Sick Babies are the Saddest Thing

**Warning: Long Post**

Skyler has had a terrible week. My heart aches for him. I've decided the hardest part about parenting (so far) is a sick baby who can't tell you where and how he is hurting and who lays there looking up at you with the saddest eyes, as if he's saying, "Mommy, please take the hurt away." All three of my kiddos have been sick this past week, but it hit Skyler the hardest.

Last Monday Spencer woke up with cough and congestion. He had a low grade fever for about two days (Tuesday & Wednesday). He acted mostly normal the entire week and still has the residual cough. Kylene got a cough about half way through the week but no fever. She still has the residual cough.

Skyler woke up Tuesday with the cough and congestion. It got worse all week, with the fever starting Wednesday in the middle of the night. Friday I thought it might be a return of the ear infection he had about a month ago. I had a friend look in his ear with her scope and everything looked good. He had essentially no appetite all week and is now back to exclusive nursing (makes me grateful I'm still nursing, but that is a major regression at this point.) Both Thursday and Friday night after nursing in the middle of the night, he immediately vomitted everything he ate due to the congestion and mucous. Saturday morning I decided I better take him in. At the doctor, they gave him a nebulizer treatment but he still didn't sound that great, so the doctor ordered a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. (We won't even go into how they immobilize a 11 month old to get a chest x-ray.) Two hours later (way too long at a hospital with three kids; Kyle was taking a final for his MBA), thankfully we found out he does not have pneumonia. The doctor said he has Bronchiolitis (infant form of Bronchitis). She said it is a virus that is going around fast right now and hitting babies the hardest but hardly affecting the older children (bingo).

She prescribed an Albuterol inhaler. A short while later I talked to a friend of mine who I found out owns her own nebulizer. She also had several doses of the exact same albuterol my doctor prescribed in the saline form (for the nebulizer). (Left over from her daughter's former chronic breathing problems.) She brought them over right away. This, it turns out, was a lifesaver! (Possibly literally.) Saturday night was by far the worst night he had. He was up every 1-2 hours, and really struggling. After one of his nebulizer treatments, his breathing was still really labored and wheezy so I called the advice nurse to see if I could give him a second dose. She had me hold the phone up to listen to his breathing and told me that I should probably take him to the ER, but they would definitely give him another treatment and since I had the nebulizer at home to try another dose and see if that helped him. She called me back 30 minutes later to listen to his breathing again and the difference was amazing. Still labored, but much improved and much less wheezy. He was actually able to sleep finally! She told me he should be okay. But, instead of every four hours as recommended, I was giving it to him every two to three that entire night. His fever also spiked at about 103.5 (it had been right around 102 all week).

Sunday (needless to say), he stayed home. Kyle stayed with him since I am teaching Sharing Time this month and he said he basically slept on him the entire time. He was pretty lethargic and mellow all day. Last night he did a little better, but still was up every couple of hours.

Today his breathing is much improved. We had a follow-up appointment with my doctor and he said that his lungs are much clearer and we have most likely turned the corner. He said he most likely has RSV, but we can't know without testing for it and there's no need now. Hearing that really scared me, though. (A former roommate of mine was a Pediatric Nurse and always told me the horror stories about RSV; it's so dangerous for young children!) At times like these as a mom you are constantly worrying what is best and what you should do for your baby. I feel like we made it through okay at home only because of the nebulizer (what a blessing!), yet I wonder if maybe he wasn't getting enough oxygen during those rough nights and I should have taken in him to the hospital. I really feel like they would have admitted him, but we did get through at home and he is more comfortable here. So who knows what the best decision was.

Another good friend with children the same basic ages as mine had almost the exact experience this week with all three of her kids. Except her baby is only six months old. Friday when she took him to Urgent Care they immediately admitted him to the hospital, he tested positive for RSV, and they are still at the hospital. It hit him just slightly harder because he is a bit younger. It's all scary stuff.

Also today we found out over the weekend he developed a double ear infection. When the doctor checked him on Saturday, his ears were "clear and beautiful", according to the doctor, but today, wham. (Again, the exact same thing with my friend's baby.) So, now poor Skyler is on antibiotics again. And he lost four ounces just since Saturday. I think he's lost about one pound total in the last week. Not good when you only weigh 20 pounds! I just hope he'll start eating regular food again; he still flat out refuses it and fights me when I try to feed him.

Thankfully his mood and energy has really improved today. He did a lot of crawling around and was more whiney (which is a good thing in this case), and interacted with Kylene & Spencer. But tonight before bed as I gave him his nebulizer treatment, he just looked up at me with the saddest eyes, as if to say, "Make it go away, mommy; I don't like this." And then I had to go and get all the boogers and mucous out of his nose! I'm so mean. Times like this being a mommy can really be a downer.

Here's my sweet Skyler submitting himself to the mask: