If you have read past blog posts, you know that sickness has been going through our house. Chloe has had some virus that made her cough like crazy and run a fever. She passed it on to Harper, who started coughing and running a fever on Wednesday. Wednesday night, I tried to feed her before laying her down for bed and she refused to eat. I figured that she was probably just too tired to eat, so I laid her down and didn’t pump just in case she woke back up.
The next day, I tried feeding her when she woke up. She would dig her little hands into my body and push away while screaming. You would think that I was trying to make her eat.. I dunno.. black licorice. That’s how I’d react anyway. This continued all day. I think she is teething on top of being sick, so I tried to not pump very often in case she was hungry. I didn’t want her to be in pain when trying to eat. I finally called her doctor because it was nearing 24 hours. Desire is the PA at our doctor’s office. She had seen Chloe two days prior. She said that as long as Harper was producing tears and didn’t have a dry mouth, that I didn’t need to worry about dehydration. She asked if Harper has been sick. After explaining that she’d had a mild cough and low fever, she asked if I’d like to bring her the next day to check her lungs. I said sure, but didn’t really think they would find anything because she really wasn’t coughing very bad. She had a stuffy/runny nose more than anything.
Friday, I took her in and they said they could hear wheezing in her lungs. They said she had bronchiolitis and checked for RSV, which came back negative. 3 days of an oral steroid and she should be good. Just keep trying to push fluids however she will take them… which is, SHE WON’T! on Friday night she finally took a bottle and took a few bottles on Saturday. Sunday, I could hear her wheezing badly and took her into the ER after calling the doctor and he suggested it. They checked for pneumonia, which was also negative. She still would not nurse. She wouldn’t try. She screamed and cried if I even held her like I was going to try to nurse her. The ER doctor said “She’ll eat when she gets hungry enough.”
By Sunday I was freaking out because it had been SO LONG, and I was pumping every 2 hours and barely getting anything.
We are traveling later this week, so I was worrying about how I would be able to pump so often while seeing family, and what if I don’t keep up while we are there? So many questions stressing me out.
Last night, she was so exhausted by the time bed time came after going to the doctor once again for a follow-up. She had lost 1 lb 5 oz since Friday. She has to do breathing treatments, and take an antibiotic because her virus has most likely turned bacterial and needs treatment. I figured that I would go ahead and try nursing her again while the big girls cleaned up their mess from the day. Lo and behold, she FINALLY nursed. I cried so hard. It had been so long.
If you have never nursed a baby, you probably won’t understand this; unless you were unable to nurse because your body just wouldn’t do it. I thought I was never going to get to nurse her again. That would mean that I never again would be nursing a baby.. I did not want to have that ripped away from me like I feel the choice to have more babies was.
The bond that you form when nursing your baby is like no other. It’s amazing and beautiful, and I have always loved it; unless they get to be a stinker and bite a lot. ha!
I am so, so thankful that she nursed through the night many times. I am not thankful that she was miserable and cried all night if she wasn’t being held or laying next to me. I don’t like when my babies are miserable. She did finally get some sleep and I sort of rested. I am just thankful that she has continued nursing today, and it seems like we are back on track now that she is able to breathe a little better.
I am thankful that we have an amazing pediatrician who suggested that we bring her in to check on her lungs just to be safe. I never would have known, and it may have been so much worse on Sunday if she hadn’t had the steroid to help reduce the inflammation.
I am thankful that Chloe is getting over her sickness, and that hers never got any worse. I am thankful that Addison has been able to avoid getting sick, and that Scott and I have avoided it, too.
