Scary scary scary...

Danalana wrote: RSV and stuff is going through our church. One of our 2-year old boys has pneumonia...he was REALLY preeemie, though, and is prone to it. A 2-year old girl was hospitalized with RSV, and her baby sister (8 months) has it too. They caught it really early in her, and she is being treated at home. And then we had a baby born right before Christmas that was 5 weeks early. She spent a couple of weeks in the hospital, and her mother and grandmother kept pushing to bring her home...and THEN they brought her to church! If Amber hadn't had preeclampsia/toxemia, she would just NOW be in her 38th week...that's how early this baby is. I know Amber is young and doesn't know about this stuff...my SIL saif you could see fear come on her when the doctor came in and said it was RSV. Luckily, they caught it VERY early too and are treating her. Yesterday, they were just watching to see if she developed a fever...if she kept eating and drinking well and didn't get a fever, they were going to let her go home today. It's just SCARY!

momofone replied: I agree it is scary i wish that had a vaccination against it.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: That's very scary! I hope they all get well soon.

BecauseIsaidSo replied: Yes, that is scary. I have only known (personally) 2 toddlers that had the rsv virus.

DillsMommy replied: Definitely one of the scariest things I've ever been through.

Danalana replied: I'm waiting on a call from his doctor's office. He has a lot of congestion, and I wonder if they would test him. I'm nervous about this stuff!

~Roo'sMama~ replied: That is scary! That's enough to make me want to stay at home until spring!

Kaitlin'smom replied: kaitlin has RSV when she was 4 months old, it was caught very early, and a very mild case of it. Scared the heck outta me when I took her to the doctors and they sent me to childerns hospital to have her tested, thankfully she came home with me since it was a light case and they did not want her there exposed to more germs. It was weird really I had her all bundled in her car seat, and was getting ready to head out to the sitters and off to work, she sneezed and I looked at her and said somethings just not right, so I called work, sitter and the docs office and I was right somethign was not right. I am so glad I went with my gut and had her looked at.

Danalana replied: I talked to them, and they said sinus stuff is going around...congestion, etc...she said just to watch for difficulty breathing or wheezing. He seems like his same happy self, and he's playing fine. I guess it just scares me, since he's my first. She said I could give him 1/4 teaspoon of robitussin every 4 hours if needed. I just hate the idea of waiting for difficulty breathing to take him to the ER! He does seem ok, so I'll just take extra good care of him.

Kaitlin'smom replied: are you BFing?

Danalana replied: No, I haven't since 7 weeks...my supply just never went up. But he ate great this morning, so appetite isn't a problem.

PrairieMom replied: Tis the season. I see it differently than everyone else tho, since I am a Respiratory Therapist, RSV is what I do all winter long.

An a side note, cold and flu season is the #! reason that I avoided having my children in winter. I really wanted them to be as big as possible when RSV season got here. So I had them in May, which is right after the tail end of the season, so they would be at least 6 months old when winter came. I was very blessed to have that luxury.

moped replied: Tara, then what about the 2 year old that Dana is referring to? I am freaked out, my kids have never had history of respiratory problems, but i know lots that have and have had RSV........

3xsthefun replied: That is scary! I hope they get better soon!

Danalana replied: Jen, the 2-year old girl's lungs were almost collapsed when they admitted her

PrairieMom replied:
Well, you can only do what you can do you know? the younger they are the more fragile they are. No matter how careful you are, your children are going to get sick, but if I had to pick, I would rather my child get it at 2 than at 2 weeks.
Al had it last year when she was 1, but it wasn't that bad. the cast majority of children that get it don't need to be hospitalized. Ben got it at that point too, but he didn't even need medication.

I should add, that my children are pretty much guaranteed to get it, no matter how careful I am since I am exposed to it nearly every single time I work, especially in the winter.

Danalana replied: Thanks, Tara....that makes me feel better. I have been reading on it, and just read that a lot of kids don't have to be hospitalized at all. That's good to know
I was just suspicious because Kade has only had one cold, and that was about a month ago...it didn't seem right that he would have another one so soon.

PrairieMom replied:
Just keep an eye on him. It spreads super easy. Just watch for chest congestion, and his coloring, and if he seems to be having trouble breathing like flaring his nostrils when he breaths, or is sucking his skin between his ribs when he breaths.

There isn't a medication they can give for it, its viral, so it would just have to run its course anyway. its yucky stuff. Makes me thrilled that I get to go to work this weekend. I will be in Peds again, swimming through it. bleh.

Kaitlin'smom replied:
so do you bathe in disinfected when your done or feel like you could?

PrairieMom replied:
I change at work and don't bring my scrubs home, all my stuff shoes and every thing stays there, and I wash and disinfectant my hands, but I don't shower or anything.

boyohboyohboy replied: I should add, that my children are pretty much guaranteed to get it, no matter how careful I am since I am exposed to it nearly every single time I work, especially in the winter.

This post has been edited by PrairieMom on Jan 9 2009, 01:02 PM


this is the main reason I stopped nursing when I had kids...

PrairieMom replied:
yeah, you just never quite know what you are going to be getting into. Lots of times you don't find out that you may have been exposed until days after. I'm always careful, I wear all protective equipment when I am supposed to, and some times when I am not, and am religious about washing my hands.
I am always surprised to see how many people that do patient care aren't that careful.

AlexsPajamaMama replied: with a baby due any day now...Im super nervous about this whole rsv thing and all the germs going around tara what is your advise? I have tons of hand sanitizer and antibacterial soap.

PrairieMom replied:
well, antibacterial soap and sanitizers are for bacterias, but RSV is a virus, so it won't work so much. I would just say stay home as much as possible, stay away from public places, and wash hands . Make sure your kids wash their hands too.

A&A'smommy replied: VERY scary!!!!

msoulz replied: I had to dig this back up and read it - Erin tested positive for RSV. There is a baby in the daycare that had it - I assume he is OK now, I haven't heard any different - and for her it is an ugly cough and bad cold symptoms. Unfortunately her ears got congested and infected and she has a little sound in her lungs so the doc put her on an antibiotic and a steroid to clear it up. She is so much better in just 24 hours, it is amazing.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: That is just awful! I'm so thankful that none of my children ever had RSV. I hope all the children get better soon!