A Baby Story 2, the arrival of
Collin Joseph

February 14, 2001: Collin went to the doctor today. He had gotten a really bad cold that just kept getting worse and worse. The pediatrician said it was an upper respiratory tract infection and put him on Amoxil (antibiotic) and Panfil G (cough medicine). Collin weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces and was 25 1/2 inches long. He sure is growing well.

February 15, 2001: When I came in from work tonight, I about died when I saw Collin. He could not breathe and had obvious retractions, audible wheezes, an extremely stuffy nose, and fever, besides being pale. Despite how sick he looked and sounded, he was smiling at me and trying to coo, but the congestion and obvious respiratory difficulty prevented him from "talking". When he tried, he would choke and gag. They had taken pictures earlier during the day, and I was told this was not going on. The more I looked at Collin and the longer I held him, I really got hysterical and said he needed to go to the emergency room. I honestly did not think our little man would live through the night if he didn't get emergency help. His Aunt Radona had just left for the weekend, and Gil wasn't home yet, so Collin's mom paged him to come home NOW. I couldn't leave my other kids alone, so we were in dire straits. Gil was on his way home when Daryth paged him, and they took Collin to the ER around 10:30. I was worried out of my mind, and even though I was thinking horrible things, such as RSV, I never expected to hear what I did hear when Daryth called me.

She called at 12:00 and told me that Collin was being admitted and then hesitated before telling me that my worst nightmare had come true...he tested positive for RSV (respiratory syncitial virus) -- something I had been worried about for months now, due to a severe outbreak of this disease in the area, several babies losing their lives over it :-(

I think I screamed "OH MY GOD" and then broke down. I called Radona home, and when I told her why, she completely lost it, too.

Gil came back here to pick up clothes and such, and he was going to stay with the kids until Radona and Aaron got back, so I could go meet Daryth and Collin...but as I was leaving, they arrived, and Aaron stayed with the kids so Radona and Taylor could come with me and we could have Taylor tested. (She had seen the doctor, too, the day before for her bad URI, and she had bilateral ear infections - she tested negative!) I was completely mortified when Gil told me that the ER doctor had told them Collin could go home if they felt comfortable doing that or he could be admitted. "Go home IF they felt comfortable"??????? I could NOT NOT NOT believe my ears!!!!! Needless to say, Daryth said "admit him". How stupid could this be? IF we had felt comfortable to begin with, Collin would not have been rushed to the ER for emergency help. Geez!!!! And what's really so ironic is that if his cousin had tested positive, they would have admitted her without a choice. Go figure this out, cause I sure can't!!!!

February 16, 2001: Collin was in his room when we arrived at 12:30 , and poor little angel, he looked so pitiful under the mist tent. They were suctioning his airway and giving him a breathing treatment with Ventolin. We went on and took Taylor down to the ER for a test and got back up around 3. Daryth was sound asleep, but Gil and I stayed up all night long.

Despite being so sick, Collin ate well -- he took six ounces of formula at 4 (normal feeding), and he slept peacefully, despite the retractions.

I used to work on this floor when I was a CNA, but it has changed so much since the last time I was up there. The color scheme is different and SO pretty. It's now teal and light blue, whereas it used to be burnt orange and brown. Anyway, I was pretty oblivious to the surroundings at first, and at one point, Gil and I went downstairs to take a break, and the minute I walked out the door, it hit me. Collin was in the same room my poor daddy died in :-( I freaked out at first, but then I said "No, this was not a bad omen, it was a good omen....Collin's great-grandpa is watching over him!!!!!" :-)

The pediatrician came in and examined him around 8, and he explained that this is how RSV works...you think it's just a "cold" and then boom...the baby/child does a complete turn around for the worst. I was questioning the fact that Collin had just seen a doctor (a colleague) the day before. He said that Collin could be in-hospital for a few days. I mentioned the fact that Collin had been prescribed Amoxil two days prior, but this doctor said no antibiotic could help RSV. When he looked in his ears, though, the right ear was now infected, so he started another antibiotic for that. I went home around 9:30 or so, and when I left, Collin was still retracting and wheezing, but NOT nearly as bad as when I came home from work, so the breathing treatments and mist tent were helping.

Radona, Taylor, and I went back up at noon, and the respiratory therapist had just given him another treatment (every four hours) and said that he was doing MUCH better -- Thank God!!! I remember praying and begging God the night before to please save our little guy. I still tear up thinking about how dangerous RSV is and how it can be fatal :-( (Since I type about this a lot, I can't help but be petrified and worried over it! Children lose their lives over this "virus" way too often, and most recently, a three month old baby boy did.)

I held Collin while the nurse changed his crib, and he was a completely different baby :-) He was alert, active, smiling, and cooing like normal :-) When he saw his Aunt, he got really excited and squealed. He probably sees Radona more than any of us since she babysits him all day while his mom is in school, so he really adores her :-) Collin was still retracting but just a little bit. My mom and stepdad were visiting, and while we were all there, Daryth and Gil went home to get more clothes and stuff. We left there around 2:15 to pick up the kids at school.

We went back up around 6:30, and Collin was doing so much better. I didn't see any more retractions, despite him still having wheezes. We stayed while Gil and Daryth went to eat supper, and Radona, Aaron, and Taylor came up later on. I really didn't want to leave Collin, but I was beyond sleepy. We left around 9, but I called and checked on him before I went to bed. He was wheezing pretty badly when I left there, despite having just had a breathing treatment. They came in and gave him another one after we left.

February 17, 2001: I just called to check on Collin, and the doctor had just checked him out. They are going to keep him out of the mist tent more today and see how it goes. He may come home tomorrow but will have to be on nebulizer treatments. He said this could last several months before it is over :-( I will be going up there in a few to stay with Collin again, and I can't wait to hold him :-) More updates to come.....as well as pictures!

I spent about three hours at the hospital this afternoon. Collin is now running a low grade temp and is pretty cranky. I did get a few smiles and some cooing from him, but it was the "fussing" type cooing he does on occasion. I say he's telling me all the bad things people do to him when he does that *grin* You'd have to see and hear this to understand what I'm saying *lol* Anyway, he slept most of the time I was there, but I did hold him, change him, and feed him. He's no longer on oxygen in the mist tent and is just under the mist, but he's still getting breathing treatments and his antibiotics. They changed their mind about keeping him out of the tent since he's still too congested to come out of it. The CRT had to suction him while I was there. He was terribly congested, and it's so thick we can't suction him with the bulb. So, they have to use the wall suction :-(

Here are a few pics of Collin in his first (and hopefully LAST) hospital stay....(I have more to scan later after I get the next roll developed.)

February 19, 2001: Collin is still in the hospital. They tried keeping him out of the tent yesterday, but it didn't work. His oxygen saturation dropped, and he was wheezing/congested, so they had to give him more oxygen/mist.

Today, though, the doctor wanted him out of the tent if possible, and as of 9:30 p.m., Collin had been out of it all day long :-) He is running a low grade temperature, though :-( I'll be there in the morning when the doctor makes rounds again, so we shall see what happens. The Pediatrician this morning said Collin can't come home until he can mange without the tent. Otherwise, we'd just have to come right back to the hospital. Of course, we agree -- we want him safe and sound, so if it takes a few more days, that's okay with us. We have the humidifier and the nebulizer ready to come home with us when we have the okay.

February 20, 2001: Our baby boy is back home, safe and sound :-) He was discharged this morning :-) Thank God!!! He's doing really well. He came home on nebulizer treatments with Albuterol, an antibiotic for his ear infection (Zithromax), and a steroid to help his lungs (Pediapred). This morning, he weighed 12 pounds 10 ounces, so being sick did not stop his growth :-) I dropped off another roll of film to be developed, so I'll have more pics real soon. We are all so glad to have our little angel back home :-)

February 23, 2001: Collin is doing really well, despite having such a bad cough still. He will be seeing the pediatricians in followup soon, and we'll go from there. I scanned more pictures of him from his hospital stay and still have another roll to get developed :-) You can see those pics here - hospital stay :-)

April 28, 2001: Time has really gotten away from me, and I'm ashamed that I haven't updated for a while. Collin has done extremely well since he was so sick. I've just added some new pics of him on his photo pages and you can see how much he has grown. At his last checkup, he was 16 pounds and 26.25 inches tall. He is a massive little boy :-) He had a cold recently, but nothing bad happened -- thank God!!!! He is such a good baby, and he is ticklish as all get out. Of course, I thrive on tickling him and making him laugh out loud :-) He is just now rolling over and seems to enjoy it nonstop. Other than that, chewing on his toys, and going backwards in his walker, he really isn't doing too much except babbling like mad :-) I can't believe he is almost six months old already! Time just flies!!!!!!! I really get a big thrill when he sees me as he'll start wailing his arms and kicking his legs for me to take him :-) Then he'll cuddle up against my shoulder and grab onto me for dear life. Needless to say, I eat that up :-) He's my little man and as precious as the day is long :-) I love my little fella :-)

August 19, 2001: I can't believe how long it has been since I updated this page. I'm terrible :-( My precious little man is now nine months old and is such a knock out. He's so handsome and is such a sweetheart. Since they moved out, I don't see him as often as I want, but when I do, he melts my heart with that beautiful smile and big hugs. At his last check up on the 10th, he was 30" tall and weighed 21.8 pounds. He's a BIG boy, to say the least. He's really doing well, except for that eczema. Despite medicine, it just doesn't want to go away. Collin is sitting up and crawling all over -- even up steps, but he isn't trying to walk yet. We all think it's cause he's too heavy!!! He does walk on his tiptoes when we hold his hands, but he's really unsteady. He does pull himself up, though. He is still a really quiet baby, but he does babble and say "mama", and he still gives me that certain look, which instantly melts my heart, and he'll wave his arms and legs for me to take him :-)

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