Down and Out
This winter is proving to be a brutal one...and not in terms of weather. Since we've had a typical Alabama winter (60's one minute and 30's the next), this translates into HORRIBLE viruses reeking havoc on everyone. I feel like at least one Guthrie has been sick since New Years!
Since Emma is a daycare kid, we expect her to come home with a plethora of germs. We usually do a pretty good job of trying to keep things fairly clean and disinfected, but we don't live in a bubble. The 'sniffles' that Emma had during New Years didn't knock her out, although it gave both myself and her Uncle Will walking pneumonia. Fast forward a couple weeks and her little boyfriend Eli comes down with RSV (nasty stuff). It was impeccable timing as his baby brother was born the day after his diagnosis. Poor thing didn't even get to welcome his little brother into the world! Emma and I got to go visit little Cooper in the hospital, but wouldn't you know that as soon as we walked into the hospital room, Emma starts coughing. I could have dug a hole right there and buried myself in it! Adam and Monica were already being cautious with Eli having RSV and here my kid strolls in and hasn't coughed for weeks and coughs right there in the room with a new baby! Talk about embarrassed.
Fast forward another day and another one of Emma's bible class friends gets RSV. At this point, I was internally freaking out. I called the doctor to see if I needed to bring Emma in as a precaution to see if she had it and because she had not been coughing a lot (she started coughing during the night Tuesday but didn't cough once during the day Wednesday) and didn't have a fever, they didn't see any reason for her to come in just yet. I should have seen the writing on the wall.
Wednesday after daycare, Emma, of course, started hacking her head off. Still no fever. I kept her home Wednesday night because, even though she was okay (seemingly), I was having the mother of all migraines :( Wednesday night was a long one for us. Emma woke up at least 4 times coughing and I was racking my brain trying to figure out who we could ask to watch her if she wasn't any better by the morning. Thankfully, she acted like her normal self Thursday morning so she went about her normal routine. And being a first time mom, I have been beating myself up for not keeping her at home Thursday knowing what I know now. But it is what it is.
Once we got home Thursday from daycare, Emma was running a temp of 102.5. We gave her some Tylenol and I made a plan to keep her out Friday and take her to the doctor. My worst fear that she had RSV was becoming a reality. By Friday morning, her temp had come down to 99 but I still made an appointment because her cough had now become a bark. I know those are never good.
By the time we made it to Dr. King's at 10, her temp was completely normal. She was acting like her normal, silly self so I was at least glad this sickness wasn't keeping her down. When the doctor made it to our room, I gave him a rundown of the symptoms along with news of her little friends having RSV. He stated that he initially thought it might be RSV but with a temp of 102.5 the day before, that was just too high for RSV. He then took a listen to her lungs and his face became solemn. He told me that she indeed had a virus that might have started as RSV (which made me terrified that she was patient zero in regards to her little friends) but it had now turned into full blown pneumonia. I had never been terrified of that word but now being older and knowing so many people who have had to be hospitalized with this illness and some who have even died from it, I was speechless. I couldn't understand why my child acted so normal with such a serious illness! Emma's usually an open book when it comes to illnesses; if she doesn't feel good, you know. I never got that indication from her other than when she ran a high fever. I've tried not to overreact with it and I'm doing a pretty good job (if I do say so myself) but I still get nervous because of how cold it's been and I would love to put her in a mini-bubble for another week :)
Dr. King was great though and assured me that we were going to be aggressive with this virus and get it with some strong antibiotics. Since starting the meds, Emma has been nothing but a ball of energy! She even skipped naps Friday, Saturday AND Sunday! Her cough has slowly disappeared and she has been sleeping great at night with minimal coughing interruptions! Her appetite has returned some but she's still not back to her normal eating habits just yet, which means that we actually have food in the house ;)
As Emma has been getting better, I'm now feeling the effects of either a sinus infection or a cold. Great. I'm hoping I can head it off with some OTC meds and won't have to be down and out again!
Hope everyone has been able to remain healthy and enjoyed the little bit of snow we got last week! And if you happen to be one of the many that has succumb to the many viruses circulating, I hope you feel better soon!
God bless!
Since Emma is a daycare kid, we expect her to come home with a plethora of germs. We usually do a pretty good job of trying to keep things fairly clean and disinfected, but we don't live in a bubble. The 'sniffles' that Emma had during New Years didn't knock her out, although it gave both myself and her Uncle Will walking pneumonia. Fast forward a couple weeks and her little boyfriend Eli comes down with RSV (nasty stuff). It was impeccable timing as his baby brother was born the day after his diagnosis. Poor thing didn't even get to welcome his little brother into the world! Emma and I got to go visit little Cooper in the hospital, but wouldn't you know that as soon as we walked into the hospital room, Emma starts coughing. I could have dug a hole right there and buried myself in it! Adam and Monica were already being cautious with Eli having RSV and here my kid strolls in and hasn't coughed for weeks and coughs right there in the room with a new baby! Talk about embarrassed.
Fast forward another day and another one of Emma's bible class friends gets RSV. At this point, I was internally freaking out. I called the doctor to see if I needed to bring Emma in as a precaution to see if she had it and because she had not been coughing a lot (she started coughing during the night Tuesday but didn't cough once during the day Wednesday) and didn't have a fever, they didn't see any reason for her to come in just yet. I should have seen the writing on the wall.
Wednesday after daycare, Emma, of course, started hacking her head off. Still no fever. I kept her home Wednesday night because, even though she was okay (seemingly), I was having the mother of all migraines :( Wednesday night was a long one for us. Emma woke up at least 4 times coughing and I was racking my brain trying to figure out who we could ask to watch her if she wasn't any better by the morning. Thankfully, she acted like her normal self Thursday morning so she went about her normal routine. And being a first time mom, I have been beating myself up for not keeping her at home Thursday knowing what I know now. But it is what it is.
Once we got home Thursday from daycare, Emma was running a temp of 102.5. We gave her some Tylenol and I made a plan to keep her out Friday and take her to the doctor. My worst fear that she had RSV was becoming a reality. By Friday morning, her temp had come down to 99 but I still made an appointment because her cough had now become a bark. I know those are never good.
By the time we made it to Dr. King's at 10, her temp was completely normal. She was acting like her normal, silly self so I was at least glad this sickness wasn't keeping her down. When the doctor made it to our room, I gave him a rundown of the symptoms along with news of her little friends having RSV. He stated that he initially thought it might be RSV but with a temp of 102.5 the day before, that was just too high for RSV. He then took a listen to her lungs and his face became solemn. He told me that she indeed had a virus that might have started as RSV (which made me terrified that she was patient zero in regards to her little friends) but it had now turned into full blown pneumonia. I had never been terrified of that word but now being older and knowing so many people who have had to be hospitalized with this illness and some who have even died from it, I was speechless. I couldn't understand why my child acted so normal with such a serious illness! Emma's usually an open book when it comes to illnesses; if she doesn't feel good, you know. I never got that indication from her other than when she ran a high fever. I've tried not to overreact with it and I'm doing a pretty good job (if I do say so myself) but I still get nervous because of how cold it's been and I would love to put her in a mini-bubble for another week :)
Dr. King was great though and assured me that we were going to be aggressive with this virus and get it with some strong antibiotics. Since starting the meds, Emma has been nothing but a ball of energy! She even skipped naps Friday, Saturday AND Sunday! Her cough has slowly disappeared and she has been sleeping great at night with minimal coughing interruptions! Her appetite has returned some but she's still not back to her normal eating habits just yet, which means that we actually have food in the house ;)
As Emma has been getting better, I'm now feeling the effects of either a sinus infection or a cold. Great. I'm hoping I can head it off with some OTC meds and won't have to be down and out again!
Hope everyone has been able to remain healthy and enjoyed the little bit of snow we got last week! And if you happen to be one of the many that has succumb to the many viruses circulating, I hope you feel better soon!
God bless!
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