Viruses and the ER

<Update>

Aubrey's O2 sat was still only around 74% today when we were at the doctor's office. A call was put in to the cardiologist, who basically communicated the following:

1. he really doesn't want her admitted to the hospital because of all the various illnesses she would be exposed to, so he has charged me with observation and reporting on how she's breathing, nursing, sleeping, etc.

2. he is fairly certain her O2 sats are completely related to her respiratory infection and are not an indication that her heart is no longer doing as good a job. Aubrey will see our local doctor on Monday; the hope is that by then she will be recovering from this illness and that her O2 sats will be appropriately higher (her normal baseline is 88-90% or so).

So now it's just a matter of continuing to watch Aubrey. We are praying that she will be healed and that her O2 sats return to where they should be. I am amazed by how much better she is doing just this afternoon and I must say that I hardly think it coincidence that many have been praying for her today. She has nursed well 3 times in a row now, laid on the floor for 10 whole minutes without crying (this is amazing in light of the last several days), and slept this afternoon for close to an hour without waking.

I am feeling a bit rundown by the sickness my own body is battling, but my spirits are much lifted. A more peaceful baby, the knowledge that there are many praying, and a great guy bringing pizza so I don't have to cook are good things!

</Update>


Daniel and I were in the ER last night with Aubrey for 5 hours. The last time we were in the ER, we were there for 7 hours. I can't help but feel like this is longer than ER visits are supposed to be, but I'm realizing that due to Aubrey's CHD, doctors are very cautious and hesitant with her. Other than her cardiologists, they don't tend to make fast decisions and they like to rule out everything every time (or so it seems). I certainly understand this, considering that I am overly cautious with Aubrey myself. I'm the one who brings her to ER, after all.

Fortunately, we came home after those 5 hours. The ER doc wanted to keep Aubrey through today for observation, but Dr. McCloy showed up at the end of our visit and put her foot down. She doesn't want Aubrey admitted to the floor ever. Maybe the ICU if necessary, though she said were we at that point she would probably just send us to Syracuse.

The good news is that Aubrey's respiratory infection is just that-- a straight-forward respiratory infection and not pneumonia or RSV or the flu. They did a breathing treatment for her and gave her a good dose of ibuprofin and the combination helped her breathing enough that she nursed well for the first time in over 24 hours. (I had gotten to the point of pumping yesterday because I didn't want her lack of nursing to lessen my milk supply.) Unfortunately, even after multiple monitors and probes were tried (in multiple locations), her oxygen saturation levels hovered in the 70s with frequent dips in to the high 60s. That's low even for Aubrey, so in an hour I'll be bringing her to the doctor's office so that they can do another check. If it's still low today, then Dr. McCloy will call Dr. Byrum (her cardiologist) to find out whether or not it's disconcertingly low to him.

This respiratory infection is working its way through our whole family, so it's nice to know that it's not anything more serious. Bronwyn is finally getting over it, but in the last 2 days both Jackson and I have caught it. Gabriel is coughing a bit and his appetite is very low, too. Only Daniel remains unscathed. (He hardly ever gets sick.)

I'm really tired, but glad that Aubrey is doing okay. It would be nice if our ER visits weren't so long because then I wouldn't have spent 10pm-3am squished in a crowded space rather than in my bed trying to sleep. Still, I'm grateful for doctors who are very thorough and for a breathing treatment that at least allowed Aubrey to sleep well from 3:30-7:30am, which is about 10x longer than any sleep stretch she's had since she first got sick.