Christmas is literally my favorite holiday. As soon as October hit, I was ready for Mariah Carey to defrost and start singing me my favorite holiday jingles.
I decorated my tree sometime in November and couldn't stop talking about how excited I was for Christmas to come along. Little did we know that this Christmas we'd be spending it in the hospital.
On the Thursday, a week before Christmas, Luna started feeling under the weather. She had thrown up her food once during the day, and we didn't think too much of it. Later that night, we were getting ready for bed, and Luna was playing in our bed. This time she threw up again and was running a fever. My husband Ricky and I got worried and took her to the emergency room at the hospital around the corner from our house.
Once we were in the emergency room, we got seen right away. They ran x-rays of Luna's chest, and swabbed her nose for a few different viruses. They also checked her ears. We were there from 8pm until 3 in the morning. We were told that the chest x-ray had a small showing of pneumonia, and that she had no signs of any ear infections. After spending hours in the ER, they sent us home with Tylenol, amoxicillin and nausea medication.
Friday night came around and the doctor called to let us know that on top of the pneumonia, Luna had also tested positive for RSV and negative for COVID.. She assured that keeping up with the same medications would help Luna get better.
Saturday and Sunday came around and Luna was not looking better. She was sleeping for about 21-22 hours a day. She would eat food here and there but mainly just wanted to sleep. I noticed that while she slept, her breathing was forced and her stomach looked like it was tugging. I called the on-call pediatrician, and she told me that for the most part, this was normal with pneumonia and RSV, and to just keep giving her the medication. She said to take her to the ER if it looked like Luna really couldn't breathe.
Monday rolled around, and at this point, Luna was refusing to eat or drink anything. This included her milk and water. I was concerned that she was getting dehydrated. We gave her pedialyte, and that seemed to be the only thing she wanted. At this point, she was sleeping even more, and I was really worried about her breathing. I called her pediatrician, and got her in for an appointment the next day. This is where things took a turn that we could have never imagined.
The nurse came in to take Luna's vitals. She attached an oxygen monitor to Luna's toe and it kept beeping and flashing red. The nurse kept doing this for about 10 minutes, and the red beeping continued. She told me the student doctor would see us in a few minutes. To my surprise Luna's pediatrician walked in and not the student doctor. At this point, I knew that something was seriously wrong. Luna's pediatrician continued to do the same test the nurse did, and the machine kept beeping.
The machine was telling us that Luna's oxygen was very low, and that she could stop breathing at any moment unless they gave her oxygen through a mask. The pediatrician gave her an oxygen treatment, and continued to monitor her. Luna still wasn't improving enough, so the pediatrician asked if she could call the paramedics to transport Luna to a nearby hospital with a big pediatrics unit.
Not even 5 minutes later, the paramedics came in and put Luna on a stretcher. It was so sad seeing her little body, scared with an oxygen mask. The next thing I know, Luna and I were in an ambulance on our way to the hospital.
We get to the hospital and Luna was admitted into the emergency room where they put a cannula in her nose, so she can get oxygen. They drew blood work. Ran x-rays and did a couple breathing treatments.
It turned out she had an ear infection and RSV but no pneumonia. I was confused because this conflicted with everything I was told in the ER at a different hospital just a few days before.
After a few hours, we were transferred and admitted into the pediatrics unit.
The only thing we had going for us was Luna's age. She is currently 14 months, and we were told that the older kids get, the more "cold- like" it becomes. Whereas, if she was a baby, RSV would have been much more concerning. Still, it was pretty freaken scary to be told that your kid can't breathe normally on their own!
The nurses and doctors were so sweet and caring. They called Luna "princess" and "girl friend." Everyone was so bummed that we were in the hospital during Christmas week, and their biggest goal was to get Luna healthy enough to go home before Christmas. All week the nurses and respiratory therapists checked on Luna, gave her antibiotics, fluids and breathing treatments.
The number one thing that would help get us home was suctioning Luna's mucus every 2-3 hours. The nurses and respiratory therapists came in like clock work to suck her boogers out. I think that out of the IV, the nose tube and the suctioning, Luna hated the suction the most. She cried off the top of her lungs every single time she got suctioned, but every time, it helped her feel better for a few hours.
We almost got to go home on Christmas Eve., but Luna's oxygen took a dip that day, and she couldn't breathe fully without the oxygen machine. Every time they tried to wean her off the oxygen, she couldn't breathe properly. The doctor told us that RSV comes in ok, mild and bad forms, and unfortunately, Luna had the worst possible case of RSV.
He ordered another x-ray, to see why she wasn't getting better. I was told that the longer a kid her age has RSV, the better she should get, and she was at the point where she should have hit the peak of the RSV and should have started getting better by now.
Luckily, the x-ray showed a sign of improvement, and she started doing 1000 times better Christmas Day. It's like something clicked into place and suddenly we were on the right track. We were able to completely wean her off of the oxygen, and she started behaving like her normal self. She was up and around playing, eating, drinking as if she was all better. Later, she got a visit from Santa Clause who brought her presents. The hospital made sure that we still felt the Christmas spirit, even if Christmas looked a little different for us this year.
Later that day, Luna was looking close to perfect, and we were able to go home. Her cough still lingered for a few days, but she's been back to normal ever since. The days were long and the nights were gruesome, but after enough respiratory treatments, suctions and antibiotics, we finally got to go home on Christmas Day. It was truly a Christmas miracle.
By the way, people are always looking for someone to blame. Family, friends, whoever want to tell you where you as the parent messed up, and if you wouldn't have done X, the baby wouldn't have gotten sick. At the end of the day, they are not doctors, so don't let anyone make you feel bad or guilty about your kids health. I asked the doctor about what could have caused the RSV. If it was from me taking my daughter outside in the cold like everyone alluded to. He assured me that kids are gross. They like to lick things, lick the ground, lick other people. They lick and touch everything, so we may never know where she got the germs from. Point is, don't beat yourself up. Just focus on keeping your kid as healthy as you can.
Happy Holidays friends. See you next year!
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