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Dealing with Infant RSV: Our Story

Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Rsv

Respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, is one of the more common viruses, and it causes cold-like symptoms that usually go away within about a week… that is for adults. For little babies like my son, the symptoms are much more severe and the complications can be serious.

On Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, 2007, our son, Vincent, had just turned six months old. Throughout the afternoon, Vinny had not quite been acting like himself. Normally a rather happy baby, he was incredibly fussy on this day. He also couldn’t keep anything down. After he had been throwing up for hours, I noticed that he felt hot. We took his temperature and found that it was almost 104 degrees! My husband and I immediately decided to take Vinny to the hospital.

As the remnants of our Super Bowl party guests helped to clean up, we gathered a few things and headed off to the hospital. With emergency rooms being what they are these days, it was a very long night. They couldn’t see Vinny right away. When they took his temperature in triage, it was at 104.3 degrees. They gave him some tylenol and left us to sit… for hours. Eventually they brought us back to see Vinny, but they didn’t even have a room for us. We sat on a stretcher in a hallway, trying to calm Vinny. He had been throwing up everything we fed him for hours and was crying, most likely from hunger. His breathing sounded strained, and I was really beginning to worry.

This unfortunately turned out to be one of the worst doctor experiences I had ever had in my entire life. Although my infant was struggling to breathe, burning up, and screaming at the top of his lungs as I rocked him back and forth, the doctor proceeded to lecture me about how I should have breastfed longer, and how he probably wouldn’t even be sick if I had. When the doctor left us alone (as alone as an ER hallway gets), I collapsed into tears.

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Several hours later, Vinny had finally fallen asleep and we were dying to be released. Although they hadn’t given us any answers at all, or really even helped, we just wanted to go home, but no one would come by to give us our discharge paperwork. We became even more eager to leave when a gang member came rushing through the doors yelling, spurting blood from his numerous stab wounds.

Finally we took our baby home, without any answers. The next day we called our pediatrician, which is probably what we should have waited for in the first place. They took us right away and were able to tell us without a doubt that Vinny had RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, which would just have to run it’s course. Because of the complications that can come with RSV in infants, the doctor made us an appointment to come back the next day to check on Vinny.

As the week progressed, Vinny’s symptoms worsened. His tiny cough became a raspy incessant bark. He would cough until he couldn’t breathe and made a horrible choking sound. We alternated Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever under control, which was an endless struggle. Our poor baby couldn’t sleep, didn’t want to eat, and was just plain miserable. The doctor had us watching his breaths per minute, which should normally be around 20-40. There were times when he was taking 80 breaths per minute, just struggling to get oxygen.

Over the course of the next two weeks, we saw the doctor approximately 9 times. He told us that a baby as sick as Vinny would often get hospitalized, but he wanted to avoid admitting him to the hospital, which I was grateful for. Hospitals are full of sick people, and putting him in that atmosphere could actually increase his chances at contracting something more serious. Instead of putting Vinny in the hospital, he saw Vinny in his office every day- sometimes twice. His effort meant a lot to me because I got to be with Vinny and be his primary caregiver while he was sick, and Vinny got to sleep in his own bed, with mommy and daddy nearby.

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Towards the end of his second week being sick, the pediatrician thought Vinny might have developed pneumonia. An x-ray confirmed his suspicion, and so antibiotic treatment began. Within just a few days of the antibiotics, Vinny began improving. It was one of the toughest months of my entire life, but by the end of February, Vinny was pretty much back to his usual self.

I learned a lot about being a parent during those days. I learned what it is to give completely selflessly of yourself. Suddenly I didn’t care how tired I was; I felt worse that my baby couldn’t stop coughing long enough to sleep. I learned the beauty of car rides and the wonder of a vacuum cleaner to soothe a crying baby. I learned that some doctors really aren’t in it for the money. I also learned the strength of my support system, as my family and friends came together to help us through this time.

RSV occurs during flu season, usually October through March. With fall approaching it is a good time to start thinking about how to avoid RSV in your children. According to WebMD, a few things that can prevent RSV is frequent handwashing, not smoking around your children, preventing children from sharing cups and utensils with others, and keeping your children away from anyone who has a cold.