About a month ago, 6-month-old Isabella spent five days in the hospital with Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV.  When we have a common cold, it most likely is RSV, but for children younger then one, it can be very serious because their lungs are not strong enough to cough out the congestion, so they are usually admitted into the hospital for treatment and monitoring.  I wanted to share my experience so parents will be aware of this illness and know what to expect in the hospital.

Sequence of Events

• Thursday: Isabella had a congested-crackly-junky cough that was getting worse throughout the day.
• Friday: Went to the doctor.  It was just a bad cough.  If I had a nebulizer at home, the doctor would’ve had me use it, but the cough was not bad enough to go out and rent one.  Went home with instructions to water down her milk and formula, steam her in the shower, and use a humidifier.
• Saturday: Spiked a fever over 104 and could not break it with Infant Tylenol.  I called the doctor in the evening and she recommended Advil because it worked better on high fevers.  Fever finally dropped lower then 100.
• Sunday: Even though her fever was hovering around 100, she was very warm and sweaty because she was working hard to breath.  Things were getting worse throughout the day.  She was eating less because it was hard for her to eat and breath at the same time.  In the evening when she was sleeping, she was flush and sweaty from breathing and her chest was pulling hard.  I was going to the doctor first thing in the morning.
• Monday: The doctor took one look at Isabella and knew something was wrong.  She called over to the hospital to let them know we would be coming to be tested for RSV.  Isabella tested positive for RSV.  This, plus her oxygen levels were less then 90 lead to admittance into the hospital.
• Monday – Friday: Isabella and I stayed in a private room.  Since RSV is a virus, there isn’t a prescription to cure it.  The treatment is to help the lungs breath so they can circulate the oxygen and clear out the congestion.  She slept in her car seat because this was the best position for her lungs to breath.  I had to account for the number of ounces she drank, how many pee and poopy diapers, and the nurses weighed her diapers to make sure she was eating and excreting normally.  Isabella received a breathing treatment with a nebulizer and Albuterol and Xopenex solution, steroids to open up her lungs, and oxygen.  An oxygen machine measured her progress of getting better.  We could go home when her oxygen levels were above 90 during the day and night without receiving oxygen.  Because we were in the hospital, her treatments were around the clock.  They started off every three hours and then moved to every four hours as she became better.  By the third day her oxygen was above 90 throughout the day.  During the night, her oxygen levels would dip to the low 80’s and she needed oxygen.  Though this is normal, it was very frustrating when she was feeling much better, getting more active, and we were both anxious to be home.  Finally, the fourth night her oxygen was above 90 without oxygen (Thank Goodness!), and we could go home!

My Personal Notes

• It was scary to see your baby working so hard to breath.  If I did not already have an appointment Monday morning for Isabella’s 6-month check up, I would have gone to the hospital Sunday night.  In hindsight, I should have went to the hospital Sunday night because I knew there was something very wrong with her breathing.
• The hardest part of the hospital stay was watching her get an IV put in.  Baby’s veins are small and move fast and it is not unusual to have multiple attempts.  Thankfully, the nurse got it in the first attempt.
• This is hard on a parent both physically and emotionally.  It is physical because you do not sleep.  You are too busy taking care of your baby, giving her nebulizer treatments, and looking for signs she is getting better.  It is emotional because you are worried, you are claustrophobic being confined to a hospital room and floor, and you are anxious to go home.
• You get a reality check being on a Pediatric floor of a hospital.  There are many babies and children that stay in hospitals much longer then five days and have treatments much stronger then a nebulizer.  You realize how blessed you are.

Here are some pictures of our stay.

The oxygen monitor was taped to Isabella’s toe.

To keep the IV in, she had a little baby splint.

Bedhead!

Isabella taking her nebulizer treatment.

Isabella feeling better and eating her cookie.

Some mornings my grouchy husband on his way home from work will stop at the local coffee shop, JJ Beans, for a hot drink and he will also bring me a chai tea latte.  He is not a man of many words, and most of what he says is grouchy, but when I see this drink on the counter, I hear in my head him saying “I love you”, “you are such a good wife”, “thank you for taking such good care of my kids”, and at least ten other terms of endearment every wife wants to hear from their husband.  Can you believe this small, small, small gesture of thoughtfulness can say so much?  I have everything to make this drink at home, but I would rather wait for him to bring me one.

JJ Beans…if you are telling him to bring this home for me…don’t tell me!  I like thinking my grouchy husband is thinking of me.

Talk soon, Chrissy

A little while ago we made a trip out to Queens to visit our good friends, Anne and her daughter, Avery.  We always look forward to visiting with these girls because I get to chat and catch up with Anne, who I consider a sister, and Mimi can play with Avery.  Moysee (one of Isabella’s 10 nick names) doesn’t have a friend to visit with yet so we are hopeful Anne will have a second baby soon!

Now that Avery and Mimi are getting older, they can play so much better with each other.  They have all of the same interests, cooking, babies, play doh…it’s a match made in heaven.  Anne transformed some baby blankets to baby carriers so these girls could really be mommies to their babies.

Anne and her husband, Michael, are doing a full renovation on a home they bought at the end of last year.  It is almost finished.  Just the kitchen and a top to bottom cleaning are pretty much left to do.  I am so excited for them and cannot wait for them to move in.  Like most renovations, it’s been a headache, but I tell Anne it’s all worth it and she will forget all about it once she is living in her new home.

I do not follow sports, I am not athletic (my sisters tell me yoga and running do not make me athletic), and only look forward to going to see a game in person because I can throw peanut shells on the floor.  As “un-sporty” as I am, I know who Jeremy Lin is, I know where he grew up, his parent’s names, the number of siblings he has, where he went to college, that he is a Christian, his NBA team, his position, and the reason for “Linsanity”.  And..I have to admit I have a little bit of Linsanity.  My Linsanity has nothing to do with how well he is doing in basketball.  My Linsanity is because I am a Chinese mother with two girls and hope one day (twenty years from now) they will find someone as talented, humble, and genuine as he is.  My girls are much much younger then Jeremy Lin but if he is willing to wait a little bit (or a lot a bit) he could be with one of my princesses.

Olivia is the closest to Jeremy Lin in age, she’s 3.5, he’s 24…only 20.5 years apart.  She is a true princess, even with her strawberry mustache and messy hair.

Moy Moy (妹妹）is a princess in training.  She is currently learning to control her drool.

I mean, Jeremy, these girls are worth the wait…

Every Chinese mother has a little bit of Linsanity.  We all want our children to be with someone that will take care of them as good as we do.  Thank you Jeremy Lin for being a role model for our future son-in-laws.

I have come to realize my life will always be crazy.  My body has finally adapted to the lack of sleep that comes with the joy of a newborn and was looking forward to the next couple of months settling into a more regular schedule.  (But since I have crazy life) Jeff came home one day and told me he is opening a hot dog shop with a couple of his friends in six weeks.  My reactions in the order listed below:

1. WHAT?
2. My hearing must be going.
3. Hot dog!  I barely allow Olivia to eat hot dogs.
4. Is there such a thing as an organic hot dog?
5. WHAT?
6. OK….Ok…ok.

We went to see the shop.  This is the outside.  Looks good, right?  I’m thinking this is going to work, I’m excited!

Then we went inside…Yikes!

All kidding aside, now that the shock has worn off, I am very ok, I am very happy and excited, I am very proud.  For most of our fifteen year relationship, I have been number one.  Number one in the sense that I had the intense career that made more money so much of we did, what we had, where we went, was centered around me and my work.  I wish this wasn’t the case but money can be very powerful.  As nice as it was to have a lot of my own money, be able to provide for my family, and be good at my work, I felt empty inside and not truly happy.  I wanted to be a full-time mom raising my kids.  Being part of company lay-offs last year and deciding not to go back to work gave me my opportunity to stay at home.  Losing my income has been hard but has given Jeff the responsibility of being the primary provider.  I have always seen Jeff’s potential to be an entrepreneur (though some of his past decisions have made me wonder) and have been his biggest supporter.  He is the grumpiest husband in the world, but he is also street-smart, a great friend, and motivated, a combination necessary to be a good businessman.  I am excited for Jeff and his new hot dog shop, Dobbs Dawg House, and look forward to more businesses and projects in the future.  He is the new Number One.  Now I just need to get use to being Number Two.