Two Steps Forward...

Does anyone besides me remember the Cabbage Patch dolls?  I was completely obsessed with them.  I think I ended up with 13 of them before becoming too old to ask for them at birthdays or Christmas.  They all had names and I was quite certain they were "real" for several years in my childhood.  Some of the last ones I received were preemies.  How adorable and TINY those little preemie Cabbage Patch dolls were.  Little did I know then what I know now about preemies.  Wow...

I said several times throughout my pregnancy with the twins that as uncomfortable as I was, I would rather be uncomfortable than have premature babies.  But it seemed like even though the boys were born early, we had made it without any actual problems.  Then we got hit with a huge reality check a few weeks ago. 

Following the advice of our doctors and other seasoned parents of preemies, we took several precautions to protect the twins.  We took Jack out of MDO in hopes of reducing the amount of germs entering our house through the hands of a two year old.  We didn't allow any children in our home.  We didn't leave the house.  Ever.  We all got the flu shot and Patrick and I got the Pertussis vaccine (for whooping cough which is making a come-back).  The boys got a Synagis shot in the nicu which helps protect against RSV.    We washed our hands a lot and had sanitizer throughout the house.  Sounds pretty thorough, right?  Wrong. 

hanging out on the couch the day before

On March 22, I was home alone with all three boys.  While changing Colt's diaper that afternoon, he started choking/gagging and also stopped breathing for a few seconds.  This was something I had witnessed him do in the NICU once, so I wasn't completely freaked out, but I also knew it wasn't normal.  I had a suspicion something was wrong with him, but I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong.  He was eating and sleeping fine.  But something just seemed off.  He was typically a pretty alert baby, but he had been more sleepy than normal and his color seemed somewhat pale.  Those were my only clues something might be wrong. 

Not knowing what was really wrong, I decided to take his temperature (gotta thank God for giving me the thought to do this since I could tell from holding him he didn't have a fever).  I found the thermometer we were given from the NICU since I knew it worked and is digital.  The first reading was 93.something.  Honestly, I don't remember because I thought it was a mistake.  I reset it and made sure it was placed right in the middle of his armpit.  94.3.  No, I wasn't wrong.  There was something MAJORly wrong with this baby.  I ran to get the phone and called Patrick.  I told him he needed to come home immediately and that something was wrong with Colt.  Needless to say, he sped home.

Colt- waiting to go to the ER with Daddy.  

In the meantime, I stripped Colt down to his bare chest and put him next to my skin (trying to maintain or raise his temp).  P and I decided I would stay home with Jack and Luke and he would take Colt to the ER.  We took his temp one more time before leaving and it was 95.1.  He also had another apnea spell at that time.  They headed to Children's in Plano where he was admitted immediately to the PICU.  

Tons of testing was started, but no one was quite sure what was wrong.  Doctors started him on antibiotics in case an infection was discovered it would already be treated.  For the next two days, all tests came back negative until Saturday afternoon when we were told he had metapneumovirus; a respiratory virus kin to RSV.  And, since it was a virus, there really wasn't anything to do for him.  ** side note: babies born prematurely miss the benefit of being born with the mom's immunities.  Colt has NO immune system.  Things were looking pretty grim.  We learned that the decreased body temperature and apnea spells were just a few of the ways his body was trying to cope with the virus.  

after being admitted 

Sunday afternoon we were told he had a great night and would be able to come home that afternoon.  Really??  That seemed quick, but I'm no doctor.  I went and got him and brought him home.  Over the next 18 hours, I probably said 18 times, "This baby should not be at home."  So, Monday afternoon I took him in to see Dr. Crow.  He was still coughing quite a bit and just didn't seem well.  Sure enough, Dr. Crow sent us back to the hospital.  

Apparently, the PICU at Children's in Plano is accustomed to getting kids (not preemies) on the road to recovery and then sending them home.  This is basically what they did with Colt but since he had no ability to fight the virus on his own, he wasn't getting better.  He really needed to be in a NICU, but the only one in Dallas that accepts "dirty babies" (not my term... actually one the ER dr used to describe babies who have been exposed to outside germs but need to be in a NICU) is Children's in Dallas.  So, after spending a few hours back in the ER at Children's in Plano, they arranged a transport ambulance to take him to Children's in Dallas while I followed in my car.  I would definitely say that's an experience I don't want to relive.  Although I will say I thought to my self at the time:  I'm WAY stronger than I thought I'd be in this situation.  Most people think they'd fall apart in a similar situation, but I found out you can't.  There's no time to fall apart.  You have people depending on you and other kids at home who need you.  

Monday evening Colt was admitted to the NICU at Children's in Dallas.  More tests were started and a blood transfusion was started that night because he was too anemic.  They were continuing to treat him for the metapneumovirus and were looking for anything else that might have been missed or newly developed.  In the end, it turned out to only be the metapneumovirus and he remained in the NICU until Friday.  

our second trip to the ER... 

Once home, we could see improvements daily and now he seems completely back to his "old" self.  There for a while, he had spent more nights in a hospital than he had at home. Considering he's only 11 weeks old, that wasn't a great statistic.  We're hoping that's the end of his hospital stays.  And I'm sure you can imagine that we've taken our precautionary measures up another notch.  It helps that they're gaining weight and that we're moving out of the "sick" time of the year for everyone.  

back home and getting better ;0

So I realize that's more than you wanted to know.  However, I have a whole new respect for premature babies and the people who take care of them.