And I just thought it was Croup...

Apparently Eric has RSV.

RSV is a highly contagious virus which is quite prevalent during the winter months. It is transmitted primarily by hand-to-nose, hand-to-mouth, and hand-to-eye contact. The severity of the symptoms vary depending upon the age of the child and whether he has any chronic medical problems. Because RSV is so prevalent and it may cause very serious illness in some children, it is considered the most important childhood infection of the respiratory system. So says the internet.

Basically it just seemed like croup, then it just seemed like a cold, and in a matter of a DAY, he had red droopy eyes, a fever of 102, an awful sounding cough, horrible runny nose, fussiness and wheezing. SUPER!

So begins the sad tale...first we go to the doctor and he says, "It sounds like croup..." Then he listens to his lungs and says, "Hmmm..." Already I was thinking...that can't be good. Then he tells me it's probably RSV. Of course Eric remembered the last time we came to the doctor and spent the entire time screaming his head off, even though there were no needles involved and it was a relatively harmless visit. They brought in a nebulizer and he was on that for about 5 minutes, and luckily did not have to have a mask on. Phew!

Well the doc writes up a thing telling me to call up the outpatient clinic down at Utah Valley, and they would do some "suctioning and breathing treatments." Are you as scared of the word suctioning as I was? Oh...you have every reason to be. I get Eric home, and fed and bathed and comfort my little guy and he was so exhausted and icky feeling that he fell asleep the moment he hit the mattress...so obviously it was time for the Outpatient Clinic to tell me to bring him down right away so that they could suction the snot out of him, preventing...DEATH. Yep. So I got Eric out of bed and drove to the hospital...and they pinned his arms behind his back and wrapped him up like a big burrito and let me be the nice mommy who holds his head down and still so they can stick a tube way up his nose and suck out all the mucus. What a lovely evening for all. Plus I got to take him again this afternoon! Weeeeeeeee!

On top of all of this, it turns out to be one the most highly contagious things EVER. So I have spent all day washing bedding and toys. Lysoling every light switch and door handle and crib railing and dresser drawer in the place. I have cleaned EVERY SINGLE book and toy and bleached their high chair trays and clorox wiped everything down and put on so much hand sanitizer that I think I'm just going to go brain dead. I am having to remember whose sippy cup is whose, and which spoon is Eric's and which binky Nick's is, and keep Nick and Liam seperated from Eric as much as physically possible. Which in Nick's case is ridiculously difficult. He just doesn't like that Eric is in the bedroom watching movies and he is stuck outside of the room with ME. I guess that Curious George is just cooler than me...sad.

The whole business is SAD.