And so it begins...

We were warned about the boys having a rough winter, but the way late summer and early fall have been shaping up makes me dread winter that much more. Lawson had just gotten over his last bout with bronchiolitis when round two crept up.  He had been having a runny nose on and off for a week, but it was always clear, no fever, and he was eating like a champ.  We were keeping our fingers crossed that it was just a little cold or allergies maybe, but his cough came back Friday night.  We started up his albuterol breathing treatments again and those seemed to work for about 18 hours.  

Yesterday, Lawson started wheezing a little and we gave him a treatment around 4 pm.  Usually, the albuterol helps his wheezing, but this time it didn't.  We decided I would take him to urgent care while Andrew stayed with Sutton, thinking that it would be a short trip like last time.  Unfortunately, after several back to back breathing treatments at urgent care, his wheezing was still pretty prevalent.  They decided to admit him to the Pediatric ICU (PICU).  The reason for the PICU admission was that he was requiring breathing treatments every two hours or less and needed a one on one nurse for monitoring.  This all sounded reasonable, but did nothing to calm my fears.  We had a friend watch Sutton while Andrew came to the hospital.  

In the PICU, they placed an IV in his head (after failing three previous attempts-ugh) to keep him hydrated.  He was also placed on oxygen because his oxygen saturation (which ideally is in the high 90's) was in the mid to upper 80's.  They are giving him oral steroids which should help open his airways over time.  We decided Andrew was the best choice to stay at the hospital since he was just a tad bit calmer than me;).

An initial RSV/flu test came back negative, his chest x-rays don't look too bad, and we are waiting for the respiratory virus panel results that we should get later today.  The plan for now is to stay in the PICU for tonight at least, keep the iv going, continue frequent breathing treatments, and continue with oxygen.   My mom is on her way to Columbia now to help take care of Sutton.  While our priority is getting Lawson healthy, our other equally important priority is protecting the health of Sutton- who has a runny nose...

Please keep Lawson and Sutton in your prayers as we work to get over this hurdle.