Our Riley Baby

Liam is officially a Riley Kid!
Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis is among the best children's hospitals in the country.
Even though we weren't happy with the fact that our little guy had to be hospitalized, we knew he would be in good hands here. Here's how the story goes.....

Last Monday Liam had to go home early from daycare. He had a temperature of 102.3 and didn't seem his perky little self. I knew something wasn't right and decided to take him to the doctor to see if he had another ear infection since he had been pulling at his left ear. They said his ears looked clear but his throat was red and tested him for strep throat. Thankfully that came back negative! They said I should give him tylenol or motrin and come back for a follow-up appointment the next day.

On Tuesday morning we went back and not much had changed. Liam still had a bit of a temperature, a red throat and now his ears were a little bit pink. His appetite seemed to be less and less while his deep cough continued to get worse.

His health regressed over the next two days. By Thursday he could hardly hold his head up or stay awake. He didn't want to eat and when he did it didn't stay down for long. :o( We were up most of the night and I decided I had to call the doctor first thing on Friday morning. I don't want to be that new mom who overreacts when her baby has a cough or slight fever but since he had RSV back in December, this boy seems to catch everything (and then some!) that comes his way!

They were able to see him at 9:45 on Friday morning. His oxygen levels were low, temperature high, ears infected and his lungs didn't sound good. They said they couldn't let me take him home and I wouldn't be able to drive him to the hospital since he would need to be on oxygen. The next thing I know, 4 paramedics are in our room at the doctor's office and we're on our way to Riley in an ambulance.

First stop - ER.
Liam had RSV (again!), a double ear infection, pneumonia and atelectasis (a collapsed lung)
He was admitted to the Pediatric ICU in isolation by Friday evening where he remained until Sunday. Did I mention Ben had been out of town for work all week?!!? Thankfully he arrived late Friday night.



Our nurses in ICU requested a room for us at the Ronald McDonald House on Saturday night so Ben and I were able to take shifts and sleep comfortably. We are so thankful for the good rest we got there as well as the homecooked meal brought in by parents of former Riley kids.



This picture was taken with one of his ICU nurses, Megan. He was afraid of everyone coming in wearing blue gloves and yellow robes but soon realized they weren't so bad! All of our nurses, respiratory therapists and doctors took such good care of our precious baby. They were awesome!



Notice his oxygen tubes are gone in this one! Yay!!! Liam was taken off oxygen on Sunday morning and his levels as of today (Tuesday) are still good. :o)



So, on top of everything else this little guy has been through....his two top teeth poked through while we were at the hospital! Our baby now has 4 teeth!!!!
(nevermind the green crusties in his little nose. hehe!!)

Thank you all for your prayers and phone calls these past few days. I'm so thankful for all the support from family, good friends and our church family! Being at Riley has made me even more thankful for our baby boy and his good health. Yes, he has RSV and pneumonia but he is healthy compared to a lot of other Riley kids!

We're so thankful we're finally going home later today!!!