Sickness

Isaac has been sick for over a week now. He started out with pink eye last Sunday. I first noticed that his left eye was red on Sunday evening after I got to my mom's house. I put in a call to the pediatrician, and he said to put breastmilk in his eye every two hours. (I'm continually amazed by all the things breastmilk can do.) That helped, but by Monday the infection spread to his right eye and both of them looked really bad. I took him to the doctor on Monday, and the doctor prescribed some eye drops and said he could return to daycare on Wednesday.

I stayed home with Isaac again on Tuesday, and that's when he started running a fever. Dr. Ramos had asked me the day before if he had been congested or had a fever, so I decided to call the office to let them know he had those symptoms now. They called in a prescription for an antibiotic for me, thinking it was a bacterial infection. Come to find out, it was not. By Thursday, his fever still had not gone down, and his coughing had only gotten worse.

Wes took Isaac to the doctor on Friday, and they diagnosed him with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). It's the cause of the common cold, pneumonia, and some lung infections. In adults, RSV just manifests itself as a cold, but in babies it's much more serious. The pediatrician's office called me at work to let me know and give me instructions for the nebulizer they sent home with Wes. We've been giving Isaac three breathing treatments per day, and he has to go to the doctor to be rechecked tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Wes and I have both gotten sick from being around Isaac. Wes was feeling really bad by Wednesday, but I was fine until Friday. Thankfully, the doctor's office sent home some samples and an extra breathing device, so I've been able to do the breathing treatments too.

Isaac ran a fever all weekend, and he hasn't been eating very well. He nurses just fine, and he eats a little bit of his cereal. He isn't eating his baby food, and he didn't take much of his bottles while I was at work last week. The doctor's office told me to nurse him as much as possible and to give him water in between to make sure he stays hydrated. I stayed home with him today to make sure he stayed hydrated, so Wes is taking him to the doctor tomorrow. He'll probably take him to daycare in the afternoon, and then there are just three more days before I have a week off from work. Thanksgiving break couldn't have come at a better time this year!