A Not So Happy End to '09

I must say that the past two days were awful and not anything I would wish on any parent! I'll try to make a long story at least a little bit shorter...

Logan started getting a cold on Christmas Eve, no big deal. He was sneezy and had a runny nose. On Saturday, he started developing a cough. It kept getting worse and his breathing was getting heavier, so I called the dr. first thing Monday morning. I didn't want to be a neurotic first time parent, but I knew he just wasn't himself and had to trust my instincts. They made an appointment for him that same day at 2:45pm. It was hard watching Logan feeling so awful. I didn't know how I was going to make it 5 more hours, so I called back to ask if there was anything I could do in the meantime to help him out. They told me to just bring him in right away.

The doctor examined him and his lungs and everything sounded ok, but he was definitely congested and breathing heavily. The doctor left the room and then came back and told me he wanted to admit him to the hospital! I broke down in tears of course. My two month old baby was going to be admitted into the hospital?! Everything he said after that sounded like, "blah, blah, blah." I immediately called Eric and he left work right away so he could meet us there. We were both crying the second we saw each other.

Once in the hospital, they stripped Logan naked, hooked him up to oxygen and all sorts of monitors. They then took some blood and took him for a chest x-ray. Everything came back with the best possible results. There was no fluid in his lungs and no infection. We brought him in at the right time...phew!

They said that Logan had some kind of cold virus, most likely RSV, which caused him to develop bronchialitis. This is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes that makes it difficult to breathe, especially in such a little baby. The rest of the time in the hospital was, of course, awful. Eric and I both stayed overnight but did not sleep at all on Monday night. I could not stop watching the numbers on all the machines. If his breathing rate went up or his oxygen level went down, I would get freaked out. Also, since Logan is such a crazy kicker, the wires kept getting moved causing horrific beeping sounds to fill our room. They also kept putting this long suction tube down his nostrils to suck everything out, which was pure torture. It did make him feel better afterwards though. Luckily he continued to be a good eater, so he never had to get an IV. He is just so little and helpless...it was awful seeing him like that. I am just glad he won't remember any of this.

On Tuesday morning, they decided to take him completely off the oxygen. His breathing numbers had been consistently high as the oxygen levels were decreased, so they left on the tubes and kept him monitored to see how he would do. He did great! He was still rather congested though and needed some deep suctioning, so they didn't want to send us home. It was nice seeing him in better spirits...

Tuesday night, we were able to get at least a little bit of sleep as Logan was feeling better and they had taken off some of the annoying monitors. Wednesday morning, the doctor told us that since Logan had been fine off the oxygen for 24 hours and was looking and sounding much better, we could return home. We were all very relieved, including Logan...

Although he still has a cold, his breathing is much less labored. All we have to do now is get lots of rest and use the suction regularly to clear out his snot. I'm sure I will still be crazy nervous the next few days, but I am glad to be home and will be excited to hopefully get some sleep. Let's all have a happy and healthy 2010!