Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Cold developments

Many days I have chosen to be quiet here in bloggerland because things have been so normal and routine. Lily ate. Lily smiled. Lily pooped. Lily cried for a long time. I'm exhausted. The same, day in and day out. This time, I wish my silence were so easy. This time, I have chosen to be quiet because Lily has been sick and I've been exhausted. We ended up taking Lily to the emergency room early Monday evening. I could give you the short version and tell you that she has pneumonia, but I'm quite confused over how this has happened. (Should I be? Really, I should have seen this coming.)
Dave took Lily to the doctor on Friday. Nothing. Just a cold. But he was told that we need to listen for wheezing. We listened. And listened. All we heard was a little wheezing while she ate, but that sounded more nasaly. The babysitter stayed with Lily on Monday. We told her to listen for wheezing. Again, nothing. When I got home, Lily was asleep in her bouncy chair. Very peaceful. She got fussy at 3:45--time to eat. I fed her, and then sat in the chair, playing with her, making her smile. Something about her breathing didn't seem right. I looked at her chest and noticed that she was sucking in under her lungs--retraction, it's called. (I only knew this wasn't good because when Gabriel had RSV, we were told to watch for that. Thank goodness for that. Otherwise, things could have been worse because still, no wheezing.) So I called the doctor, and he told us to take her to the ER.
I'm really impressed with how quickly they took her back to the pediatric ER. No sooner were we in the room then the respiratory therapist came in, followed by the nurse. About two minutes later, the doctor came in. They tested Lily for RSV--she didn't like the tube in her nose at all--and x-rayed her chest. About two hours later, they told us it was pneumonia. On a scale from one to ten, about a two. Lily was given a shot of antibiotics (one in each leg because her legs are too small to have it given in one leg--little girl!), we were given a prescription for more antibiotics and breathing treatments, and we were on our way home.
I'm so thankful that Lily didn't have to stay in the hospital. I'm so thankful that her pneumonia seemed to be caught early. I'm still scared for her. She's such a little thing and she just seems to be breathing so heavily. I talked to Molly, Lily's NICU nurse, tonight, and she helped put me at ease and let me know that it may be a few more days before Lily gets better. But it's good that Lily's lips are a good color and the horrible coughing sounds are actually good too. It's horrible to think that LG is going through this.
We're exhausted and now it seems Gabriel is wheezing. It seems the night-night gods just don't want me to get any sleep, and it's really getting to me. But Lily is now four months, and she's still with us. Crazily enough, it's worth it.
I'm glad God doesn't have a maximum on prayers, because I've surely said a lot lately. A lot for Lily. A lot for Brianna and her family (see her story at http://briannagiveshope.blogspot.com). A lot for my T-18 mommy friends. A lot.
Thank you for your prayers for Lily and our family.

8 comments:

  1. Lots of prayers for Lily and her lovely family.

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  2. Praying for Lily to recover quickly and for you to be able to rest.

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  3. Lily is so lucky to have a great family that is watching her so closely. Pneumonia can progress so fast. You did an awesome job getting treatment before she was really sick!

    We are praying for her health and your great big job of being her mommy.

    Loves!

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  4. Praying without ceasing for Lily and her precious, loving family.

    Ann

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  5. I just checked in to see how Lily was doing, and I hated to see that she has pneumonia. I will be praying for her. I know how hard this is... to see your baby sick and not breathing easily. I have been there. I will be praying for sweet Lily.
    Godspeed.

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  6. Stay Strong Sweet Lily...
    Get better soon,
    Praying for the pneumonia to go away fast.
    Praying for everyone to get a restful night.

    Love from California,
    Nichole

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  7. Please God...heal Your Lily, strengthen her...cast out fear...we call on Your mercy once again for this precious child. Also, please protect Mom, Dad, and Big Bro, and please grant them restful, recuperative sleep! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

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  8. Here's to Lily fighting off this pneumonia quickly! We'll be praying for her as well as you guys! Hope that you can get some rest!Take care! Amy

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