It's really late and I've only just gotten home not long ago so I'll keep it as brief as possible for now - i really need to get to bed and get to sleep.
He's had a cold (coughs, snufflies, snotties and sneezes) since Sun/Mon. We took him to emergency yesterday morning after I noticed he was having major problems breathing. Were taken straight in to see a doctor after being assessed by triage nurse.
After them suctioning out the mucus from his throat and nose (and sending it off for testing) he went for chest x-rays and blood tests. Chest x-rays came back clear but blood test results and he's mucus "thing" showed he was positive for RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) - specifically 'Bronchiolitis'
They put the oxygen tubes up his nose (you know - the ones that just kinda sit up the nostrils?) which helped his breathing a little. He was working *so* hard just to breathe. His little body was jolting with the movements of each breath. Because his breathing was so laboured he was admitted to the children's hospital.
He deteriorated once we were in the ward. The oxygen that he was getting wasn't enough so he ended up in a "head box" where they feed a greater amount of oxygen. His body was still jolting so badly with the effort it was taking him to breathe. They put a tube through his nose and down his throat to feed him expressed breast milk but having a full tummy was making his body work even harder to breathe. So they took that out and put him on an IV drip which he's still on. The doctors came and told us that if he continued to deteriorate, he'd be taken to the ICU.
He had a really restless night (I stayed and slept by his bedside) - needed patting back to sleep quite often. Everytime he coughed, he cried. He had to have more blood tests at 1am from his foot to make sure that he was processing the gases OK. It was a really hard night for him and me.
Honestly - I've never had to do anything as difficult as this before. To watch your baby in pain, upset, hurt and confused is the most horrible thing. To not be able to pick him up and cuddle him and make him better.
Because he was in the box and because his body was already under a lot of pressure just breathing - we weren't allowed to hold him because that would've made him have to work even harder. All we could do was watch on and pat his bottom through a blanket. And because what he has is a virus, all the medical staff can do is to make sure he's getting enough oxygen, treat him with panadol and feed him intravenously.
Today was a little better. He showed small improvements. Rested heaps this morning which is vital. Was a little bit more alert and "alive" tonight when I was there. Was settling himself after coughs much better. And was interested in looking at "Poley" through the glass. Interacted with Liam and I a little before he got tired again (didn't take long - poor mister-man is exhausted).
Doctor's have put the feeding tube down his throat again and he's constantly being fed 40ml of breastmilk an hour. Hopefully this will pick him up a little more as well.
Liam is staying with him tonight. I'll be going back again first thing in the morning.
We're hoping that he'll improve a little more tomorrow. We think that we must be in the "plateu" stage of this virus and hope that yesterday was "rock-bottom"... because I don't know how I'd cope if he was any worse than he was yesterday... just awful.
But anyway - I've written way more than I've intended.
Sorry I haven't been around to comment on the gorgeous layouts entered so far in the weekly challenge I set. I have been in to have a quick squizz tonight and they look great - I'm just too knackered to comment right now.
And I'm sorry to the Whisper group that I'm in right now - I promised to have the layout on it's way by today (Sat) but that's not going to happen just yet. I will get to it as soon as I can - promise.
Here's some piccies of our poor little man. Ignore what looks to be a rash on his back - it's just bad lighting (no flash and poor light).
He's still really unwell so if you're the praying kind - please spare some for my beautiful little Cammy.
Thanks
Ali xoxo
