RSV and when to go to ER

My family and I just lived through the worst few days of our lives. I’m sharing our story because I want you to know when to head to the hospital with your own toddler. Our daughter has been sick since Friday and we ended up in the ER on Tuesday afternoon. She was presenting a normal if strong cold symptoms. We kept her home, she was warm, we fed her as much as she wanted, and kept her hydrated.

The first sign that she was getting worse was very lightly peed diapers. Then she stopped being hungry except to ask for popsicles- we have her some light sugar ones. She’d been asking for car naps all weekend. So, again on Tuesday we got in the car to drive her so she could sleep. We dropped her grandma at her house and headed home. When we arrived she finally woke up, its had been about a two-hour nap. She tells me she’s still tired. Here is where you need to pay attention:

Her tummy was expanding like crazy. I could hear how hard she was fighting for every breath-the farms engine had been masking it before. And I could see strain in her neck as she tried to breathe. Her eyes were glazy and unfocused.

I called our insurance nurse’s line, but decided to start driving to the hospital. They have both an ER and a clinic, so depending what the nurse on the phone toldd me I would be closer to a doctor seeing her.

She got admitted immediately. No waiting in the lobby. Her vital signs were so bad when we got there that we had six nurses and doctors working on her. She got bloodwork, x-rays, and they cleaned her nose as much as they could. She got put on oxygen immediately, while we waited for the results. It was RSV as they suspected.

Parents don’t doubt yourselves. We caught it right when this virus took a deadly turn, but because we got to help in time she’s already recovering and after two nights at the hospital we got to take our baby girl whole and healthy home. Keep the closest eye on your toddlers when they get colds, you never know when it's something worse