At the end of May Ruby and I went down to visit my sister Amanda and her kids. My dad and sister Jessica were also there! About midway through our trip Ruby suddenly got a temperature of 103.4, I promptly took my little girl to the ER to make sure she was ok. They checked her out, did some ex-rays and determined she was pretty much ok and I just needed to give her Tylenol and Motrin on a schedule to keep her fever down. They mentioned she probably had RVS but she didn't do a test to make sure nor tell me to do anything other than the over the counter fever reducers.
We left the ER feeling confident Ruby was gonna feel better and be fine. On the way home we got some Tylenol and Motrin like told and I gave that stuff to her on a strict schedule. That night Ruby slept ok and by the next morning seemed to be feeling a little better. Her fever was hoovering around 101-102 even with taking the fever reducers. She had more energy and was in a much better mood. But that evening she had developed a nasty nagging cough that prevented her and me from getting any restful sleep and was back to feeling terrible the next day which was Thursday. By Thursday afternoon I noticed Ruby's breathing becoming more labored and quick, she also had no energy and was extremely fussing and clingy. She also stopped drinking, nursing and eating. I was still giving her the fever reducers on a schedule but she still had a fever. Since we were scheduled to leave the next morning I made the tough decision to not seek medical help in Montana again and to wait until we were home.
That night went much like the night before, lots of coughing, crying and no sleep. I continued to offer water and breast milk and she would refuse it every. single. time. Finally morning came, we said our goodbyes and left for the airport. Traveling with an extremely sick baby has to be one of the saddest things ever. I was able to get her to sleep on and off on each flight home. By the time we got to Juneau she was looking like a rag doll. She could barely keep her eyes open, she was a million degrees to the touch and her arms, legs and neck were lifeless and limp.
I called Ruby's pediatrician and asked for the soonest appointment available and took Ruby in. The doctor gave Ruby a nebulizer treatment and told us to go to the ER right away.
He called the ER ahead of us to let them know we were coming so when we got there we didn't have to wait to get care. They took Ruby's temperature with a thermal scanner and she was registering at 105.3, so they did a anal temperature for more accuracy and she still was registering at 104.5. They admitted her immediately and started lots of tests. They also did some x-rays and the crazy contraption they put her in to keep her still was creepy and heart breaking. Luckily Ruby didn't seem to mind too much. After the x-rays they put an IV in Ruby's arm and got her on some fluids and also put her on oxygen. They gave her steroids, antibiotic and Albuterol treatments. Ruby just sat on my lap lifeless while I held her arm to prevent it from bending. My heart broke in so many different ways seeing my little girl like this. I felt like a failure of a parent because I couldn't prevent my daughter from getting so sick she was hospitalized. Later the doctors came in and told us Ruby had RSV and Pneumonia and that we would be staying the weekend.
They transferred us up to the critical care unit. Ruby had so many things attached to her that were attached to monitors. The monitor alarms went off all night and because of the steroids they gave her Ruby kept having crazy energy anger outburst where she would rip her oxygen tubes off her face, then twist and tangle everything up.
The next day Ruby improved and had life in her again! She still slept most of the day and had an IV, oxygen and monitors on her.
Yo Gabba Gabba was her favorite past time while awake.
Dan and I took turns laying in the bed with her napping on and off.
By Saturday afternoon Ruby was well enough to leave CCU and go to the Med. Surg. unit. We stayed the night there and enjoyed less monitors being connected to Ruby. Saturday night was rough for Ruby, her oxygen levels kept dropping real low. Because of that the doctor told us we might have to stay another night for monitoring.
Dan left for church Sunday morning and I stayed laying in the hospital bed holding our little girl. While Dan was at church he had our fellowship pray for Ruby together.
A little later that afternoon Ruby started to feel a lot better. She was smiling and laughing we even got her to eat a piece of candy which thankfully lead to her drinking some water, FINALLY!!!
Small happy moments!
By 7:00 pm Sunday evening, after a day of being told we had to stay the night again, they released Ruby to go home if we felt comfortable with it. It was such an answer to our prayers!
We went home and slept in our own beds! The next day was gorgeous out so we had a BBQ at home to celebrate our little girls recovery. After coming home Ruby continued to improved day after day. Now she is completely healed and 100% herself again. Such a blessing from the Lord!!
