It started on Friday, when K developed a runny nose, decreased appetite...we figured it was just another typical cold. Then I left Sunday morning for a work conference about 2 hours away (ps, if you're ever in the Long Beach area...look up the Terranea Resort - this place is pure heaven.) Then on Monday night I got a call from James frantically telling me that Kapri was NOT doing well and he was taking her to the ER, as per the on-call nurses' recommendation. Luckily he had his amazing mom by his side. They spent hours waiting...about 6 or 7 hours to be exact...in the ER, when finally they transferred them in an ambulance to a hospital about 30 minutes away, which had a Rady's Children's unit that could better care for Kapri. She was having major difficulty breathing and they had the proper equipment to help her.They checked in there around 6am, which is when I was waking up in my hotel room.
Turns out she was diagnosed with RSV - Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Apparently it's so common in children under 2, that nearly every child is diagnosed with it at least once.
Had we not had a work dinner fueled with drinks that night, I would've left right away...but there was no way I could've driven. So once I woke up, got the updates from James...I emailed my boss right away & told him I needed to leave. I hit the road around 7:45, then hit MAJOR traffic (I hate the 405), then finally arrived at the hospital just after 10am. I walked in to find James, his mom & sister to my left...calmly waiting & watching, as Kapri, to my right, slept in this horrible thing that I dubbed "the jail crib".
Finally around 1pm, the doctor made her rounds...and told us that Kapri needed to stay overnight so they could monitor her closely. That scared me. So James left to head home & grab some necessities. Once he returned, we ate...though Kapri would not...she refused to have any fluids or food the entire day and she developed a fever.
So by 7pm or so, we all agreed an IV would be best. So the poke & prodded her tiny left wrist...3 times...until they succeeded. She cried, but overall did pretty well...then passed out for some needed sleep. James tried to sleep on 1 of the 2 recliners...however he was rudely awakened when I woke him up in a furry...because the nurses decided that 8pm would be best to start rearranging the entire room!! We kinda took up 2 spaces, because no one else was in there...but they told us that there's enough room for 5 individual spaces, so we had to move ALL of our crap somehow into this tiny little space, and only have 1 recliner.
Awesome.
I traded my gorgeous, peaceful hotel room with a stunning ocean view and a bed & pillows made of fluffy clouds... for a room filled with screams and a stiff, plastic recliner with a flat crappy pillow and a view of the jail-crib, wires and monitors. Oh joy.
So I sent James home...he needed SLEEP way more than I did - he had been up the whole night before, no sleep at all. Then I nestled into the recliner around 9pm...oh what I night I was in for. The nurse came in about every hour to check on Kapri...and wake her up. Then in-between those times, they moved in 2 other kids/families next to us (who both had RSV)...1 of whom I had to complain to the nurse about because of their LOUD TV (how the hell did they score a TV and a freakin couch??!!) and of their loud kid...who insisted on banging his rattle across the metal jail-crib bars over...and over...AND OVER! I almost freaked out on them...but instead took out my frustration on the nurse...who shut them up.
Then the other kid, who seemed much younger...woke me up at some god awful time in the early a.m....screaming...not crying - for at LEAST an hour straight. That poor mom, all by herself, I could hear her endless attempts to quiet that kid up - singing, whispering, holding, soothing - nothing helped. I saw myself quickly going insane.
Then at one point when the nurse came in, I actually lost my cool & started crying...wondering how the hell I was going to get through the night - this is not an environment where people can get better - this is a place that makes people go crazzzzy!! They have these suction things... to help clear out the mucus in their nasal passages, but they're pretty much just a torture devise. It takes 2 people to hold down the kids, then 1 to insert these little plastic tubes and turn on the machine which literally sounds like a vacuum - just your average SNOT vacuum. Nasty.
The first time I saw them do it to Kapri, she was like a wild bull - no joke. Her cries for help brought tears to my eyes. Then when they said "okay, all done"...Kapri actually cried out "done" and signed the word "done" to the nurses...they all laughed. Immediately after... she polity said, through her tears, "buh byeee...buh byeee" and waved - it was beyond cute. She continued to say this & wave, upon every nurse who entered our room...right off the bat. She was scared of them with their masks and yellow paper coats, naturally, but at least she was polite, haha!
Anyway...somehow we managed to make it through the night...Kapri seemed to do much better than me in the sleep department - and by 10am, the doc came in and said she felt it was okay to discharge her. O.M.G. - I almost threw myself a party to celebrate right then & there! There was a whole LIST of complaints I had with this place...though I won't bore you with those. Needless to say - I'll make it a point to never return to that hospital again. By 10:45am, we were outtie...home bound...and of course I feel like I'm getting sick too. Fanfreakintastic.
Then today, we had a follow up appt with Kapri's regular pediatrician...man I love her. Even if we move an hour away (which will never happen)...I would still take the time to drive to see Dr. Mendenhall - no matter what. So she checked out K, listened to her chest...noticed continued wheezing and told us she needed another breathing treatment, which we did. Then also said she hears the verrry beginning of pneumonia (omg, really?!!) in her right lung - so she called in a prescription for that.
Some steam baths, relentless tears, tons of love & affection, sleepless nights, lots of snot-sucking and $90 later...I'm happy to report that she seams to be doing much better. Still a really nasty cough, but better. Oh the joys of parenthood...and all the worrying that comes with it.
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