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Pink Eye, Double Ear Infection, RSV, and Pneumonia

That is what Carter was diagnosed with on Monday, February 13.  I couldn't believe my poor little not-even-8-month-old-baby had all these illnesses going on at once.  I was shocked, scared, and felt completely helpless.  He was so sick that he didn't even want to nurse from me.  That is how I knew things were really bad and what he had wasn't just a cold. 

The week before Carter came down with all these illnesses, I had dropped him off at daycare and heard another kid coughing.  I was frightened by the sound of the cough, but what choice did I have?  I had to work... and someone needed to care for Carter.  By Friday evening Carter had that same frightening cough that I heard from the kid at daycare earlier that week.  Friday night Carter's cough sounded like croup.  We ran a steamy shower and kept him in our room over night.  By Saturday night he was sounding very congested and gurgly so Cory took him to the ER, because the walk-in's had already closed.  The ER gave him an oral steroid, checked him for RSV, said it was negative, and sent him home with no meds.  All day Sunday I knew he wasn't well, but figured it was a cold because he was just at the ER the night before.  Sunday night Carter was so irritable and by Monday morning he no longer wanted to nurse from me.  That is when I knew that we needed to get back in to see the doctor quickly. 

On Monday morning Carter's pediatrician confirmed that he had RSV by putting a tube up his nose and testing the mucus.  He sent us for chest x-rays which confirmed the pneumonia.  And, just a simple look at both Carter's ears and his left eye were enough to confirm he had a double ear infection and the start of pink eye.  Carter started on augmentin, eye drops, and albuterol through a neubulizer.  The doctor said the cough could last a couple weeks.  Cory and I decided to keep Carter home from daycare for the week.  We wanted to do everything we could to keep from having to hospitalize him.  Fortunately we were successful.  He is getting much better and returned to daycare yesterday.  He is still not back to normal and has a bit of congestion, a cough, and a smaller-than-normal appetite, but he's getting better. 

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers while we were doing all that we could to get our little Carter-Monkey on the mend back to health.  RSV and pneumonia can be seriously threatening in small children.  We are so happy were were able to catch this and get it under control as quickly as we did.