A lot of family and friends have been asking how Brady is doing since coming home from the hospital, so I figured I would do a little update on life lately.
Before I get into the details, let me start by saying that Brady is doing SO MUCH better. He is happy and back to his smiley self. He is eating and drinking again, playing again, and back at daycare. I know kids get sick on a daily basis (and Brady has had his fair share), but now that he is back at daycare, I have become a little bit of a germaphobe. I was totally not that mom before the hospital (I would literally give Brady his paci or food from off of the ground - whoops), but things change a little bit when you see how much a little cold can affect your kid.
Some of the pictures I am going to post are so sad to look at, but it really changes your perspective on life, especially when there are kiddos everywhere who have chronic illnesses and pretty much live their whole lives in hospitals. I am just so grateful for a healthy toddler again!
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| This was taken in the ER - he was completely out of it. |
We went into the hospital on a Tuesday morning. My mom had stayed with Brady on Monday morning, but Tuesday I stayed home from work with him and I am so glad I did! He became lethargic and almost unresponsive, he had a high fever, and he was just staring at our Christmas tree all morning. It was so scary. We drove to Texas Children's Hospital (can't say enough good things about the hospital and their staff) and thankfully have a friend, who is a nurse at the location we went to, who helped us out tremendously. Brady was in such good hands! Brady's O2 sats were so low that they ended up having to admit him, put him on high flow oxygen to let his lungs rest, and put him on IV fluids to keep him from getting dehydrated. It took 4 days until Brady could be weaned from the oxygen and consume more solids and fluids. He required round the clock suctioning (and deep suctioning...) and continuous oxygen. We knew Brady had bronchiolitis before the hospital, but while there, we found out it was from RSV. Unfortunately, Brady got my asthma history, so it looks like we will be dealing with that in the future as well. During the stay, Brady's fever kept spiking and we couldn't get it under control. Come to find out, he also had a pretty severe ear infection on top of RSV. I didn't realize how bad things were until we were admitted. And I am so thankful Eric and I's parental instincts kicked in and we took him to the hospital.
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We left the hospital on a Friday at 11 pm, right before the cut off when they charge you for another night. The doctor came in, said Brady's lungs sounded great (he had been off the oxygen for about 12 hours at that point), and that we could go home! I was doing so good the whole stay - I hadn't cried at all - had to be strong for my kiddo! But when the doctor said we could go home, I lost it. I didn't realize how much of a toll it had taken on me. And that was just a 4 day stay! My heart hurts for the families who are in and out of the hospital constantly.
Once we got home, Brady slowly started to get back to his typical self - happy, playful, stubborn, and throwing the occasional temper tantrum. He is still clingy (and rightfully so - we snuggled and cuddled together the entire hospital stay) and is slowly starting to put on the weight he lost. He went back to daycare the week before Christmas and his teachers say he is doing great! Back on the daycare schedule, sleeping well at nap time, and playing with his friends during the day. Unfortunately, he got addicted to his paci (his "nana") once again, so we are starting all over with getting rid of that thing!
And the best news yet, we got to celebrate Christmas with our family, outside of the hospital! Hallelujah! We had so much to be thankful for this holiday season and are praising God each day for our little boy and his health.
THANK YOU to all our family, friends, loved ones, coworkers, friends of friends/family, etc who prayed for us, checked in on us, called/texted, brought us meals, came up to the hospital and kept us company, and just gave us so much love. We can't thank you enough! Here's to a happy and healthy 2018 (and hopefully no hospital stays)!
