On Saturday Emma was wheezing and congested in her nose so I called the pediatrician to see if they thought I should bring her in to be looked at. They told me to bring her in, so we did. Luckily Aiden was at his Grandma Barnett's house visiting so we didn't have to worry about keeping him entertained at the pediatricians office. When the doctor checked her vitals and her breathing he decided she had RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), also known as Bronchiolitis. (This news totally freaked me out because I was under the impression that RSV was commonly fatal, but was happy to find out later it's not.) He suggested we check her into Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo to have her "suctioned out". When he said this I though that we might be there for a few hours, but boy was I wrong. Three days later I'm finally home! I have to admit, although it was sad to see Emma sick it was kind of nice to get a break from having to take care of two kids and the house work and just focus on just Emma for the time I was in the hospital with her. They fed me 3 meals a day and I got to nurse her when she needed it and just focus on getting her better. Plus, I'm sure Aiden had a blast with his Nana(Grandma Barnett), Neanea (linnea), Bubba (Grandpa Barnett), Buddy (Kelby) and Auby (Aubrey)! He always does.
Every 2-4 hours, depending on how often it seemed like she needed it, they suctioned out her nose. This basically involved putting drops of saline in her nose to loosen things up, then sticking a small flexible tube hooked up to a vacuum down one nostril until it hit the back of her throat, then as they pulled it back out it would suck out all the mucus in her nose. They did this to both nostrils until it sounded like they got it all. The first time they did it I couldn't watch but after that I watched every time and was fine. It helped her so much that I knew even though she screamed through it that she'd be glad we did it when it was all over. Then, after the suction they would give her a treatment of albuterol (something usually used for asthma) to open up her lungs. That was her favorite part! She would just close her eyes and usually fall asleep. I could tell it relaxed her big time. Here's a video of her getting her "treatment" and the nurse explaining why the albuterol is helpful. (Sorry about the loud vapor sound. That blue tube is spraying albuterol vapors in her face - the best way to get babies to breath it in.)
On the second day her oxygen levels were a little low so they put her on oxygen. We weren't given the okay to leave until she could breath well without needing suction or the extra oxygen. By the end of her 3rd day she was needing a lot less suctioning and off oxygen and doing great.
So the next morning her pediatrician gave us the okay to go home.
We can come back for out-patient suctioning when ever we feel like she needs it though. I like having that option. She's still contagious so I'm suppose to keep her away from other babies for at least the next two weeks. Anyone can get RSV including adults but most people just think they have a cold because it has the same symptoms. The only reason it's bad for babies to get it is because they're nose breathers and if their noses get clogged they can't clear them themselves which means they can't breath.
Here's some pictures from our stay at the hospital.
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