As I sit down to write this blog post about this amazing milestone of Vivienne turning 4 months, I wish we were under better circumstances of our current situation. I am writing this post from a fold-down cot at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, starring at Vivienne while she’s finally sound asleep. I want to first let you know that Vivienne is OK and she is going to be OK. Me on the other hand… I may have lost a decade of my life after these last two days.

Yesterday afternoon, I was forced to call 911 for the first time.

Vivienne and I got home from an afternoon of catching up with a good friend visiting from Syracuse. I had planned to warm up a bottle, get in a good feed, and set her down for a much needed nap. As I reached for the bottle with Vivienne in my arms, she did a slight cough then stiffened up in fright. Her eyes got wide, her face turned red, and she started shaking her head back and forth as if telling me she couldn’t breathe. She was choking on mucus/spit up/saliva… something. With what felt like minutes, the struggle lasted about 10-15 seconds before she whimpered in pain trying hard to cry out. I tried to get her to look at me and focus, but she was completely out of it and moaning/grunting in my arms. She was not being herself and I completely freaked out. I called JJ immediately, and he asked why I wasn’t on my way to the hospital. There was no way I was going to put her in a car seat. He was 10-15 minutes away and I told him I would jump in the car immediately when he got home. I had never been in this situation before. I called the pediatricians office and told the nurse what happened. She told me that the grunting/moaning is not normal and I need to call 911. I immediately hung up the phone and called 911 and 3-4 minutes later about 6 firemen came running through my door. They checked her oxygen level and since it was slightly decreasing, they recommend that we go with them to the hospital. Vivienne and I road in the ambulance while JJ followed behind. Due to the fact that I’ve never seen anything like this, I initially thought that the shaking and inability to focus may have been a small seizure.

We were admitted to stay overnight in neurology to monitor her and see if any tests were needed the next day. After talking to a number of doctors and the pediatrician on staff,  we decided to decline the EGG and MRI as we determined it was more of a choking episode than seizure activity and didn’t want to stick around for negative test results. We were discharged, Vivienne slept the majority of the day, and ended the evening with a high fever. We had a pediatrician appointment today, which confirmed Vivienne has RSV. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to tell me your personal story with RSV, and for your thoughts and prayers. I’ve heard RSV can last up to a month, so we are taking it day by day trying to get this girl healthy again. Any tips, tricks, advice that you have on dealing with this sickness, send them my way!

xoxo,

Lola