RSV:(

rdbanks

Just got home from taking my little one to the doctor. He'd had a cough and runny nose for the past couple of days, and this morning woke up with wheeziness in his chest. The nurse said to bring him in.

Turns out, he has rsv...which I knew next to nothing about except to be verrrry careful when he was a premie--that it was dangerous to new babies.

We've been sent home with a breathing treatment and a word of warning to take him right to the hospital of he shows signs of trouble breathing.

Anyone else have experience with rsv? Any "extra" things I can do to make him feel more comfortable?

rdbanks

Thanks, @ Idani. I definitely want to be prepared for the possibility of it getting bad. How did you know it had turned into pneumonia? Were there obvious signs? I'm a first time mom and this happens to be our first sickness, so I want to be ready and informed!

rdbanks

Thanks for the info! Right now he is very upbeat and pretty much his normal self, minus the rattley cough. Hoping for a good outcome here, but also hoping my mommy instincts pick up on anything more serious if need be:)

ebp913

DS got RSV at 3 weeks old and was in ICU for 2 weeks on a ventilator so I've been there. He actually stopped breathing and turned blue so that's when we went to the ER.  

He actually just got bronchiolitis and now we are also doing the breathing treatments, etc at home. I am looking out for things like being overly lethargic, not eating, etc.  He didn't eat well the last 2 or 3 days but he was sick and I was fine with that.  He's started to get better now and eat more so now I'm just making sure he doesn't regress and if he does, we'll go to the hospital or doctor. 

At this age, everything is likely to be just fine.  RSV is just really terrible for very small babies.  

rdbanks

@ebp913 I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for any of those signs you mentioned...thanks for sharing. That must have been pretty scary with your LO so young. Luckily our lo's are older and more capable at fighting off viruses. It's also nice that we can "read" them a whole lot better, too.

I'm just putting DS down for the night, hopefully he gets some good rest and feels better tomorrow.

Christmasbaby18

Did they check his pulse ox?  I'm surprised he's not on oxygen.  My DD had RSV when she was 8 weeks old and was admitted to the hospital and needed oxygen for 2 weeks.  Just watch for blue lips or retractions (when you can see the muscles between the ribs sucking in air). My daughter actually had none of these signs and her pulse ox was in the 80s.  I hope he feels better soon.

rdbanks

@christmasbaby18...they did check-- it read 95 and then went up to 96. Which the nurse explained anything above 95 was good. Is that something that is common with rsv? Needing to be out on oxygen? I will definitely be watching for those things...sounds like you had a very scary experience, I can't even imagine! Thanks for the response!

rdbanks

Anyone have any tips in how to give the breathing treatment without having baby scream and fight? My LO hates it and goes near hysterical. It been tricky holding his body still with the mask covering his nose and mouth because he's fighting it the entire time. I've tried to show him it's all good by holding the mask on my face and talking in happy upbeat tones, but he's having none of it. I'm a bit worried the treatment won't yield the best results because of this. Just want the little guy to be better!

cutiekels2

My DS just had bronchitis for the second time.  The only way I could get him to not scream during the breathing treatments was to put Mickey Mouse clubhouse on and sing to him.  The more distracted he was the less he fought me. I also put him in the swing when my DH wasnt home it was easier than trying to hold him and keep his hands away from his face.  I hope your LO feels better soon. 

SLGILL1978

I hope he feels better! My daughter had this at 2 months. I don't want to scare you either but we were in the hospital for 3 days. She never had a fever. Just a nasty cough that lasted for 3 weeks. The same day I was taking her the doctor her babysitter called and said she had started to wheeze. Now when she coughs I have to watch her very carefully. She had a cough a couple weeks ago that I ended up taking her in for breathing treatments too. Thank goodness she has only been sick once since then. I agree with the cool mist humidifier. We sleep with it on every night. I also used a small flat pillow to prop her up head up so she could breathe and sleep better (my pedi recommended it).

RibbitGrl930

Jake had RSV about a month-and-a-half ago. We discovered it after (I also don't mean to scare you) he had a few episodes of apnea in a short period of time. After the second one in a 2-hour span, the doc had him checked into the hospital for observation. EKGs and X-rays came back normal, bu he tested ositive for RSV. What brought a lot of peace of mind for us was having an AngelCare monitor that sets off an alarm after going 20 seconds without detecting movement.

The suckiest part for my peace of mind was knowing that there was nothing we could do to speed up the recovery, just wait for his body to fight it off. He is currently bauuling bronchiolitis and we're treating it with a nebulizer. Not sure if the old stuff came back or if it's a new thing he picked up at daycare. I hope your LO gets to feeling better. Of course, I always try to remember what one of my friends said when she saw how upset i was getting over Jake feeling sick- "You probably feel worse than he does right now."