The opposite of well

Me: "Olivia's going to be one soon!"
Someone: "Oh, so you're ready for another?!"
Me: (scared chuckle)
I am sure I have said it before, that I love my beautiful Olivia, but she has been quite a handful as of late and I am not sure I am ready to do this past year all over again any time soon....and top that off with the added bonus of a toddler ruling the castle.
This week has been a vacation from the past three weeks, where I endured single parent-hood and then a very-common-very-contagious-very-dangerous-but-unknown-to-me-until-now bronchiolitis RSV.
The single parenthood thing was not as bad as I make it out to be. I mean, I have better empathy for single parents who do this day-in and day-out, but it wasn't bad. My parents were out of town the same week, so I didn't have them to take her for an hour or two for some me time...but she was pretty good that week. I can't think of any major fiascos save just getting her to and from daycare and going to work. I only got about one day at the gym that week, but little did I know, I should have counted my blessings while I had them.
John returned on a Saturday. I took Olivia to Meijer to pick up some groceries before going to pick up John from the airport. She was coughing pretty frequently, but she had had this cough that hasn't stopped for about a month now. (the pediatrician said that daycare kids often have overlapping colds due to the amount of kids in one room and the ample opportunity to pick up some disease du jour). I remember saying, I couldn't handle another cold with Olivia. All I wanted was to have a "well" baby for a little while and it looked like we were going the opposite of well.
At the airport, waiting for John, Olivia was abnormally fussy and unhappy. (still coughing). Later that day, we decided to go out to dinner and Olivia was lethargic and starting a fever. She would not take a bottle or any food. I started to really panic. We gave her some Tylenol and called the pediatrician. The pediatrician seemed concern about the cough she could hear over the phone and told us to try to get any liquids in her, preferably Pedialyte..but all Olivia would take at that time was water. This was looking really bad.
The next day, I just monitored her. The Tylenol kept her fever down, but she was still barely drinking and not eating at all. We watched for any sign of a dry/wet diaper...6 hours or more of a dry diaper meant dehydration. I was hoping it didn't come to the emergency room, because I have had no good experiences with emergency rooms, I was worried we'd be in the waiting room more than with a doctor and that, it seemed, was the last thing Olivia needed.
That Monday, John, my mom, Olivia and I went to the walk-in hours at our pediatrician's office. I was worried the office would be packed, but I got there early enough that we were the first ones there. The pediatrician came in and said, halfway through the physical that he was pretty sure she had bronchiolitis RSV AND an ear infection. He prescribed antibiotics for the ear infection and, since it was a virus, all they could do was help her breathe, so he prescribed an asthma type pump for babies. This pump thing, looks like the penis pump from Austin Powers. It's very weird putting that on your baby's face...and, as an added bonus, Olivia hated it and would squirm like no tomorrow. It's amazing how strong babies can be when they don't want something.
Monday through Thursday, I worked from home and cared for Olivia. Luckily, she slept a lot, but wasn't really drinking anything. She ate some, but drank little. Great. The number one thing the pediatrician said was to keep her hydrated...it didn't matter if she ate solids, she just needed the liquids (preferably milk or formula). So, I am panicking more. Apparently when babies are sick and can't breathe through their nose, they don't drink because they like to breathe and drink at the same time. If they can't have both, they chose breathing. Wassup with that?!
So, I Googled any suggestions on how to get liquids into a baby who won't drink. People suggested wet cloths, Popsicles, sucking on ice...all of which worked for a millisecond with Olivia and then we were back to square whole-lotta-nothin. John finally figured out that she would take her medicine with a dropper, so we fed her milk via a dropper. It's amazing how resourceful you become when faced with a dire situation you never knew existed.
I can't say I spend my time talking or reading about what other mothers face, (perhaps I should), but I have NEVER heard of RSV (bonchiolitis isn't even in spellcheck!!). I have NEVER heard of a baby not drinking. I didn't know what to do! Pediatricians should say things other than "it doesn't matter if she doesn't eat as long as she drinks" when they know that a sick baby will probably refuse a bottle. This information should be as widespread as the Swine flu was this year. I made sure to get my baby vaccinated for everything I could, but it just wasn't enough. I just felt so unprepared for this...it's like my birth experience all over again, but worse because I was dealing with a sick person who couldn't communicate.
Fast forward to Thursday, I take Olivia over to my parents' so I could work from home without having to worry about her. By early afternoon, my mom had called and said that she vomited whatever she drank in the morning and was refusing to drink further and that they were trying the [penis pump] inhaler on her but couldn't figure it out. I immediately rushed over to see what I could do. When I was unsuccessful at trying to get some liquids in her, we all decided it was best to take her to the pediatrician again.
At the pediatrician's they immediately took her temp. It was 103. Defeated, I started crying. Nothings makes you feel worse than when your baby is getting worse and you have done everything you knew to be right. The pediatrician told me I had two choices. One, wait four hours to see how she reacted to the professional inhaler they gave her at the office or go to the hospital. I do have this new found fear and loathing for a new round of hospital bills, but my baby needed liquids...even if they had to be inserted intravenously, she was getting them.
Luckily, there was a room available on the pediatrics floor of the hospital (bypassing the ER). What kinda bothered me about the first couple of hours at the hospital was that they didn't jump to the IV. We had some breathing treatments first and then first and they kept giving me the impression that this was the way to go. My mom practically scolded me for not wanting the IV sooner, but I assumed the doctors knew what they were doing. (now I wonder). Has the CYA medical system gotten so prevalent that even necessities are always coupled with other options?
Oh, I could just go on a rant right now and second guess myself for not being more adamant about Olivia gettin on the IV right away, but luckily my sister was in the room and stepped in. "It isn't going to hurt her, so why not start the IV right away?" Exactly, but why was I presented with these options when the glaring issue was Olivia was not taking in liquids?! Very very frustrating.
With the bad so comes the good. At least Olivia was being monitored by professionals and I could just be with her and not worry about her getting fluids. The first day, Friday, that we were there was the worst. They needed to amp up the oxygen on her just to keep her saturation in the 90s. Saturday she was weened off the oxygen, then the IV as she was starting to eat on her own again. By Sunday morning, we were all confident that we could take her home and just let her get better. Good thing, it was Super Bowl Sunday and I was not looking forward to watching it in the hospital.
The following week, I spent working from home and just letting Olivia recover. Slowly, but surely she was back to her old self. She was still not drinking enough to make me relax, but she was progressing. On Thursday afternoon, though, she sucked down a 4 oz bottle and I could not be happier. It's an amazing feeling when the weight of the world (that is your child) is lifted from your shoulders. I have never appreciated a healthy baby more. I really thought I would appreciate the "well" times with Olivia since she is generally teething or sick more often than she is well, but it really takes RSV to make you really really really appreciate the "well" times.
Cut to this week and we have our Olivia back and then some. She is walking up a storm. I have to admit, I was worried that the RSV stint would weaken her somehow, but she bounced back like it was nothin'. Definitely, my child :-)
This week almost makes me think I might be able to do this all over again. Not now, I definitely want to put this half ironman behind me...