Sierra - RSV, 5 & 6 weeks

This last week has been a rough one. Last Monday (Jan 3) I took both Sierra and Skylar to the doctor. Skylar had had a runny nose and cough for a few days and Sierra started getting a cough on Sunday night. The doctor wanted to see them right away when I had called. I was told that both girls had RSV and double ear infections. We were told to give both girls breathing treatments three times a day and then an antibiotic for their ear infections and that the doctor wanted to see Sierra on Wednesday to see how she was doing since she is so little.

From Monday to Wednesday, Skylar was getting better. She still wasn't great, but you could tell she was feeling better. Sierra on the other had was getting worse. I called on Wednesday morning and said that I noticed she was having a hard time breathing...like it was work for her. They told me to give her an extra treatment and still come to our original appointment in the afternoon. So I did. She got her extra treatment, I went and grabbed Swae from school and we went to the doctor. The nurse took her oxygen level which at that time was good. However, nurse and doctor were not happy with how she looked or sounded. Shoot, I wasn't happy with it either and explained that she was just so pale and looked sick. It was heart breaking. It was then that the doctor looked at me and said that she was admitting Sierra to the hospital.

My heart sunk. My 5 week old little precious was having to go to the hospital she was so sick. I felt like I had done something wrong and was so incredibly worried. With it being a Wednesday, we had both Seth and Swae, so when I left the doctor I called their mom and asked if she would mind taking them back a night early and explained to her all that was going on. She was amazing and of course had no problem so I took them to her and then Sierra, Skylar and I headed to the hospital where Eli would be meeting us.

Before we even got there, they had a room assigned to us and so we were taken straight back. Grandma came and picked up Skylar as a hospital really isn't any fun and she deserved to be somewhere where she could play and get all sorts of attention. Sierra and I waited for daddy and while we did she was poked and hooked up to the oxygen monitor. I was told that she needed to keep her levels above 90%...if she dropped for any significant amount of time, she would have to be put on oxygen. We were not even there two hours when her levels dropped too low and she was hooked up. It was so hard to see her with the tube in her nose, but I was relieved to know she was getting what she needed at the same time.
Wednesday night flew pretty quickly. I didn't get much sleep at all with her having to have her vitals taken every four hours, then treatments every four hours, and of course her waking up to eat...none of these happened at the same time either. Thursday, the nurse tried taking her off of the oxygen and once Sierra got comfortable, her levels dropped again and she was put back on. We were told that we were not able to go home until she could stay off oxygen for 12 hours straight and in that time have her in a deep, deep sleep. So, I spent all day Thursday holding my sweet little angel, watching her sleep and taking in every moment I had with her. While the situation might not have been ideal, it was one on one time that her and I never get to have.
Friday, she seemed to be doing better, so early afternoon the nurse tried taking her off the oxygen again. This time she tried while she was sleeping as that would be a good indicator of how she would do. She didn't last twenty minutes before her levels dropped to the low 80's and was put back on. I was starting to resign to the fact that we would spend the whole weekend in the hospital at this point. Also at this point, I was missing Skylar like crazy. I hadn't seen her and had only talked to her on the phone. It was one of the longest stretches that I had been away from her and I hated it! Late Friday afternoon, we tried to take her off oxygen again and to all of our surprise, Sierra did so well. She went the rest of the day and then all night without needing it and we were allowed to go home on Saturday morning. It was wonderful.

Since home, we have had to continue doing breathing treatments, but she has stopped coughing and is no longer wheezing. RSV is some scary stuff and I am so sad that my babies had to go through it. What a way to start the new year!!

While in the hospital, even while feeling crappy, my angel started giving me her cute smile!

And at just 6 weeks, the little miss has rolled over! I can't believe that she is 6 weeks already. Time is flying. The last week has been a blur with the hospital stay but it is something I will never ever forget.