My First Nebulizer

I knew when we were going to Colleen's 6 month well child appointment on Wednesday that she was not well. She had not been herself starting Sunday. She was a little more fussy and she just seemed uncomfortable. Colleen normally sleeps through the night or at least from 7:30 ish until 5am or so. Starting Monday, she was up four times during the night and she was probably up three times on Tuesday. I would have taken her to the doctor's on Tuesday, but since we had an appointment on Wednesday and she was relatively herself during the day (eating well, napping well), I figured I would avoid the trouble of trying to squeeze her in a day early.


So, we go in for our appointment and Colleen was smiling at everyone in the place, the receptionist, her favorite medical tech and the doctor. She loved exploring the stethoscopes and the ear o scopes and the measuring tape and tried to eat everything. We never really got to the normal visit parts because the doctor and tech were very concerned about her wheezing and low psO2. She also had an ear infection in her left ear. They tried two nebulizer treatments, but since her psO2 did not improve, the doctor said she needed oxygen and the best way to get her oxygen was at the hospital.


So, we went to the hospital (Dr. D called ahead) and she was admitted into the ER. I have to say, she was the star of the ER. As we walked through, everyone awwwwed at her. The ER doc decided to do a chest x-ray, nasal gross thing and another nebulizer treatment as well as giving her oxygen. Colleen is a pro at nebulizer treatments and oxygen! She loved eating the good air! They put the tiniest oxygen monitor on her finger and after she kept eating the probe, they moved the monitor to her toe inside her jammies. Her toe glowed like Rudolph's nose. After everything was done, her diagnosis was RSV+ bronchiolitis. The ER doc and Dr. D decided to keep her overnight and monitor her oxygen levels with and without nebulizer treatments.

getting oxygen

eating the monitor wire

the maximum security crib

After a very long night with many interruptions to check her vitals, give her antibiotics, count her respirations, etc. and one night in a maximum security crib, we were happy to see that Colleen was maintaining good oxygen levels without any treatments. She was still wheezing, but nebulizer treatments could be done at home. Dr. D came by and was very impressed at how she was doing (he expected she would be in the hospital for a few days) and since Colleen was doing well and all the nurses and respiratory therapists said that she was the happiest sick baby they had seen, we were able to come home. Yay!!

Getting her nebulizer treatments

Such a good girl!

Who's sick?? Not me!