Friday, February 4, 2011

The boys have RSV...

(A silly picture from this past Sunday..)

I'm a very mentally drained mama right now. It's 4 am and I've sat up listening to the baby breathe.

Both of the boys have been sick since the weekend so Wednesday I took Solomon into the pediatrician. He sounded the worst. I don't run to the pediatrician's office for every little thing but I had some red flags waving, so I took him in.

I'll spare you the details of a frustrating appointment, but when your pediatrician doesn't even bother to speak to you like you are intelligent human being, having an appointment with him is worthless. I was told he had "the funk." It's a shame that he thinks I'm too stupid to understand "upper respiratory infection" which is indeed what he marked on the check out slip.

*sigh*

Thursday, Solomon sounded much worse. He was coughing longer and longer and his breathing was quite a bit faster. I've seen one of my children gasp for air before and this wasn't that, but what I did see worried this mama of four. He was very clingy and was now running a fever. He wasn't playing at all. He coughed until he vomited. He started to refuse bottles.

Brandon got ready for work and headed in at 2:30. I sat down with my Bible for quiet time, rocking Solomon in my lap and my spirit was restless... after prayer, I called Brandon and asked him to come home. I thought Solomon needed checked out.. again.

Those who know me, know that things have to be bad to call Brandon home. I mean.. I've had three vomiting children at once and handled it myself. I had a stomach virus and four children to care for and handled it. In fact, if we would have had a second vehicle, I probably would have taken them in by myself.

Instead of going back to our pediatrician, we went to Kid*Med which is a pediatric urgent care center. It was a very nice facility with friendly staff. In fact, our chiropractor's front desk lady moonlights there. I have to say after living here for 2 years and seeing a sea of unrecognizable faces, it is nice to see a familiar face at times.

I had both Xander and Solomon seen. Brandon came along so we didn't have a repeat of the Pediatrician Fiasco of 2011 repeated and so the girls came along as well. I really didn't want to expose them to the germs, but it was the best I could do with the circumstances to have them sit on the "well" section of the office until we were called to the back.

Both boys tested positive for RSV. It was delightfully refreshing to have a pediatrician (with a bit more experience under his belt than our pediatrician) listen to my summary of their symptoms and behavior changes.. after all I am the MOM and with my children 24 hours a day with few exceptions.

So now we have a new nebulizer (since ours seems to have disappeared) and we are doing saline nebs and have albuterol on hand if needed. It was also refreshing to hear the pediatrician we saw tonight say that NONE of his four children were on the growth chart and that milestones are a guide, not set in stone requirements. I knew that but after yesterday's appointment I was starting to wonder. I wish I could have taped him and sent it into our pediatrician since most of the time we spent with our pediatrician the day before was spent harping on Solomon's weight and his not sitting up without support. *sigh* (For the record, Solomon *is* on the growth chart.)

Once we got settled back in at home, Brandon went back to work to finish his shift and I added timing medications (alternating Motrin and Tylenol for fever) and pushing fluids to my tasks for the evening.

I'm having trouble winding down after watching Solomon cough so much. I'm off to try to sleep.

If you think about us, please pray for healing for both boys. Xander is doing much better than Solomon but that is expected because of his age and size.

1 comment:

Tracy said...

You poor dear. :(

The only thing worse than sick sweeties is an uncaring doctor to work with. Boo for him.

Praise the Lord he led you to a new doc. I'm praying everyone is healthy soon and that you are able to get some rest.

((hugs)) to one of the bravest and most courageous Mommas Iknow.