Not a fun March

Honestly, I am ready for March to be over and for April to begin.  This terrible virus hit us over 2 weeks ago and we are still feeling the effects of it.  We never had the boys tested for the flu but I think they had it as well.  Poor Austin was hit hard and has taken quite a long time to bounce back.  He has been tired, puny, whiny, and very needy.  You could tell he just didn't feel himself.  Miller was put on an antibiotic around a week ago because his turned into a secondary sinus infection so he started to perk up pretty soon after that.  The first signs of a possible sickness were on Monday, March 11.  Miller ran a fever but felt fine.  We were supposed to head to Nashville for the boys spring break and spend a few days with my sister in law and family.  We hung tight 2 more days until we knew Miller wasn't sick anymore.  He only ran a fever on Monday night and then never ran it again.  We headed to Nashville on Wednesday, March 13 and had a great day and a half.  All 6 cousins were having so much fun being together.  It was really a lot of fun!

On that Thursday night I was awoken by Austin yelling out for me.  I ran upstairs to find him coughing a seal, croupy cough.  I picked him up, ran into my mother in laws room and then ran outside with him.  I finally got him to stop coughing and calm down around 2:30, fell asleep around 3 and was awoken by Maggie at 4:30 with a wet sounding cough.  I tried nursing her and she did not eat well so I decided to just throw my kids in the car and drive back.  I was fearful of it being RSV and being stuck in Nashville without a doctor or Le Bonheur if we needed it.  We drove straight home (stopping every hour because Maggie wouldn't nurse more than 6-7 minutes at a time so we had to stop every hour) and went to the doctor that afternoon.  He diagnosed them all with the same virus and thought Maggie would bounce back the fastest since she is breastfed.  The boys were put on oral steroids and inhaled steroids to help with the asthma and cough.  We spent the weekend laying low and trying to get better.


By Monday I could tell that Maggie was getting worse and not better.  By late Monday evening I was very concerned about her.  We watched her like a hawk that night and decided that I would take her first thing Tuesday morning to the doctor.  At 7:00 when I tried to nurse her she wouldn't and was really struggling to breathe.  I quickly put her in the car seat and drove downtown to my doctors office.  He quickly assessed her and decided to admit her to Le Bonheur.  Thankfully our doctors office is connected to the hospital so we walked over to the ER where they ran tests, did a chest x-ray, and started her on oxygen.  Within 1 hour she had dropped her O2 SATS from 95 to 83.  
I am so thankful we brought her in when we did and that my doctor moved quickly to get her admitted.  The next 6 days were like being on a roller coaster and not one you like to ride.  It was emotionally and physically exhausting.  I was stressed, worried, and so tired.  My 2 boys back home were also sick and I couldn't be home to take care of them.  My newborn daughter was hooked up to machines at the same hospital I said goodbye to my first son.  The week was scary and a little surreal.  I am so thankful for Le Bonheur and what an amazing place it is but I truly hoped I would never have to be there again with my children.

She started to perk up to her old self by the 3rd day but unfortunately the RSV reared its ugly head again and she went back down on Friday morning. She needed oxygen and couldn't seem to keep her SATS up without it but finally on Sunday she started to show signs that she was improving and we would possibly get her off oxygen. David stayed with her that night because I knew he would be a little more aggressive with getting her off the oxygen and wouldn't be nervous when the machines started beeping.

She kept her SATS up all night without oxygen and continued to do great on Monday so they gave us the all clear to go home around 5:00 Monday evening.
It was such a great feeling to leave that hospital with my baby girl with me.
Monday night was tough because she still had a terrible cough but each day/night has gotten a little better. She will have a nasty sounding cough for a couple weeks but hopefully that is the only thing that will linger.  She is back to her happy self and even laughed for the first time last night at daddy being silly.

We are so thankful for her continued good health and are praying that this nasty RSV and flu are behind us and we have healthy days ahead of us.  Thank you for your prayers...we truly can't say thank you enough.