thetadpoles.com

Last week Loen had a cough. It sounded yucky but she seemed to be in good spirits. No fever or runny nose, still eating well. I called the pediatric advice nurse just to be sure I was doing everything right. I would hate to ignore it and it turns out the kid has pneumonia. Given our history they had us come in to be checked out. Turns out it was just a virus and Loen’s lungs sounded clear. I got the usual song and dance of ‘keep them hydrated, use a humidifier …….”. So when Derby started coughing on Monday I figured he got what Loen had. How could he not when she goes over and and licks his hand which he then puts in his mouth. Other than keeping them isolated from each other I have to accept the fact they are going to share germs.  I thought Derby was getting better but last night his cough sounded a little worse, then he did that horrible thing of coughing so much he couldn’t catch his breath then puked. You know how I love puke. I got my stethoscope out to listen to his lungs. I thought they sounded clear but it was hard to listen when he was trying to chew on the tubing. I did notice he was wheezing so I thought I would call the advice nurse in the morning. Once again they had me come in to be sure they weren’t missing anything since micro-preemies can have so many issues with their lungs. The nurse practitioner (our pediatrician was on vacation) said she heard the wheezing but also some light crackles in his left lung (usually indicative of fluid). So they gave him a breathing treatment and would check him again. Afterwards he still sounded wheezy so they did a chest x-ray and labs to check for RSV. Now I am feeling really bad that I didn’t bring him in sooner and I mentioned that to the NP. She said it was okay and  it was a testament to our parenting with how good he looks and this was the first time he has been ill since leaving the NICU. That made me feel a little better.

Derby getting a breathing treatment

So the rundown is we have yet to get the results of the chest x-ray or RSV test. Derby has to use a nebulizer 3 times a day to help with wheezing while he is sick and start oral steroids. My poor little man. I was afraid we would have to cancel their birthday party but she thought he would be fine by next weekend.

You are probably wondering what the title of this post means. To get a good chest x-ray they put Derby in a infant positioner, Pigg-O-Stat, that made me think of those clear pneumatic tubes you see at drive-up banks. I didn’t get a picture of him in it since I was trying to hold his arms so they could get the images. It was so sad to see his arms up and his little head sticking out of the hole! This is the promo shot for the device. Derby is smaller than this kid so his head was just resting at the bottom of the hole.

UPDATE: Ok now I feel REALLY BAD. After looking at the xray the radiologist said it is “early left sided pneumonia”. At least this is happening now and not on his birthday which would be really pathetic!