Brad brought her into the clinic on Monday the 19th. The doctor just said she had a bad cold & an ear infection. She said her fever would go away and she should start feeling better by Wednesday and then they sent him home with a perscription.
We just knew there was something else going on. She certainly wasn't acting herself and she remained lethargic all day. She continued to have a fever and hadn't eaten a thing since Friday (the 16th). We couldn't even get her to look at us. She would just lay around and stare off into the distance. We monitored her all night and then Brad brought her back into the clinic on Tuesday (I was at work).
We thankfully got her regular pediatrician this time. She checked Erin's oxygen levels & took x-rays of her chest. Erin's oxygen levels were in the mid to low 80s (normal should be 100%) and her chest x-ray came back showing pneumonia on her right side. (about this time is when I arrived from work) They continued to give her some nebulizer treatments & oxygen to see if her levels would come back up. It helped a little bit, but her levels continued to dip back down afterwards.
Her doctor thought it would be best to send her to Children's hospital, but she had to go by ambulance to receive oxygen during the ride there.
Brad rode along with her in the ambulance while Emmy and I followed in my car. We sat in the Emergency Room for another couple of hours while Erin got treated/tested. Her E.R. doctor was wonderful about explaining everything going on. He did admit her into the hospital because of her oxygen levels alone, but Erin was also very dehydrated. I also mentioned to the doctor that she was a preemie. Preemies are more susceptible of getting respiratory infections. They tested Erin for RSV, put in an IV and then admitted her into the hospital.
During the hospital stay Erin had short bursts of energy that tended to wipe her out pretty quickly. She tested positive for RSV which doctors told us probably brought on the pneumonia. She developed a rash and continued to be treated for her double ear infection. Her fever remained all week until Friday. She didn't eat anything until Thursday - almost a week from when she started getting sick. She got fluids and antibiotics through her IV.
The doctors told us that she had to breathe on her own (without the help of oxygen) for 24 hrs AND have oxygen levels into the 90s before she would get discharged. They tried weaning her off the oxygen a few times & also spaced out her neb treatments to every four hours but eventually had to go back to her previous routine.
Erin became very irritable in the hospital. By Friday she was starting to get sick of being in her room and stuck in her crib. She didn't want me to look at her & she wasn't happy with the nurses that came into her room.
We eventually got approval to take Erin for a wagon ride around the 6th floor. Erin really loved being out of her room and anytime we got close to her room she would freak out and point to go the other way.
Daddy stayed with Erin in the hospital all week while I stayed home with Emmy and made several trips up to the hospital. My mom came up to help watch Emmy too so that both Brad & I could be there with Erin.
Erin was a daddy's girl before but now she's really attached at the hip with all their bonding this past week. If you thought it was bad before how much Erin tugged on Brad's leg...it's way worse now!
Emmy was not allowed to go up to Erin's room. The hospital had a strict policy about any kids under the age of five. However, on Christmas Eve our nurse had told us if we could sneak Emmy past security, she could allow her up to Erin's room for a few minutes. We ended up doing the same thing on Christmas Day.
The doctor finally gave us approval to go home on Christmas Day! I think the next holiday will be celebrated a little bit early in our family since we tend to get sick on those occasions. Also, I think I will just have the ambulance follow us during the next holiday. Just kidding. :)
These were both taken when she was starting to feel a little bit better.
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