RSV

We're Sick

Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Bill went and infected me and Ryan with what we thought was a cold this week. We went to go see Ryan's pediatrician on Tuesday to look at Ryan. He suggested I take him to the hospital to get him started on an IV, since we still weren't sure whether he has CPT1. Ryan was also not eating well, and was very sleepy. Normally most parents would say these symptoms were due to the cold, but we wanted to play it safe, so off to the hospital we went. I went home packed my bags, and off we went.

Ryan and I stayed in that hospital from Tuesday through Friday. on Tuesday night the nurses tried to start him on an IV and that has to have been the most harrowing experience of my life. The poked and prodded him for close to an hour. trying to start it alternately in each of his hands and feet, and then tried each again. Ryan cried and whimpered, he was so tired and sick, and weak, that as soon as they stopped with the tourniquet and the needle, he would fall asleep. Then he would wake up crying again, when they tried another spot. Finally they decided to shave the side of his head and put the needle in his head. Three nurses and one doctor later.

They did a test on him while we were there and it turned out that Ryan (likely Bill and I as well) had RSV. Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which is pretty common. That was one of the hardest weeks of my life. It's so hard to watch your baby suffer. His nose was all stuffed up, he was congested, and had a phlegmy cough. I couldn't get him to blow his nose or to cough up the phlegm. The best we could do was to put saline drops in his nose, and try to get him to sneeze it out. His appetite went down to half of normal, and he was sleeping all the time. I had to work pretty hard to get him to smile. He was miserable most of the time he was awake. Bill had to work most of the week, but he came to the hospital to relieve me at night, and to bring me food. I was sick too with the same thing this entire time, and sleeping in his room on a fold out chair. It was no picnic for me either.

But the doctor finally said we should remove the IV, and we went home on Friday.