This is a picture of our sweet little girl in the hospital this week. Here's the story:
On Monday night, Lauren came down with what we thought was yet another cold. But by Wednesday morning, I could tell it was much worse than anything she had had before. She refused to eat and was having to work very hard just to breathe. So I took her to the doctor that morning. After just a few minutes of examining her, the doctor looked at me and said, "I don't want to scare you, but..." That was followed by a nurse saying, "Don't be surprised if you don't go home today." Not the words a mommy wants to hear.
The doctor sent us over to the hospital for a chest x-ray because he thought she may have pneumonia. (You don't even want to know about the awful contraption they put babies in for an X-ray.) After that horrible experience, we went back to the doctor who said it wasn't pneumonia, but Lauren still needed to be hospitalized to get help with her breathing. By 1:30 on Wednesday afternoon, we were being admitted to the pediatric ward of the hospital, where Lauren was given oxygen and an IV to administer fluids and medications. She was also given breathing treatments every hour, which started to work very quickly, praise the Lord! I stayed overnight with her on Wednesday, and within 24 hours she was doing much better.
When we first got to the hospital, they were predicting she would need to stay for at least 2 to 3 days. But thankfully, she was so improved by Thursday afternoon that they let us take her home. (I knew she was much better when she started playing peek-a-boo with the nurses and giving them high fives!) She slept for 12 hours in her crib last night--yay!! She continues to do well, although she is extremely congested and has a horrible cough. But she is home, and we are giving her lots of extra love.
Although the official diagnosis was "bronchiolitis," the doctors said this may be early signs of asthma. Please pray for her and us as we continue to give her breathing treatments and medications at home.
Here are a few more pictures from an experience we hope we never have to repeat:
Sleeping in the hospital, wearing her baby-sized hospital gown.
The oxygen tube was taped to her face, and the IV was put in her left hand. (It looks so big because they had to wrap up her hand to make sure she didn't pull the IV out.)
I knew she was better on Thursday when she wanted to play with toys on her bed!
Lauren back at home this morning: still sick, but clapping for herself because she is so happy to be home!
3 comments:
The exact diagnosis is "bronchiolitis" and I read more about it here: http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/bronchiolitis.html. The odd thing is that she didn't have any of the risk factors (except for staying in the church nursery with other kids) and yet she got one of the most severe cases. It is related to RSV, too. Thanks for all the prayers!
Wow! Isn't it amazing how fast kids can get really sick! I thought perhaps it was croup that Lauren got - it has the same symtoms. Chris had this when he was little and we were so scared taking him to the hospital too. Thankfully, kids grow out of croup. Hope this bronchial condition can be easily managed and that Lauren will grow out of it too! God bless each of you as you heal & get caught up on lost sleep! You all will remain in our prayers!
oh my goodness, how scary this must have been for you guys. I was scared reading this. Glad she's up and smiling again. This must be the sicky season cause all of us are sick today, bleh.
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