aka-friends. I need to be better about updates and such.
I went 2 weeks after my amazing week of no internet and computer stuff and must say I wish I had a way to get online those last 2 weeks. I needed encouragement, I needed to vent, I needed a distraction on so many levels. Alas, I survived but with no small amount of exhaustion, tears and overall nerves stretched thin.
Where to start?.... hmmm..
I'll start with Friday when it seemed to start, on the 22nd. Avery and I went to feed the ducks at the park in Hurst, something we normally do every other week if the weather permits. After we feed and chase the ducks we go swing for a bit then walk around the pond. I noticed Averys nose was running and she looked like she was ready for a nap so we left early after maybe 10 minutes. The rest of the day she seemed to lack in energy, wasn't eating much, and was fussy. No big deal I thought, she had just cut a tooth the day before and with the weather being so up and down this month her allergies were really bad so I treated it as allergies. We got to Denton as we normally do Friday nights through Sunday nights and she still seemed miserable but not like she was sick. Saturday we stayed in all day and she started getting a cough, again I assumed it was from the drainage due to her allergies. Around 3 or so Evan asked if I thought she had a fever, we checked her and her temp was 101.7 the highest we had ever seen it! We gave her motrin and tried to get her to eat something but she wasn't hungry. She seemed happy, just tired and that pesky cough was getting more regular.
By 4am Sunday her fever was 103.1, she was restless, sweating, wheezing and just not able to sleep unless Evan or I were holding her. We 3 stayed at his parents and missed church. Her cough got worse but for awhile we got the fever to break and she again went back to playing and being happy. Evan and I were going over everything from A-Z. She cut a tooth and had allergies, surely thats all it was, she's never been sick with anything more than a head cold. 2 nights of not much sleep had us all extremely tired. We left Denton early so we could go to bed early and just unwind. On the way to Fort Worth Avery started wheezing and making funny noises in the backseat, Evan was driving and getting concerned when I finally turned around to calm her down and see what was going on, as soon as I looked at her she started coughing and crying and next thing we knew she couldn't catch her breath and was vomitting from coughing so hard. We pulled over and got her out of her clothes and wrapped her in a spare blanket while I tried to clean the car seat up with the few items in the car I could find (sooo fun on the side of the hwy!). By the time we got home she had stopped vommiting but her cough was ridiculous, she couldn't stop coughing. She was so tired and her little body was exhausted and any time she drank anything she would just vomit it back up. I rocked her in the glider for several hours with Evan so she could sleep and around 2am she finally was able to lay down in her crib to sleep. We turned on her monitor just in case and went to bed.
Evan woke me up around 7 as he was getting ready for work. As we were talking in bed we heard these weird sounds but couldn't figure them out until we turned up her monitor, it sounded like paper bags being crunched up is the best way I can describe it but it was faint. When I went to her room I knew immedietley something was wrong. Averys lips and fingers were blue, her chest was rising and falling so rapidly it was like she was suffocating, she was soaking wet from sweating and lethargic as Evan and I tried to wake her up, she didn't make any sound to let us know she was awake. Evan didn't want to leave for work but I told him I was going to cool her down with a bath and then call the doctor to get her in that morning. She would not or could not drink anything for me, not even her motrin made it in her mouth. I called the doctor and told them what was going on and asked if I could just come right then and there or just take her to the ER. They said to come in so I got dressed and wrapped her in a blanket and we headed to the Dr.
Her doctor wasn't there but the PA was and when the nurses had me sign in they asked to see Averys face under the blanket and next thing you know in the waiting room we had the PA and a nurse checking her out. I think I had the other parents worried because people moved away from us and one women even told the sign in nurse to give me her appointment if they couldn't get me seen which was so sweet but with the PA right there we didn't have to worry about not being seen.
They had 3 different machines trying to screen Averys o2 levels and none of them would work, when we got to a room, she started vomitting bile since nothing was in her stomach and she was crying but there were no tears or snot, she was beyond dehydrated. Her fever had gone up to 104.6 which stunned me!! Bless those poor nurses, they were trying to get the o2 meters to work, give her a breathing treatment, and check her out from head to toe but nothing was going right and the PA was very concerned with her breathing. Avery finally passed out after a meltdown with the mask for the breathing treatment and I was able to hold it in front of her face while she slept, I called Evan to meet me at the dr's and the PA got another Dr to come in and seek his opinion. She was negative for flu and strep but positive for RSV. She was dehydrated and her blood pressure was too high. Evan showed up and I lost it for about 5 min in the hallway from being so scared, when I came back in Avery had her eyes open but she didn't look like my Avery, she was so miserable but she was so happy to have her daddy holding her. The PA came in and told us to go directly to Cooks to be admitted for fluids and x-rays and apologized for not sending me there right away but Avery was in bad shape and the breathing treatment didn't do much good.
So we immedietly went to downtown Fort Worth to cooks and waited.....and waited....and waited! I have never seen an ER as busy as Cooks, it seemed so horrible to have this huge room filled with tiny, sick bodies and anxious parents waiting for answers. Thinking about it now just upsets me because children and babies should not be allowed to be so sick, it's just too hard on my heart! Averys breathing and wheezing settled and she was able to just rest on Evans lap, she was so weak and didn't fuss or cry but just watched in semi interested eyes at all the other children.
We got registered and a room in the ER when they told us they were very low on beds and she wouldn't be admitted unless her x-rays came back with secondary pneumonia so we quickly prayed for that not to be the case. They came in and gave us the run down on RSV something we had only heard of that morning and were now fully informed on everything about it, they then proceeded to try to get lab work and start an IV on Avery.......
I admit to you now, I was the brave one when they came in trying to do this to her, my past medical history has made me immune to the scariness of needles and I can tolerate blood, vomit, poop, you name it.....Evan on the other hand.....not so much, he usually vomits or passes out when it comes to needles. HOWEVER, due to her being so dehydrated and tiny it took 3 nurses, 3 blown veins and a passed out Avery for them to find a vein and start her fluids.....45 minutes of them poking her repeatedly only to say "I can't find a vein" or "I know sweetie, I'm sorry I have to stick you again." while I held her arms down and tried to sing to her and reassure her as gently as I could that they were there to make her feel better...I was ready to cry my eyes out or punch a nurse in the face! But, I was strong and Evan did so good too while maintaining his distance from the needles he refused to leave her side...he just diverted his eyes.
So FYI to my fellow cowtowners with children, if you EVER have to go to the ER at Cooks do not let Shelly touch your children with an IV, ask for Roberta, she is wonderful and gentle.
After that traumatic event Evan and I took shifts holding Avery and awaiting labs. We finally got to get an x-ray and it came back negative for Pnuemonia (praise God) and her doctor (Dr. Todd Wolfe) said as soon as she finished her fluids he would send us home with an Rx for a Z-pac and 2 weeks of taking it easy with her. She had 400ml of fluid which meant she didn't drink or eat anything until late the next day. Normally they only give 1 year olds around 100ml but she took 400! She was that dehydrated.We were at cooks for 9 LONG hours and I was so relieved to be able to take her home rather than stay the night (which both dr's wanted but they were to low on beds).
Nan and Gary were in the waiting room when we came out and dad took Evan back to Euless to get his car while mom and I took Avery home. It was weird to see how much she had changed since we got home, she was full of energy and wanted to play with everything (she had only slept the day away and wasn't ready for bed) but one look at her and you knew she was weak still and not feeling 100%. We had dinner and then mom and dad headed back to Denton while Evan and I got Avery to bed. Once she was out we both laid in bed still in our clothes on and just held each other and cried....I think we have only done this together maybe 3 times in our marriage but we were both so foreign to ERs and babies and beyond worried for her and yet we had to act calm and brave for her while inside we both were freaking out!!! I love Evan so much and I think I'll never forget our cryfest together over Averys health and all the prayers we said that night together.
RSV is very much a serious illness and yet it is also the most deceiful little thing your child can endure. For the 8 days after our hospital trip Averys lungs were like a roller coaster. She could go one day with not a single cough but would have a high fever and not be able to eat anything to the next day having no fever but unable to breath without wheezing or coughing until she was red all over and yet hungry non stop. On top of this, I came down with the worst cold I have had in years. I had a sore throat, cough, fever and no voice for 5 days which is not a good thing with a sick child who is up one moment then down another. We were both miserable for over a week! Poor Evan he was so patient and wonderful when he was home but I'm sure he was thankful for work taking him away from 2 crabby sick girls.
Over the past 2 weeks, Avery has seen her dr. 4 times. RSV is so bad this season and the last visit we made we watched as a little 8 week old baby was taken from the office by EMT's for RSV and a hysterical new mom being escorted and comforted by a officer. I wanted to cry with her, to let her know it is a very scary thing but it would be alright. The other parents started wondering outloud what was happening when the sign in nurse said it was the 4th ambulance that week to pick up a baby with RSV which revealed that I was with 3 other parents bringing their children who had RSV in that day for more breathing treatments. Luckily for her, she only needed 2 more treatments and the last 2 visits her o2 levels were good.
Needless to say I have disinfected my house from top to bottom, her room has been beyond scrubbed down and I threw out a lot of clothes and toys she no longer plays with or has use of. I know I will have other scary moments, I know I've had a few in the past but I doubt they compared to the 25th which goes down as the "worst monday ever.".
I'm so grateful she is healthy and smiling and even through all of her misery she still was loving and sweet and patient with her mommy and daddy. You wouldn't even think she was so sick just a week ago if you saw her today! She has an occasional cough and after a lot of giggling she'll wheeze a bit something they say might linger for up to 6 weeks but she is running around everywhere and getting into everything and just loving being a toddler.
