Another Hospital Visit :((

We have been having a rough week around here. Andrea and Mommy have had a cold all week; something Mommy ate on Tuesday made her so sick that she was up all Tuesday night, and had to leave work early on Wednesday; on Wednesday night, Andrea was up coughing all night with her cold, which meant we were awake all night too; and early Thursday morning, we had to take Andrea to emergency, because she was labouring so hard to breathe! Ack!

Yesterday morning was really scary. Andrea sounded like she did when she had RSV, about 6 months ago. She was crying and choking and wheezing, and her breathing was very rapid. This time, though, she didn't have a fever. Still, it seemed like she was having an asthma attack, so we brought her to the ER.

Thankfully, the ER was EMPTY. I think there was only one other person there, and he had already been assessed, so they took us right away. They put Andrea into a pediatric ER room, and gave her some supplemental oxygen to hold up to her face until the respirologist and doctor came to look at her. The oxygen wasn't in a mask this time; we just held a tube up to her face. Andrea discovered that if she stuck her finger in the tube, the air would whoosh out really hard, so that amused her for a while. She was also putting the tube in her mouth, ears, eyes, and hair, to feel the breeze!

We ended up having to stay there until about 11 a.m. (4 or 5 hours total), but they had been saying they might admit her, so we were glad they didn't have to do that. In the course of that time, Andrea had three Ventolin mask treatments, a dose of liquid Pedia-Pred, a fluid IV (which she HATED), some blood tests and a chest x-ray. They said there was nothing worrisome in her chest (no pneumonia or infection), but that it looked tight, and was probably due to her cold virus.

The nurses and respirologist were great. They kept bringing her stickers to keep her occupied, ever time she got mad about not being able to walk around (because of the IV). Besides that, Andrea was really cooperative--even they said she's the one baby out of ten who would tolerate everything they did to her! She's such a good girl. :))

Anyway, we brought her home, and I stayed home with her yesterday afternoon. She was still breathing really rapidly, but the wheezing was better. She would play around for a while, then wear herself out and get clingy, and cuddle with me on the couch for a bit. Then she would be up and at it again! I wanted to tell her to rest, but little ones just don't understand that.

I had a Ventolin puffer that I was giving her very two hours; she also has two more doses of Pedia-Pred to take (one a day), and the orange steroid inhaler again (twice a day), on top of the Infant Tylenol Cold. We also bought a cool mist humidifier (the nurses recommended it). We set it up in her bedroom. I think it really helped, because Andrea napped pretty well yesterday, and only woke up once last night.

This morning, Andrea seemed to be her usual self. After I gave her all her meds, she only coughed every now and then, and her breathing seemed normal. She still has the runny nose, but that's just from the cold. We decided to send her to daycare, because she was running all over the place and seemed fine, plus I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon that I had rescheduled from Wednesday, when I was sick. So here I am, getting caught up on a few chores (and maybe a little sleep, later) while I have the chance. Today is a PD day, which I should be attending, but I would have had to leave early to go to my appointment anyway, and I want to be available in case the daycare calls . . . sigh.

Please let next week be much better!