Weekend update

Chloe's condition actually worsened this weekend. She's had several fever spikes, requires more oxygen, and has episodes when she really works hard to breath by grunting, coughing, breathing very fast, and using her chest and stomach muscles to get air in/out. It's pretty scary to watch because I feel so helpless. They've repeated the chest x-ray a couple of times and done blood and urine tests to see if there's a secondary bacterial infection going on. There are now infiltrates in the right lower lung which could be pneumonia or mucous plugging, but the doctor still feels that it's all related to the RSV alone because the labs aren't that remarkable. So that's a relief. They've increased her nebulizer treatments, which seems to help loosen up the mucous, and kept up with the Tylenol, because everything gets worse when her fever goes up.

But I was able to get away for a little bit yesterday. After helping Tyler with his pinewood derby car Saturday morning, Dave brought the boys down to visit. We left Chloe with the nurses for a couple of hours and all went over to the park to play. It was a gorgeous day!

Levi wasn't shy this time. He ran right up to me to be held. Then the sweet nurse snuck them all in to see Chloe, so that was fun for them. They were happy to see she's still a little baby, because they feel like they're missing the whole newborn stage.

We used to go to this park a lot when Spencer and Tyler were little, and they kept saying, "I remember this!"



They brought down scooters, roller blades and hockey stuff (there's a really nice, new outdoor roller rink there). I had to go back to feed Chloe, but they kept playing a couple more hours. Then Dave stayed with Chloe while I took the boys to Sears for new shoes.

After being stuck in a windowless room for a week, I was happy to take some good outdoor lighting pictures of my cute boys.

Kristen and Nathan brought the boys down to visit after church today. It was a colder day, so we couldn't spend as much time outside. But they brought me a red velvet cake, and we had fun eating it in the cafeteria. Kristen offered to have the boys stay at her house for a little while, and they were SO excited about having a slumber party with their cousins tonight!

It's always good to have a little break and get out of the hospital for a bit, and then I'm eager to come back to Chloe. There's a little baby in the room next to us that just got intubated and is about to be transferred to another hospital. It was very scary to hear the whole process through the curtain. It helps me realize just how dangerous RSV is for little babies, and it makes me extra grateful that Chloe is doing as well as she is. We had a family fast for her today, and I am so grateful to everyone for their prayers and support. We feel so loved!