February 16, 2010

The hospital...not Chanley's favorite place.

What a week! I am so so so so grateful it is over!! So on Thurs Chanley wasn't getting any better so I was getting a little worried. She had so much gunk in her and the bulb syringe wasn't cutting it. I called a nurse and told her all of Chan's symptoms and she thought it would probably be good to get Chan to a doctor that day. So Ryan left work early and we took her to a pediatric urgent care near our home. The doctor was a little concerned with her O2 level and could here some wheezing when she listed to her breathing. She also said that Chan had an ear infection! Poor girl! No wonder she was so miserable. The doctor diagnosed her with bronchiolitis and said she wanted Chanley to stay at the hospital that night. We ended up waiting 3 or 4 hours while they tried to find Chanley a room at a nearby pediatric wing.

Bronchiolitis is a form of RSV and the whole pediatric unit Chanley stayed in was FULL of babies with this. So here's a little rundown of the illness: your lungs have braches of broniolioles which are very small, especially in babies. They get inflamed and get filled with mucous and it makes it hard for O2 to get to that part of the lung, so the baby has to work harder to breath. So they hooked Chanley up to O2 and started trying to get as much mucous out of her as they could. They had this really nifty machine that kindof acts like a vaccuum and sucks the boogies out. It worked so much better than my bulb syringe. Chan hated every second of it. She would kick and wiggle and scream and cry and try everything to get loose. She was soon known as the "strong-willed" baby to all the drs. and nurses. They had an O2 moniter taped to her toe monitering her blood O2 level and Chan kicked it off every time they would put it on. She's a smart little girl, she learned pretty quick that the people in yellow masks and gowns meant bad news and would try anything to get away. She was such a good little sport though. There was either a dr, nurse, or respiratory dr in our room every hour, checking O2 levels, sucking boogies, giving her eardrops, giving her Tylenol, taking her vital signs, and giving her her antibiotics for her ear infection. It was a very long few days for all of us. Ryan and I got sick as well, and I soon discovered that the only thing worse than taking care of a sick child is being sick YOURSELF while trying to take care a sick baby. I stayed with her the whole time and slept on a fold out chair at night. Ryan took some time off work and would go home at night to sleep because there wasn't enough room for both of us to stay, and then would come back to the hospital as soon as he could the next morning. We ended up staying at the hospital a few days longer than we thought because every time they took Chan off the O2 she dipped too low. Steve Collis, a good friend of our was able to come to the hospital to help Ryan give Chan a blessing. I'm so so grateful Chanley was able to recieve that and that I married a man worthy to give that blessing to her. I have a strong testimony of the power of the priesthood -it has blessed our lives so much.

They let Chanley come home on Sunday night with O2, which hopefully she won't have to use for long. She has already improved so much since we've been home and is almost back to her old self, which we are so grateful for. Hopefully she continues to get better. Thank you everyone for all your love and prayers!
P.S. Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!

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