Sick of it!

Literally!!!!  Germs have invaded our house the past few months!  It started around Halloween when Julianne got pink eye.  Then the next week, I got pink eye.  I've never had pink eye before... and I sure don't want it again.  It was gross and 5 days later when I still had it - I was so over it!  This occurred right around Halloween and Julianne had to miss two days of school and her Halloween party!

Then in November, William's first week at daycare, he got his first cold.  It was a runny nose and a cough.  He ended up getting a little laryngitis with it, which was kinda a blessing in disguise since he was a screamer! But it didn't bother him too much; he still slept and ate like a champ!

Then the week before Christmas William got another cold.  This time it was worse.... a lot worse.  He had a terrible, loud, dry cough.  He wasn't sleeping well and was up 4-5 times a night!!!  Finally after 5 days of no sleep, I took him to the Pediatrician.  The RSV test was negative, but they gave me a nebulizer and some Albuterol to use when he got a coughing spell.  That seemed to do the trick as he was better in a few days.  Around the same time, Nick came down with a bug.  I think he even had a fever (but he's a guy and wouldn't let me take his temp... )  He was out of it for a couple days too.  We had to miss a couple Christmas parties since we were sick, but both boys recovered in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Then the **** hit the fan!  The middle of January, Julianne had a temp of 102 for three days.  She also had a cough and runny nose.  I thought - oh great, the flu!  But I knew there wasn't much they could do for her so I just kept her home and didn't bring her to the clinic.  She was better after three days, but had to miss a week of school again.  Every night when Julianne was sick, I got out the Lysol and sprayed EVERYTHING down - door knobs, light switches, refrigerator handles, remotes, EVERYTHING.  I also wiped down my entire office everyday.  My co-workers thought I was a little nuts - but I bet they are thanking me now when they're not sick!!  

But even though I did my best to keep the germs away, they got to William.  My poor baby Will... On Saturday, January 12, he came down with a cough.  Nothing major at this point.  I was praying it was just a cough.  But then Sunday night, he came down with a fever - 102.5, and then another fever on Monday night - 102.3.  Monday I brought him into the clinic and the RSV and flu swabs were negative.  They also did a chest xray to check for pneumonia and that was negative too.   His oxygen sats and heart rate were good, so they just sent us home with some antibiotics, a mild steroid  and instructions to continue with the nebulizer.  But then on Monday night and Tuesday, he started throwing up - everywhere - gross.  So, back to the clinic we went.  We got a different medication for the nebulizer to see if that helped.  Well, he stopped throwing up - so much - but his breathing got worse.  Thursday night he was really struggling to breathe so we brought him to the ER.  His oxygen level was at 93% and his heart rate was fast, so they admitted him.  That night he was hooked up to some oxygen to help him breathe.  He did pretty well in the hospital and we were discharged on Friday.  Today is Tuesday, and I think I can finally say he is doing better.  He is still wheezing and has a deep, dry cough, but he's not struggling for breaths anymore.  They diagnosed it as bronchiolitis.  We left the hospital with instructions to continue with the Albuterol in the nebulizer every 4 hours and a steroid in the nebulizer another 2 times per day.  He needs to continue the Albuterol until his cough is gone, but the Pediatrician stated we need to do the steroid for a couple months.  She believes he may have trouble again before the winter is over - oh great - and may be a "wheezer" for life.

My poor baby Will in the hospital... 

It was a scary and stressful time, but I knew he was in good hands!  I sure hope he's finally on the road to recovery and can get rid of this bug.   He still isn't sleeping well (I was up with him four times last night!) and he isn't eating well either.  But, he's breathing better, which is what really  matters.
I'm off to bed before William starts coughing, wakes up, and needs his mommy.............