The RSV Game - Up & Down

Good morning. I thought I'd update all of you on how last night went. Well, remember when she had to get the TP tube down her nose for her feedings? That unfortunately didn't find the correct spot the first time and curled back up into her stomach. The PICU nurses had to redo the procedure last night at 9:15 pm and thankfully it was successful after checking again with another x-ray. She didn't like it so much the second time around. I chose not to watch too.

So, at 10:30 pm she finally started a drip of Carnation Goodstart. It got things moving because it wasn't long until the first dirty diaper. I'm not sure she is satisfied, but at least she is getting the nutrition. We slept from 10:30 pm - midnight until the respiratory therapist had to come in and suction her out. It is ordered every 3 hours or so. It is kind of a bummer! This woke her up and she just wasn't sucking on the pacifier like normal probably due to the tube down in the back of her throat. I can't say I blame her. So she would suck on it for a few seconds and then out it would pop. She was really tired and fighting her sleep. I stood over her bed until 2:30 am continuously replacing the paci and then finally said "Alayna, goodnight. I'm going to sleep even if you are fussing a bit." I even tried exposing her suction tube as "white noise." Finally, she gave up and we slept until 6:00 am.

Her oxygen levels then began to drop around 6:00 am. They did the same thing yesterday. It's like a yo-yo, up and down. It is frustrating because there is no real reason why she isn't holding them steady all of the time. Is it from her position, does she need more suctioning, is it her lungs, does she need a breathing treatment, or is she clogged up? The questions go on and on. The nurses are very good about trying every trick they know. She had another x-ray just about an hour ago and we are waiting the doctors to make their rounds. We will know more then....I hope. I will update after we talk to them to see if the plan has changed today.

RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus and most all children get it sometime before they turn 3. Most of the time it isn't serious and just shows itself as common cold symptoms. Alayna's turned severe and if something like this ever happens again I've got to be more persistent and go with my motherly gut. The good thing is that most of the time if children get RSV a second time it isn't as severe. I've got some great handouts and a pamphlet on RSV and things to look for. If any of you would like a copy, just let me know. I'll try to post some more information about RSV as we go.