My Baby Girl was sick...

Well, my baby girl (20 months old) got sick. Saturday, she started coughing nonstop. Dry, but almost nonstop.

Sunday morning I noticed upper airway noise but listened with my stethescope and her lungs were clear. She was breathing kinda fast. It reminded me of when she had Croup last year. I called one of my colleagues who looked her over and thought she didn't look that bad. We gave her some Prelone syrup. Later that day she got fever 103.

Monday, she was worse. This time the wheezing was all in her lungs and she was retracting some. I was trying to give her her albuterol but she would have none of it - not enough anyway. I took her to the ER (the ER Doc on is a close friend of the fam and I worked with her during my Residency a few times) and we gave her a few updrafts (without officially checking her in and doing lab work, etc as I didn't have my new insurance card with me). She got a little better but was still wheezing some. I figured since she was on steroids, it would continue to get better. I was wrong. Oh, and she was not eating much at all.

Tuesday morning she was worse, wheezing everywhere (I could hear her across the room). Retracting some, breathing fast. Looked ill. So I paged her Pediatrician who happened to be on call. She told me to take her to get a chest Xray and bring her to the office at 10am.

When the Ped listened to her, she had her Nurse Practitioner and Student Doc listen too - her wheezing was so bad. She also had a bad ear infection. Flu and strep tests were negative. She had to go in the hospital for scheduled updrafts, IV steroids and IV fluids.

I don't know why it surprised me that she'd have to be hospitalized. It broke my heart though. They had to stick her 3xs to get a line which came out before her first meds were given, then they had to stick her 3 more times. She ended up having to get it in her foot.

She tested + for RSV, a virus that affects the lungs and in many cases just causes cold like symptoms but for an unlucky few, like young kids prone to wheezing, it can make them very ill - as it did my little girl.

We were there overnight. She was a real trooper. We're home now. She's still sick, but much better. Still on a lot of meds.

Soon as we pulled up to the house and I started getting stuff out the car, she said "Momma! Momma!" and I looked at her and said "What baby?" And she says, "French fries? French fries?" So I get back in the car and head McDonalds. How can I say no to that face?