Bryleigh's first hospital visit :(

Last Tuesday, Chris took Bryleigh to the doctor to be checked for this really bad cough she had. Doctor diagnosed a cold and said to get a cool mist humidifier, keep suctioning, and hydrate hydrate hydrate. She started sleeping pretty much all the time, and eating sporadically. By Friday evening, she seemed a bit better. By Saturday night, she seemed to be getting worse. At her late night feeding, Bryleigh suddenly began vomiting (projectile) her entire bottle (and more)- and she was choking and turning blue. This happened again a few seconds later. She choked again (not as severe) on her next bottle, so as soon as the doctor's office started receiving calls Sunday morning, we called. Bless her heart, she looked so sick. So, we got ready to go.

We were able to be seen at 11:30, and the doctor on call was immediately concerned with Bryleigh's cough. She had dropped 7 oz since Tuesday, as well. To be safe, because her RSV test was negative. she decided it would be best to admit her and run a pertussis test, as well as treat her for pertussis. We went straight to the hospital, and they already had a room waiting.

We got settled quickly, and they had us a chair brought in; the room was really small, but hey, we were in the hospital, and they were taking care of my sweet girl immediately. I was thrilled to know that they were trying so hard to take care of us. Bryleigh was immediately hooked to an oxygen monitor that checked oxygen and heart rate.

 

They got an xray of her chest. They took the pertussis test to send it off.

I was able to order my dinner through room service, as they offer one parent meal a day (thank goodness!). The nurse manager checked on us, and saw how cramped we were, so she had Chris go look at a room that had just been cleaned; and then she announced we were moving!

The new room had a bed, a pull out couch, and 2 chairs, as well as the crib. It is like two times the size of the one we left, so needless to say, we are very grateful! That sweet nurse manager just made our whole night (and entire stay, really)! So we settled in, and her coughing fits were just awful, but they started breathing treatments immediately. At 4 in the morning, they had to put her on oxygen, because her stats went below 90 for a length of time even after suctioning.

So, her coughing continued, and her pediatrician was the doctor on call yesterday, so she upped her breathing treatments. We also began Pedialyte for the first time.

She was still having terrible coughing fits, and those steroids in the breathing treatments really wired her! We had some awake periods yesterday that were quite interesting...

A sweet lady from the hospital brought this bouncy seat to me for Bryleigh to have a change of scenery. She also brought a handmade teddy bear, a package of links, and a book. Within a few minutes , a hospital volunteer brought by hand made pillows as well. I was so touched by their kindness!

12 hours after going on oxygen, they took Bryleigh off of the oxygen at 4 P.M. but left her oxygen monitor on and continued every 4 hour breathing treatments; she was kind of fussy and wired still, probably due to the steroids. But, she was much happier without the oxygen on. Miss Carolyn, Kylie's primary care nurse from the NICU, came down after work to meet our sweet little girl for the first time. =)



The pediatrician came in and said we'd go back to the two daily treatments and then just the others as needed, to try to prevent her from being wired. We began alternating pedialyte and formula to help with the mucus- they were suctioning her quite a bit, too. She said the big test was over night if she needed oxygen or not. So, this morning we are still oxygen free! So, I got to cuddle my baby girl without her oxygen wires ...

So this morning... NO oxygen! They took the monitor off her foot so that they can just spot check, so she is free of wires all together. She got her antibiotic again, and she got her breathing treatment. She has felt better today, despite that terrible wet cough (and the occasional hard time drinking her formula). So I finally got big huge sweet smiles!

So now, we're just waiting on the on call doctor to return. He wants to check her out, and thinks that our pediatrician should let us go home tomorrow. They want to be completely sure we have no more episodes, and that her cough is better. We will continue her antibiotic at home; not sure yet if they will do breathing treatments.

This experience has been very painless, very smooth, and very nice, if nice could be used to explain your 2 1/2 month old's first hospital stay. Everyone has been exceptionally kind and helpful, and it has been so easy to just worry about Bryleigh and her care. It has also been so humbling.. every single nurse, tech, etc. who comes in just gushes over our sweet little girl and tells me how beautiful she is, how perfect she is, how sweet she is. It has been so sweet to hear those comments; they help me feel so much better about everything going on! I am also grateful for a great pediatrician who wants to be safe.

I am thankful for those who have checked up on us, thought of us, and prayed for us and a quick recovery. I am also grateful to my sister and my mom for taking care of Jaycee for us so we know she is taken care of and happy and safe. It helps to know that she is just fine, too.