Saturday, February 7, 2009

Sick Again

Andrew is in Utah now.

We got up at 3 a.m. to take him to the airport (thanks to Wendi who had Liz spend the night so we only had to drag one girl out in the cold). Before he left he gave Alaina a blessing. The diarrhea and eye gunk have cleared up, but yesterday her cough seemed to worsen and her little voice became raspy. In the blessing Drew said something about Laina needing medical assistance or attention or something like that. I definitely remembered the word medical and took that as my cue to take her to the doctor's when they opened this morning (again, thanks to Wendi who kept Liz while we were at the doc's).

I seriously love our pediatricians. Long hours (6 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturdays), friendly service, and I have ALWAYS been able to get a same day appointment.

But back to Alaina. I knew there was something wrong (more than just the common cold) when the doctor spent a long time listening to her lungs. I'll admit a slight feeling of validation. No mother wants her child to be sick, but if the mother senses that her child is sick enough to go to the doctor it's nice to get confirmation, that yes, the child is actually sick and beyond that, there are treatment options.

Alaina suffered through a prolonged appointment, nebulizer treatment, nose swab, and the usual pokes and prods. Oh, and the doctor had to use a special spoon to scoop out ear wax before she could examine Laina's ears. Poor baby.

Diagnosis: RSV

I seriously don't remember Liz having such fragile health. She had chronic earaches (and was "one ear infection away from tubes"), but that didn't start until she was 15 months old. Alaina is only five months and already it's been cradle cap, eczema patches, days of diarrhea, eyes cemented shut from conjunctivitis, and now the dreaded RSV. What's next?

When the nurse handed me a nebulizer, I said "Do I need to bring this back or do I keep it in case we need to use it again?" She said, "You keep it. I'm sure you'll use it again." Please, no.

3 comments:

Ryann said...

Em had RSV at three months. But she had it and that was it. No bad repercussions. And she has been super healthy since then. Hopefully Lainy will be as lucky!

Scott said...

Sounds just like Iris & Willa. Iris' first sick baby appointment was at 11 months and she has been sick about 5 times in her life. Willa had RSV at three months (it wasn't even RSV season) and then we were literally at the doctors every other week during her first winter. Even now Willa gets sick and Iris never seems to get it. I hope that she starts feeling better soon. Good luck!

Jessica said...

Shoot, RSV! I am so sorry to hear that Lainy is sick. I hope you are all surviving okay. Please call if I can help!

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