Adventures in Family: Kate's Stay in the Hospital

Just look at those eyes. :(

Last Tuesday (the one before New Years) Kate developed a little cold. We were in Traverse City and her little cold came with a fever of 103. She was pretty miserable so we left early and came home so she could rest comfortably in her own bed. By Friday, she was very sick and sad. I noticed she was breathing fast and brought her in to the ER at Oakwood. After a chest xray (that showed healthy lungs) and two breathing treatments we were sent home with a diagnosis of bronchitis. We continued breathing treatments at home and the fever went down. She didn't show any signs of improvement over the weekend. She slept a lot and layed listless in my lap. On Monday I went to work and Ryan's mom came over to watch her. I came home a little early from work because she wouldn't take a bottle. When I walked through the door I saw the saddest little thing. Her breathing was very labored and eyes all puffy and purple. I brought her in to her pediatrician right away. Her ped. took one quick listen to her lungs and said Pnemonia. They took a reading of her blood oxygen level and it was around 85-88. I had no idea what these numbers really meant, but they felt it was serious and that Kate needed immediate oxygen and hospitalization. They even called to have an ambulance transport us so that Kate could be on Oxygen right away. I think I was kind of in denial, because I didn't really panic. I felt confident that we were in capable hands. And I knew everything was going to be alright. Kate's as tough as they get.

X-rays showed bilateral pnemonia. She had a lot of retractions in her breathing and wasn't moving much air into her lungs. The Dr's could hear a lot of "crackling". Her respirations rate was close to 80 per minute. She was in respiratory distress. The first night she was given breathing treatments about every 2 hours. The albuterol in these treatments made her pretty restless. She was given iv antibiotics and oral antibiotics. We had to keep her on oxygen all night so that her levels would stay above 90. The first night was long. Ryan and I took 2 hour shifts between the bedside and uncomfortable couch. I wasn't helping any that now I was fighting the same miserable cold that started all Kate's problems.

By day 2 she was showing considerable improvements, but still needed to be on oxygen. She slept most of the day and smiled and sat up in her crib to talk to some stuffed animals for a little bit. We had lots of visitors to help bring a smile to her face.

Day 3 I thought for sure we'd be going home.........nope

Day 4 I thought she was looking and acting great, we'll definetly be going home.................nope.

Tomorrow is day 5. If I have to spend one more night on this crazy 5 foot long couch under a non insulated window and air vent I might go off on the Dr. Yeah, yeah, I know they are doing what's best for her. She is wheezing a little bit and they wanted to keep her so she could continue the iv antibiotics and breathing treatments every 3 hours.

She is happy and acting sooo much better. She was showing us some of her sass tonight, so I know she's getting back to normal. She wants to get home and play with her new toys from Christmas and practice her crawling that she was just getting good at.

I can't wait to go home tomorrow.............................

First night after being admited and hooked up.