Let's not do this again

We have been experiencing the usual late winter/early spring crud. The joy of having 3 kids is that you get to experience it three times over. A fever runs into a cold, combines with teething for the boys, and melts into another respiratory illness. It has been made extra special by me getting whatever the children are experiencing (minus the teething, of course). But this last round of illness hit us exceptionally hard. The boys were extra snotty and crabby last week and no one was sleeping well. But, while Zevon started to get better, Guthrie got worse. By Thursday night his cough turned to wheezing and he didn't sleep unless held by Will or I. We got him a doctor's appointment that morning.

The doctors (yes, plural, because they kept on calling in another collegue for a second opinion) were concerned that he was working so hard to breathe. But his oxygen saturation was still 100%, so they told us to keep an eye on him and bring him in again later that afternoon for another listen. He was no better, and perhaps a little worse. We were sent to the ER at Children's in Seattle. One of the worst drives I've ever made was stuck on I-5 at 4pm on Thursday with a sick kid in the back. The worst part was that he was silent the whole way, meaning I never knew if he was breathing or not. Ick. We got to the ER and they treated him with a few rounds of nebulizer treatments and tested him for a variety of viruses. Because the treatments helped only marginally, and because his saturation levels were going down, he was admitted to the hospital late Friday night.

Our poor little Gus Gus still finding a smile despite a tough couple days

By the next day, we learned that he had RSV and the treatments for asthma could stop. Instead, he was put on oxygen and suction as needed. We simply needed to watch and wait and hope he got better. RSV is a common virus and it hits different kids different ways. Usually it causes problems for kids that were preemies or those that have lung or immune issues. Guthrie has none of those, so he is one of the lucky few healthy kids that still need hospitalization. Zevon, who probably had it as well, was one of the usual cases who get a bad cold and cough and then get better.

I had milk stored in the freezer at home, so it made sense for me to stay with Guthrie. Will became a single dad of 2 kids at home and I camped out at the hospital. Both of us wished we could be in 2 places at once the whole hospital stay. There were some scary moments that I hope I never have to experience again. Parenting has been a lesson of learning when to be patient and let things happen (waiting for a virus to run its course, for example) and knowing when to take action (hauling a kid into the ER). The really tough parts are when you have to make a decision of which route is the correct one.

Thankfully, Guthrie improved enough he could go home on Monday. We are very happy to have our goofy little guy back. It was interesting to spend time with the twins separated. Will found that Zevon sleeps a lot better and eats more without his brother around making a ruckus. I learned that Guthrie is super active and delightful when he gets a lot of one-on-one attention. The nurses kept on commenting on how chubby and big and 'robust' Guthrie was and all I could say was, "you should see his brother!" I found it was hard to talk about Guthrie without mentioning that he was a twin. In fact, one night I woke up in the middle of the hospital room looking for Zevon. Sleep deprivation has led to sleep walking, I guess.

All better and ready to play with his brother and sister

We aren't completely out of the woods with Gus, yet. He still has a lot of noise in his lungs and continues to wheeze. The hospital stay has messed with his sleep cycle and eating habits, and 3 days later we continue to fight with those habits. It seems like everything gets in the way of sleep training these boys! At least they keep us on our toes.