Bye Bye Ucky Bug

I wish I was a super human queen with as many clones as I have fingers. But, I'll settle for tired mother of 4 for now, as I know that in time life will return to normalcy in some sense of the word. Just when I think that life has begun to settle, it throws us a curveball that is completely unexpected - I swing, and I miss. If just once I could have things happen as they should I think that my blood pressure might actually have a normal reading, my mind would be clear and I'd have enough energy to do something above and beyond the things I have to do.



We went a whole week with our newborns home, and the only thing holding us back was poor Coopers horrible, horrible illness. He has never been that sick, and it got so bad that Corey took him to the doctor. He was diagnosed with some sort of respiratory infection and an ear infection. Poor baby!! The doc told us to try to keep Coop away from the girls, and we did as best as we could.......Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. On Friday we noticed that the girls had developed runny noses, and they got progressively more sick over the weekend. On Monday, I called to make an appointment for the girls on Tuesday because the coughing was so awful, the snot had turned green and they both seemed miserable. Just minutes after I made the appointment, Mackenzie began a coughing fit and she couldn't clear her throat. She started gasping for air and turned blue. Luckily, Corey was home - He grabbed her, pat her back as hard as he could, and she came out of the fit. I called the doc right back and we were instructed to come in immediately. We got to the doc and the girls continued to cough and be super snotty. But, there was no episode like there was at home. After an hour of checking each girl over, checking oxygen saturation and just watching them in the office, the doctor said that we should take them home and watch them closely, noting that if there were any marked changes that worried us, we could bring them to the ER. As we headed home, about a half mile from the office, I looked over at Mackenzie, and she was gasping for air, and her little face had turned purple once again. I screamed at Corey to pull the car over, and he jumped out of the car and around to my side faster than I've ever seen him move. He grabbed Kenzie from me and once again pat her back. That was enough - We drove back to the doctor, and though the office was closed and the front door locked, I noticed that the back door to the clinic was open. Corey bolted in and found the doctor. He instructed us to immediately take the girls to the ER.



Once in the ER, the attending physician came out to talk to us. He told us that instead of being seen in the ER, they were going to admit the girls at least overnight for observation, and hook them up to oxygen. Since Hood River is not set up for Neonatal care, the doctors and nurses in the ICU had to improvise a little. They put us up in a double room, removed one of the beds and put in a large crib for the babies. A mist tent was set up and oxygen was sent into it. The girls had blood tests run and an RSV swab to help narrow down what was causing them so much distress. Corey and I were completely unprepared for this ER visit, so at about 8pm Corey made a quick run home to get Cooper and Katie settle with caretakers, and grabbed a few things for all of us as well. I was on my feet for close to 5 straight hours, which is not something I had done in a while. After the long while of standing, I sat on the bed in an attempt to relax. However, the girls were hooked up to heart and oxygen monitors, and when the levels got too low, or too high, an alarm would go off. The first few hours were like hell for us, as the monitors kept going off. Just as quickly as we sat down, the alarms would blare, and we'd be bolting out of our seats to tend to the girls and do what we could to help them. The tests finally came back by evening time and it was confirmed - They both tested positive for RSV. RSV is a respiratory infection, commonly compared to the common cold in adults. RSV in toddlers can just be watched, but when newborn, premature babies get it as early as our girls did it can be critical. By Tuesday morning I was in nearly as much pain as I was 2 days after the C section - I was just not used to this type of activity. Corey's stress levels are above and beyond anything they've ever been in his life - And he's not sleeping. Sick kids and overly tired parents - Not a good mix.



Tuesday was another day of touch and go. Mackenzie seemed to be better, but little Rayla had developed the symptoms that Mack had the previous day, that ultimately landed us in the hospital. Of course, because of that, we were kept in the hospital for another night of observation. We had no arguments - whatever it took to get the babies healthy. All of Tuesday we just watched and watched them. We learned that one of the only ways to get them better was to constantly suck the snot out of their little noses. So we did - every hour, sometimes more, until their little noses were raw. But we had to do it. We couldn't believe that a baby so small could produce so much nastiness in their sinuses, but the proof was in the puddin'. So we continued for hours, aspirating snot, watching closely over our angels and hovering over the monitors, carefully watching the numbers rise and fall, hoping that they would stay in the normal range. It was an exhausting time for all of us - The girls, because it was so much work for them to just breathe, and for us, because we didn't, couldn't sleep. By Tuesday night we were so out of our minds that we couldn't think straight. The doctor had neglected to come to the hospital for rounds Tuesday evening, and none of the nurses or staff knew what the plan of attack was for the girls. We all put our heads together and made some decisions for the evening, and the respiratory therapist decided to turn the oxygen off and take the girls out of the tent for a while to see if they could breathe on their own. We knew we had to do it at some point, but it was still nerve racking to know that they wouldn't be in there. They were still hooked up to all the monitors, so we did have that reassurance. A sleepless night indeed and worth every moment of it. The girls did wonderful and by Wednesday morning we knew that the doc would release us. We came home Wednesday morning, and were ready to stand post at home to watch the girls and make sure everything was fine.



Cooper had to stay with his grandma one more night just to make sure that germs weren't spread one way or another, but Katie came home. Today, Thursday April 9, Cooper finally came home and once again we're here as a family. The schedules, just life itself for us has been so interrupted by illness, exhaustion and the unexpected. I hope that in the near future we are able to regain our health, our sanity and our lives and that the ucky bug (Coop's new fave words) finds it's way out of our way.

Saturday is Corey's birthday, and he's due for a good spoil. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for him, but I know that if he had his choice it would be a day at the golf course. Actually, that sounds like a really good idea.......I guess I have some work to do!