January 21, 2014

RSV...You Suck

I really hate that my first post after the wonderful news of Hayden's arrival has to be such a crappy one, but this will help me process things and also document details for my own memory.

Hayden, our sweet, precious one-month old, has RSV. Currently, we're sitting in an ICU room at LeBonheur Children's Medical Center, as he breathes rapidly with the support of something that's a step above a regular oxygen tank. It's no fun. In fact, it's pretty terrible.

It's hard to watch him struggle to breathe. It's hard to listen to his rapid breaths. It's hard to not fully understand what's going on, but I know we're making progress. Also, I know the Lord is watching over us every second, and He is ultimately in control.

I suppose all of this really began on Saturday, when he had a runny nose and watery eyes. But he was still his alert, normal self--eating with no problems, being content when awake and sleeping normally. On Sunday morning, he sounded more congested, but nothing alarming. As the day went on, he began to eat less and less, and when we did coax him to eat a bit, it was almost immediately spit up. He didn't sleep at all on Sunday night; he was so congested and uncomfortable. Monday morning, he began breathing rapidly, running fever, and he also threw up a bunch of phlegm and gunk. I was waiting at the doctor's office when they opened. Our pediatrician listened to him for a minute and sent us immediately to LeBonheur.

When we got here to the ER, things moved VERY quickly, which was simultaneously comforting and terrifying. We never waited for a second in the ER, which as you know isn't the norm, so we knew they were taking his condition very seriously.

After the initial workup in the ER, which included a lot of tests that were hard on my sweet boy, we were moved to the pediatric ICU where we have been ever since. The current debate is whether or not he'll need to be intubated. Basically, he's at the point that he's just getting worn out, which makes it difficult for him to maintain such rapid breaths for such a long time. Poor boy is just exhausted, which keeps his heart rate high. It's kind of like a vicious cycle of vitals that all need to work together. He's not out of the woods yet, but he is expected to make a full recovery...it'll just take time.

Today, we're prayerful for more answers, and, of course, improvement and healing for Hayden's body.

Specific prayer requests:
  • Comfort for Hayden. His temp has been up and down, which affects his heart rate, which affects his breathing (see the cycle?) and ultimately can make him very uncomfortable.
  • For Hayden to be well enough to eat. My little hoss is HUNGRY. He hasn't eaten a full bottle since sometime Sunday, and he's a big ol' boy who's not used to skipping a single meal. However, it's currently just not safe for him to eat because his chances of intubation are high.
  • For a good result on his renal ultrasound. This is kind of secondary to everything else going on, but he's had blood in his urine, which is apparently pretty uncommon for a boy, so they want to get a look at his kidneys. Could be nothing.
  • For Macey and Easton to not get too homesick/mommy sick. I haven't left the hospital--not sure when/if I will--and I know it'll be hard for all of us to be apart. Greg went home for a bit last night and saw them, and they're in very good hands with grandparents, but it's still tough to be so out of routine.
  • For patience for all of the adults in his life...we know he's making progress, but it's tough to have a sick baby. He's got a lot of folks who love him and are praying for him! We just get a little antsy.

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