All those nurses at the NICU were so nice that Roz thought she needed to get back to the hospital. The best way, she figured, was to get what everyone else in the family probably had: RSV. Somehow she knew that what was no problem for older people was a big problem for babes. So, she regularly attempted to eat snotty hands and was successful in contracting the illness.
All week long she had a runny nose, then a cough, then labored breathing, then a trip to the pediatrics walk-in on Monday morning where she convinced a doctor that she needed a stylish ambulance ride to the ER. Once there, she decided she liked those nurses well enough, but needed to see those hospital nurses, and got the ER docs to admit her by de-saturating her oxygen levels some more. Sly thing.
She may be sly but she’s also considerate, so she got me a bed with a nice view and arranged for me to get meals for free since I was nursing her.
my bed
my view
Though Roz was perfectly content solely interacting with the nurses and me, I craved further social interaction and brought Nick’s laptop over to the hospital. We set up a Skype call between home and the room and just left it running. Thanks to all those other friends that kept me entertained too.
You can see me here below in my facemask, gloves and gown since Rosalyn was “highly contagious.” Every time before I left the room I had to take all that off and throw it away. You can also see Roz in that second picture attempting to share her germs with me. I tried to convince those doctors that I already had the illness and didn’t need all the garb, but they would have none of that talk and touted policy over comfort. Ah well.
Rosalyn took her time getting off her oxygen. We came in with her on half a liter and slowly took it down over two days. On the third day Roz was afraid we’d be leaving too soon, so she kicked off her pulse-ox just enough for it to look like she was de-saturating again and she went from .1 liters back up to .6 and it wasn’t until I changed her diaper a while later that I discovered her ruse. While I wasn’t amused as she was, I was glad that when I got it back on correctly her oxygen levels were reading at 98% instead of 90% which was too low. She came off oxygen at 6:30 Wednesday evening and slept through the night at an average of 96% oxygen saturation and was cleared to go home by all those professionals she loved so much during their rounds at 10:30 am.
After four days and three nights in the hospital I’m glad to be back, and let’s hope Roz got her fix of nurses for a while…
…like, for 20 years.
10 comments:
Geez! All that clever talk doesn't fool me-- how HORRIBLE!!! Don't ever post pictures of sweet little babies in big, huge, hospital beds again. Way too sad.
So glad you got to go home, both of you. Was fun to Skype this morning. Love you all : )
I'm glad she's home! Hope she stays there for a long time! Did you have to wear the mask when you were sleeping??
Wow! Sounds like she's had crazy first month or so. Hope everything's okay!
Oh boo! So sad, but so glad she is doing better. Those darn germs...
Oh, so sorry to hear about this! A sick kid is bad enough - living in the hospital with a sick kid is the pits. But you got through it! Stay well!
I'm so sorry. That is terrible! We're glad you're back home and feeling better. Those masks and gowns are no fun at all.
Oh goodness Nicole - I had no idea! Big hugs to you and sweet Ros!
Nice job Roz. You really are one sly thing. I can't wait to see what she masterminds next, but I do really hope it doesn't involve more nurses. For your sake, and hers of course.
What an ordeal. I am so sorry. And those nurses were saying it is policy, but we both know that they simply delight in watching us walk around like odd mummies.
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