Our First Hospitalization

We have had a very scary, long, and stressful week. B and B started not feeling well last Sunday. They started not eating, running temps (Brody-101s, Brynn- 102s), and coughing A LOT. We kept them home from daycare on Monday and Tuesday. We had been giving Brody breathing treatments as needed and they both had been getting Tylenol and Motrin pretty much around the clock. On Tuesday, Bryan said they acted okay and even played a little as long as they had Tylenol and Motrin on board. They still weren't eating, but drinking okay. That night Brynn spiked another fever and I decided that when Bryan got home from work the next morning that we would take them to Urgent Care at Mercy South. I had had B and B's ears checked the week before, so I figured that this was just viral anyway. When we arrived at Mercy South, neither B or B had a fever. They checked their o2 sats and they were both ok, a little low, but nothing to be too concerned about. When the doctor came in to assess them, he didn't like what he heard in Brody's lungs. He said his lungs were crackly and wheezy and that Brody was retracting. Brody got 2 albuterol treatments and deep suctioned. His oxygen levels started deterioating and his sats were only upper 80s/lows 90s (normal 93-100%). Brody then got a racemic epi breathing treament and he still wasn't improving, so they put him on 2L o2 via nasal cannula. His sats remained upper 80s/low 90s. His sputum came back positive for RSV and he was also diagnosed with a mild ear infection. The doctor said Brody needed to be hospitalized, so Brody and Mommy got to take a ride with Children's Mercy Critical Care Transport Team to KU where he was admitted. Brynn was diagnosed with an ear infection and sent home on antibiotics. She mostly likely had RSV also, but her lungs sounded clear and her o2 levels were ok so she didn't need to be hospitalized. Brody was in the hospital at KU until Friday. He started out getting nasal suctioned every 2 hours, albuterol breathing treatments every 4 hours, and pulmicort breathing treatments every 12 hours. He stayed on this regimen his whole hospitalization, except they changed the suctioning to every 4 hours. You wouldn't believe the amount of mucous we suctioned out of him. Suctioning him was quite the task too since Brody is very strong and it required me actually sitting on him and holding his arms down while someone else suctioned him. I know it sounds awful, but it had to be done:( Throughout his hospitalization, he required o2 as needed, especially when he was sleeping. Fortunately, they gave me the option of him having an IV for hydration or me pushing fluids on him. I opted for pushing fluids and we managed to avoid an IV. He did have to get an IM shot while we were there for his ear infection though. He barely ate in the hospital at all, except on Friday, he did manage to eat some sausage for breakfast and some pizza for lunch. As soon as he woke up from his nap on Friday after we got home from the hospital he has been a new boy. He started eating and was already getting into trouble:) We are still giving him pulmicort treatments twice a day and albuterol treatments as needed. We even gave Brynn a few treatments, which seemed to help her a little too. They both are not 100% yet, but a lot better. A giant "thank you" to Grandma Farnan for staying a night with Brody in the hospital so I could spend some time with Brynn and get some rest. I have never been so thankful to have my entire family under one roof as I have been this weekend. Brynn told me several times Friday that she wanted to go see Brody. This was the first time since their birth that they have spent any nights apart. However, I think their missing each other has passed because they have gotten in trouble for fighting several times. Although, I don't like them fighting, it means that they're feeling better:)