RSV is the Worst!!

Cooper has RSV.  He came home from school on Wednesday in the best mood.  My parents were in town and he was SO happy to see them!  He laughed and played and was just in a great mood.  We went to dinner that night.  I noticed at the restaurant that Cooper was looking a little flushed and felt a little warm, but I thought it was because the restaurant was warm and Cooper was in a sweater.  We took his temp that night and it was 102.

The next morning, he actually seemed ok.  We didn't send him to school, but after a night of sleep he didn't appear to be too sick.  That afternoon, things started to get worse.  We took his pulse ok and it was 77 and his heart rate was in the 180's, so we put him on oxygen and took his temperature.  It was 104.  By very early the next morning, we knew that we could not take care of him at home.  He needed more oxygen than we could give him, so we took him to the emergency room.

We got put into a room in the Infant/Toddler Unit pretty quickly.  We spent 2 nights there, but the nurses finally were not comfortable with the amount of care that Cooper was needing.  That unit is so big that each nurse has at least 4-5 patients and Cooper just needed to be more closely watched than that.  So he was moved to the Intermediate Care Unit.  Which is where we are now.

Every day that Cooper has been here, he has gotten worse.  His oxygen requirement continues to go up.  He started out on 6 liters of oxygen at 30% and is now up to 10 liters of oxygen at 100%.  He has an ilius, which is when his bowel becomes paralyzed because of the illness.  Last night, his temperature shot up to 103 really quickly.  His pulse ox dropped in to the 60's.  He turned purple in his extremities and was burning up in his core.  They put wet blankets on him and gave him a bolus of cold fluid to get his temperature back to normal.  The PICU doctors rushed over and he almost had to be intubated.  It was so scary.

Today is the fifth day of the illness.  I'm hoping that he is going to start turning the corner today and tomorrow.  I know that Cooper is tired of being poked and prodded.  I hope that we are out in time to enjoy the holidays.

24 weeks

Well, I'm just over 24 weeks along.  And nothing has been done.  We're moving Cooper and baby 2 into the same room, but I haven't really thought about starting to paint or anything.  I know what I want to happen, it's just difficult making it actually happen.  Hopefully I can get some things done before Christmas.  Symptom-wise I'm doing pretty well.  No more morning sickness.  But I still have to get up to use the restroom several times during the night.  So I'm pretty tired most of the time.  I've gained an appropriate amount of weight so far- about 10-12 pounds.  That puts me slightly below where I'm supposed to be, but not too bad.  The baby is in the 58th percentile, so that's good.  I have weird cravings for pho, for which I blame Sheva 100%.  She wanted some back in November when it was cold for about a week and I've had it once a week at least since then.  I'd eat it every day if I could.

Cooper is doing really well.  He's been back at school since before Thanksgiving and he is just full of life and personality.  When he drops something he reaches down to get it.  He can pick things up by raking his hands over them.  He's sitting up like a champ.  He is the most ticklish child ever.  And he knows when it's coming and laughs in anticipation.  So cute.  He had a Growth and Development clinic appointment on Thursday.  He has definitely progressed since they tested him 6 months ago.  He's in the 50th percentile for weight and the 10-15th for height.  So he's a short, fat baby.  I could've told you that by the way his clothes fit.  At the clinic, they gave him a giraffe stuffed animal (completely randomly) and he LOVES it.  Of course.  So much so that he at first wouldn't participate in any of the testing.  He was too busy with his new friend.  We had to take the giraffe away and hide it before he would do anything for the therapist and psychologist.  Also, they let him play on an iPad and he loved it.  So if anyone wants to get Cooper a Christmas present, that would be a great gift (hint, hint).