RSV = Really Stinky Valentines

I am starting to believe that Valentines Day is actually a curse in our house. Let's begin in the year 2008..... Last year on Valentines Day....my 10 month old (Landry at the time) woke up with a high fever, coughing, throwing up, and not being able to breath. Of course I took him into the Doc. He was diagnosed with having the flu. I was freaking out. My first child and I had never dealt with that type of illness yet. I gave him anything and everything he wanted. I was upset because I had taken him to get the flu shot....which apparently didn't work. So, 2008 Valentines was no fun! ***present day*** So, here we are in 2009. Last week on Monday I noticed that Gavin (the 2.5 month old) was having some trouble breathing. It just sounded like he was wheezing. He had no other "sick" symptoms. No fever, no diarrhea, no throwing up, and he was eating/sleeping just fine. So, I told myself he might just have a cold. I tried to use the fun blue bulb to suction out his nose. We were coming up with NOTHING! By Wednesday his breathing had gotten worse. It now sounded like a crackling noise in his lungs. I am getting VERY concerned by this point. The doc office was already closed for the day, but I was going to take him in first thing in the morning. I am glad I did. The minute the pediatrician say him she said, "He needs to be in the ER." So, off to the new Children's Medical (Plano) we went. My poor little boy. They had to do "deep suctions" to help him breath. What is that you ask. It is NO FUN...that is what that is. They inserted a very small tube through his nose down into his lungs to suction all the mucus out. This was VERY hard for all of us. Obviously little G HATED this....and Daddy and I hated to watch it. But, it sure did make him breath better. See, what happens in a baby his size is, he is not able to get the crap out of his chest on his own. You and I would spit up a "luggie" but 2 month olds aren't capable of doing that on their own. So, the suction from the tube helped. After that we got an x-ray. My little guy did great during this procedure. They let me stay in there with him (funny part....as long as I didn't have a chance of being pregnant....hahaha....you kidding me!) Anyway, we went back into our room and waited for the results. Soon after the x-ray the doc came in and here was his exact words...."Well, Gavin looks good...his x-rays DO NOT" (he emphasized DO NOT!) He had a large white spot on one of his lungs. The doc said it was one of two things.....either pneumonia or a partially collapsed lung from struggling to breath. WHAT.....I AM FREAKING by this time. So, the rest of the day consisted of more "deep suctions" and breathing treatments. They did determine that Gavin had RSV (a very serious virus for such a young baby.) If you don't know much about it....you should do some research on it. It is a very common virus....but for infants it is very serious. So, no pneumonia but yes....it was a partially collapsed lung. My poor punk'in. By the end of the day, the ER Doc said he was able to go home....but just to keep a close eye on him. If anything changed give them a call. Otherwise, follow up with the pediatrician the following day. So, we got home and Gavin was exhausted. He slept in his swing all night (that is his favorite place and since he was sick....once again he got everything and anything he wanted.) The next morning I took him to the Doc. I thought he sounded better but apparently I was wrong. The doc was pissed. She said they should have never released him. He sounded horrible. So, back up to Children's we went. This time his vital signs were much worse, so they had to hook him up to oxygen and keep him overnight. He did great though. His numbers slowly but surely kept getting better throughout the day. And, crazy enough he slept pretty well at the hospital. They told us if he could make it through the night without having to be put back on oxygen...then we could go home. My little trooper did it. He made it through. It was crazy......once again our Valentines consisted of a very sick baby. BOO! I am boycotting V-Day. Next year let's just skip it all together. On a sad note though.....guess who now has the same cough as Gavin.....yep....big brother Landry. But, the doc did tell us he would probably get it, but it won't be as serious in him because he is older and able to fight it better. AGGGHHHH....I hate sickness! Now...on a funny note. I was taking a shower yesterday morning. I thought Landry was with Kyle, but Kyle thought he was with me in the bathroom. So, when I got out and asked where he was, Kyle was surprised to find out he was not with me. We rounded the corner and guess what we found???????? Our little booger had found the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that were in the "goody goody" drawer. He had chocolate all over his face. He busted into 3 of them before we even knew it. I have a video of the aftermath. It is pretty funny! Hope you all had a great V-day.......but we now hate that holiday around here!