RSV

(Warning:  This is ridiculously long, mostly for my own sake.)

Two weeks ago, Porter had his two month appointment.  The doctor noticed he was wheezing a bit (he'd been coughing the past two nights) and prescribed an inhaler.  He showed me how to use the special baby attachment with a small albuterol that was included in the package, so I didn't pick up the prescription that night.  (Porter had a fever and screamed and grunted for quite awhile that afternoon and Cooper woke up from her nap coughing so hard she threw up.  Fun stuff. :)  Anyway, it wasn't until bedtime when I decided to use the inhaler on Porter that I realized the doctor hadn't sent the small chamber of medicine home with me.  Yikes!  I spent the night on the couch with Porter sleeping on my chest.  He slept well (once I finally got him to sleep); I did not.  The next two days were long.  All three kids hacking and feeling pretty lousy.  We watched quite a few movies.  Through it all, though, Porter was a happy camper and he nursed great.  The inhaler seemed to help...until Friday.

On Friday, he was breathing very fast and loudly.  It got worse as the day went on, and by nap time I was getting nervous.  I called the advice nurse to ask how to know when to bring him in.  She could hear him wheezing when I held the phone near him.  She said to bring him in, and she also gave me some guidelines, including the instruction to call 9-1-1 if he was grunting continually.

The appointment was for two hours later.  During that two hours, his breathing seemed to get worse.  When I loaded him up in his car seat, Porter got really mad and started screaming.  It went on and, obviously, affected his breathing.  We were stuck at a light that seemed to stay red FOREVER and his crying changed, like he couldn't get enough air.  Then the grunting started.  Meanwhile, Judson was getting louder and louder as he tried to get Cooper to cover her mouth when she coughed.  It was one of the most scary, stressful situations I've even been in.  Then he just got quiet.  SO. SCARY.  I don't have a mirror to see Porter (I've never found one that has worked in any of our cars.  Granted, I haven't tried too hard, but I have bought and returned a few.), so I kept asking Judson if Porter was turning blue.  He said he was just red.  A few minutes later, we pulled into the the pediatrics office and I yanked poor Porter out of the car.  He was so still that I couldn't tell if he was breathing.  Thankfully, he was and Nate met us down there.  (Since the other two were sick, we'd all been in our jammies all day.  I'd hoped to not have to bring Judson and Cooper with me.  Nate didn't make it home in time - and didn't tell me he wasn't going to make it in time- so I had three jammie-clad kiddos in tow.)

We weren't able to see our pediatrician, but saw a wonderful doctor who decided it was best that we admit Porter to Salem Hospital.  His oxygen saturation levels were good, but he was breathing really fast and his chest was retracting (sucking in).  I was relieved.  I would no longer be solely responsible for watching his breathing and making decisions.

By the time we got to Salem Hospital, it was six o'clock.  Judson and Cooper were still in their jammies, hacking and sneezing all over, and hadn't eaten dinner.  I was dressed, but hadn't showered and couldn't remember if I'd showered the day before.  Rough week, remember?!  ;)  I didn't even have a cozy blanket for Porter.

After we got settled in our room, Nate finally took the big kids home (I thought he should take them a lot sooner, but he disagreed). Mandy came over to stay at our house while Nate brought some stuff back to me.  My friend and prayer partner, Rebecca, came to keep me company for awhile, as she lives a couple of minutes from the hospital.  It was fun to get the chance to chat without big kids around.  :)

One funny thing was that everyone who came in our room questioned how old Porter was.  They read on his chart that he was two months, but then came in to find a giant baby.  They really couldn't believe we had another son who weighed two pounds more at the same age.

Because his saturation levels were good, Porter was never on oxygen.  It was fairly quickly determined that he was responding better to the epinephrine nebulizer treatments, so he had those about every four hours.  We finally went to sleep at 12:15.  Someone had mentioned midnight rounds and I tried to stay awake until they came, but just couldn't.  They came in fifteen minutes later.  And then Porter was up until 2 am.  Ugh.  We did get to sleep until five before being woken up again.

I mistakenly assumed we'd spend the night and head home in the morning.  Nope.  We ended up staying a full 48 hours.  Saturday was spent watching HGTV when Nate and the kids weren't there.  They came twice...Cooper was in her jammies almost every time they came all weekend. It was good to see them, but hard to keep them entertained and calm, so I was always ready for them to go by the time we were saying goodbye.

I did get a little more sleep on Saturday night, but by then my throat was hurting.  Saturday night also brought the only person I wasn't really a fan of during our stay.  All of our other nurses and respiratory therapists were GREAT.  (We had the same day nurse, Cathy, both days, which was nice.  She even remembered how I ordered my coffee from the first morning. ;)  Anyway, Porter's RT on Saturday night was a very strange guy.  He was the first person who walked in without knocking.  Of course I was nursing Porter and not covered up.  Swell.  (Honestly, he was the first male we'd had, so even if he'd knocked I'm not sure I would've done anything differently.)  It may have added to his awkwardness, but maybe not.

Every nurse, RT, etc. who came into our room had to put on a disposable gown since Porter tested positive for RSV.  The weird RT needed something from elsewhere and apparently didn't want to leave and have to put on a new disposable gown, so he kept peeking out into the hall to look for someone to help him.  Then he pushed the call button.  The lady who came tried to find what he needed, but couldn't.  After more than five minutes of this, he decided to get it himself and was literally gone about twenty seconds.

The other thing was that that was the only breathing treatment where Porter was hacking and sputtering.  He was breathing through his mouth because it was obvious that there was a lot of mucous in his nose.  I asked the guy to suction him out when the treatment was done.  He said he didn't think there was anything to clear out, but he'd do it.  SO MUCH stuff came out.  Maybe he was new??

I was glad he was the night RT, so I didn't have to deal with him again.  I slept through the breathing treatment that night. :)

Sunday was more of the same.  My friend, Heather, from church came for awhile and so did the children's ministry director from church.  Nate brought the kids, too, and they came back after naps to help me get everything out to the car.  (Mostly because our car was parked SO far away.  When Nate brought our other car, he parked closer, so we didn't have as far to go.)

By Sunday evening, Porter was doing pretty well, but still retracting and breathing fast.  The pediatrician was fine with him being discharged if I was.  It was a little scary, but we opted to have one last breathing treatment before heading out.  Thankfully, Porter did well and there was no middle of the night ER trip. 

Porter's breathing in the evening still made us nervous for a few nights.  It was fast and loud.  But when he was asleep, it was much slower.  That seemed like an indication that he was doing well.  (Plus he'd had to see his pediatrician on Monday afternoon and we got a good report then.) He was on the 2 am/ 5am hospital schedule for a few nights, which was no fun.  He's also back to not wanting to stay asleep in his own bed after his early-morning feeding.  Darn.

The best part of this whole ordeal was definitely the community of believers we are apart of.  We felt so much love and support.  Porter had SO MANY people praying for him, and we know those prayers made a huge difference.  (One last quick story.  Krista Cook grew up on the ranch with me.  I started taking her to church when I could drive and stopped going to the Episcopal church with my parents.  She now lives in McMinnville and had been praying for us and checking in frequently.  She saw someone from her church in McMinnville at the store and they were talking about Krista's new baby, who is exactly 5 weeks younger then Porter.  Anyway, Krista mentioned this two month old baby she was praying for and what was going on, and the lady said, "Wait!  Is that Porter?"  She'd heard about him from someone else and was praying for him, too.  How awesome is that?!)

Phew!  That was much longer than I thought it would be.  And it's now way later than I thought it would be.  :)  God is good.  We're so thankful that Porter, and the rest of us as well, are in His loving, healing, powerful hands.  And if you're someone who prayed for us, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

First night

Wearing a little sweatshirt...the last article of clothing he wore for two days. :)

Nebulizer breathing treatment with Daddy

Watching my family leave...that parking spot on the left was pretty much always open for them.

His GPS device and the oxygen saturation "tester."  His toe glowed red when it was on.

We had LOTS of quality snuggling time!

My friend, Heather, who took P's birth and newborn pictures

Our room (taken as I was packing up)

Last breathing treatment right before we left

Our room number...and that paper instructing all medical personnel to "suit up" before coming in.  We also had to take the "sick elevator" on our way out, so as not to contaminate the other one.  Never mind that we rode in the other one on the way up. :)