And We're Home Again...

These last three days have been very long and overwhelming. Alyssa was diagnosed with RSV on Tuesday and admitted to the hospital immediately from the doctor's office. We were sent over to the hospital to find our way to pediatrics for her to be taken care of. Fighting our way through the crowds - yes, we are a spectacle wherever we go with the stroller and even with a sick baby people are fascinated and must stop to look and ask a dozen questions (at least, so far, most people have been very kind) - we made it back to the room where Alyssa was to be treated.

I ended up staying with Alyssa for all 3 nights she was there. The first night she essentially decided not to sleep till somewhere around 4 in the morning so we got about 3 hours. That was miserable! For 3 days she was on oxygen and had fluids through her IV. She continued to sound horrible when the doctor or nurse listened to her lungs but she was eating well and doing fine for the most part - she was just very hard to hold with all those wires!

Last night she was fussy again and not going to sleep so the nurses were kind to me and let me sleep in another room undisturbed. I got 7 hours in a row - that hasn't happened for somewhere around 6 months! It was great and I can't wait to do it again :) I have to admit the hospital was miserable and after coming home last night for a brief time to shower I dreaded the return trip. Any desires I had to go back on hospital bed rest and "relax" are long gone. I officially hate hospital stays (again).

While I was sleeping the nurses cared for Alyssa and took her off oxygen so at 2:30 this morning she once again began breathing room air and doing well. Prior to this either her oxygen levels would drop or her heart rate would sky rocket to over 200 beats a minute!! Poor thing was working so hard to breathe. Of course, she hated the oxygen and that could have been part of her discomfort. At one point she ripped it out of her nose while feeding.

Praise God the doctor came in this morning and said she sounded good and then when she returned in the afternoon said we were able to go home. As soon as Kirk arrived to get me, we were out the door without a look back. Now we are all home again and back to feeding 3 (all of us agree that feeding 2 at a time is much, much easier). My mom was once again a huge help caring for Caleb, Julianna and Rachel while I stayed at the hospital and Kirk worked from home. She even was my relief last night so I could come home for a bit (our room had no shower - yuck!).

Julianna is still doing great while Rachel seems to have a bit of a cold but she is not breathing poorly so unless something changes we should not be returning to the hospital until Caleb breaks a bone or something... Just kidding!