Sometimes, life isn't fair. Just ask Benjamin. At 4 weeks old, he got RSV. RSV is a common respiratory virus that almost all kids get. It's no big deal if you're a little older, but if you're a brand new infant it's pretty nasty stuff. We don't know how he got it, because none of the other kids are sick. But, it likely came home with one of them from preschool, sunday school, or wherever.
It all started on Friday with a little cough. Then he tested positive for RSV, it turned into lots of coughing, congestion, and then turned into respiratory distress by Monday. The thing about RSV is that it usually gets worse, before it gets better. It's terrifying to have a sick infant, especially when they are having a hard time breathing. After a few very stressful days of watching our sweet boy day and night, he seemed to be getting worse and tiring out. On Monday night his respirations were almost 80 per minute, he didn't want to eat, and was looking poor. I called our pediatrician, and he sent us to Mary Bridge ER. (Here's a shout out to our pediatrician who called ahead and spoke the attending ER pediatrician about Benjamin, so they'd be ready for us when we arrived. Now that's an AMAZING pediatrician!) I can't express how thankful I am to live near an excellent children's hospital. We arrived, never set foot in the waiting room, and were whisked back to an exam room. I thought they were showing extra care for Benjamin, but it turns out that they don't like to have kids with RSV infecting all the other people in the waiting room. Whatever...we got super fast service!
The doctor saw Benjamin and immediately admitted him to the in-patient pediatric unit. We arrived at our room around 1am and he was hooked up to IV fluids, had a respiratory therapist, and the monitoring started. After several sleepless nights, I could finally relax knowing that someone else was watching and carefully monitoring his every move. There's no treatment for RSV itself. It's a just a virus, so the plan of care is to support the little one so they can fight it off. Once his breathing was under control and he started getting fluids he improved immensely. He's a strong little guy!
So, Benjamin turned 5 weeks old in the same place we started...TG/Mary Bridge. I never expected to be back there...so soon. We all know that he's a Stewart, so it's probably just a matter of time before he needs stitches or sticks a lego up his nose, etc. And maybe we should have seen this coming. There seems to be some cosmic force that isn't satisfied until we have met our health insurance out-of-pocket maximum for the year. It only took 38 days this year. That's a new record for us!
It was hard to see an IV inserted into my infant's arm, juggle the leads and wires to hold him, and stare at a monitor watching his numbers..BUT it once again reminded me of how thankful I am for the awesome doctors and nurses at Mary Bridge, and reminded me even more that God is in control of this little guy's life. I know that He loves and cares for Benjamin infinitely more than I can imagine...which seems impossible!
Benjamin did so well, that after just 24 hours we got to go home. He had a better day today, and seems to be continuing to get better. And so hopefully this will conclude Benjamin's first big adventure!
