Poor Sick Baby...

Well, folks, my bravery as a preemie mom is being tested. Campbell had her first RSV test yesterday and lung x-ray today. As many things as she's been through, hearing the words "we need to test for RSV" almost knocked me to the floor. Thankfully, the RSV and flu tests both came back negative.

This sad tale of illness began this past Friday when Campbell started a fever. She seemed fine despite it, maybe a little grumpy but not too bad so we didn't worry too much. Saturday the fever persisted and her nose started running. Sunday the runny nose was unbelievable, she started coughing, and she STILL had the fever. Monday she still had the yucky nose and fever so I took her to the pediatrician where they tested her and everything came out negative. They listened to her lungs and they sounded clear. Her ears also were clear so we concluded that it was just a virus we'd have to just wait out.

Last night she slept through the night but coughed pretty regularly. Since the dr. said she'd probably cough more when laying down, we didn't worry too much about it. This morning I was very excited when I took her temp and it was normal for the first time in 5 days!

Nana (my mom who keeps Campbell while I work) kept us posted throughout the day that Campbell didn't seem to be feeling better and actually started seeming worse. She was very lethargic, coughing a lot, didn't have much appetite, and had a fever of 99-100. After a short afternoon nap, Nana noticed that Campbell seemed to be having trouble breathing. Nana called Robbie who called me and the pediatrician. I met Nana at the doctor's office with Campbell. They quickly put a pulse ox on her foot to measure her oxygen saturation and it was at 88%!!!! This put me into an immediate flashback to the NICU and I knew this number wasn't good. (It should be in the high 90's to 100%.) They deep-suctioned her nose and got lots of mucus and yuck out and her sats went up to 97%. Thank God.

They listened to her lungs (and even let Nana, R.N. listen) and they sounded clear. They had us just kind of hang out for a while while they watched her. The Dr. who saw her yesterday was shocked at how lethargic she was in comparison to yesterday. They decided to give her a shot of antibiotics and send us to the hospital for bloodwork and a lung x-ray.

The results of the lung x-ray and bloodwork were all clear so our current assumption is she has some sort of infection. We have a follow up appointment in the morning. In the meantime we are keeping her elevated, including raising one end of her crib (flashback to reflux days), running the humidifier, and suctioning her nose often. Her temp a few minutes ago was 102.4 so I gave her some more Motrin.

Please say a prayer that Campbell feels better soon. We'll keep you all posted.

Please also say a prayer for Nana who had a big scare and did a great job in taking care of Campbell. Nana stayed with me all through the dr's office and hospital. It's great having a Nana who is a registered nurse and understands all the lingo and who knows and loves Campbell enough to recognize when things aren't right. We love you, Nana! Thanks for everything!