Well, We had a wonderful Memphis family Christmas, December 19th, and Jason left EARLY the morning of the 20th for China with work. Jacob had no signs of sickness, but by the evening of the 20th Jacob developed a cough. The cough and runny nose just got worse. He was unable to hold anything down because he was coughing so much it made him gag and puke... YUCK! No fever according to my home ear thermometer (which sucks by the way), but I took the little man to the doctor since I needed to stay home from work with the little sicko. And, boy am I glad I DID... I guess the saying is true about mommy being a nurse -- We don't like to go to the dr! (Truth is I figured it was viral and there probably wasn't much they could do for him). When we got to the doctor the poor little man was breathing very fast, had a very fast heart rate, a high temperature, and his oxygen numbers were a little low! The Dr. ran some tests, and Jacob had RSV. This is a virus that preemies are VERY susceptible to, and Jacob received vaccinations for it every month last winter. They are quite expensive and our insurance company determined that Jacob no longer needed them despite our pediatricians recommendation...UGH! (That's another RANT I could go on, but I'll refrain!) Anyway, our pediatrician recommended transferring Jacob to our local children's hospital for some "supportive care." Since RSV is viral there is not an antibiotic or treatment. The virus has to run its course, and they can only support them with breathing treatments, IV fluids, etc until the patient is able to recover. So, Here are some pics and narrative of our journey
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| Breathing Treatment... Poor Guy HATED these... They helped him to cough up the mucus and open his airways up! |
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| Sporting his hospital gown and "Einstein" Hair |
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| Viral Rash he developed on his cheeks |
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| Poor Guy.. Not feeling to HOT! |
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| Feeling little better... View from inside his hospital room |
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| The hospital was really nice! This was his room! |
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Bear feeling LOTS better and ready to get some wires off--
They had him hooked up to monitors for his heart rate and oxygen numbers and
an IV with some fluids |
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| We had to bring his crib dog from the house-- I was hoping it would help him sleep -- NOT SO MUCH |
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| Packed UP leaving the hospital-- They have red rider wagons for transporting patients! GENIUS! |
So, By the evening of December 22nd Jacob's fever had broke and numerous doctors assured me that he was no longer contagious 24 hours after his fever broke. So, after LOTS of deliberation I decided no sense in missing our families Christmas! Jacob was already on the mend and ready to play, so we went ahead and made the trek to OKC. (See Christmas at Granny's and Christmas at Mimi's posts!) Well, Right before we were ready to head home to OKC, Papa made Jacob some homemade Macaroni and Cheese -- just what the little recovering boy needed! In all of his excitement to eat some YUMMY dinner (he hadn't had much of an appetite until this point)... He pushed the tray off the high-chair and landed chin first on Mimi's tile... SO Back to the ER we went! 4 little bitty stitches in the chin. Loved Uncle Chase's quote, "You can't be a Craig boy without a scar on your chin..." Well, I guess he's official.
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| Poor Boy... He's like OH NO! Here we go... |
I will say, It is simply AMAZING how quickly these guys can bounce back! In a matter of a week, stitches are out and he's totally back to my kissy, huggy, lovey boy! His chin is healing very nicely ... Mederma every night and hopefully you'll never know, and no sign of RSV now totally better! SO, Thankful that we made it through this Christmas without anything serious! Thank you Jesus for watching over us!
