Greetings From the Gilleys: RSV= Really Scary Virus!

Ok, RSV doesn't really stand for Really Scary Virus. It stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. But it's what Piper was diagnosed with at 6 weeks old. And at 6 weeks, it really was very, very scary for me, as a mother, to watch. My sweet, helpless infant struggled to breathe, was wheezing, congested, broke out in a bumpy red rash (called a viral rash) all over her face, neck and chest, coughed so hard her lips turned purple before she was able to breath again, vomited repeatedly, and was so lethargic her eyes would roll back in her head throughout the day when she would fall asleep. Yet, my angel smiled through it all. When you see your baby cough so hard that she completely stops breathing and is not able to catch a breath for a few seconds, those seconds seem to freeze in time and all you can do is cry out a plea to the heavens and shout, "BREATHE PIPER! BREATHE PIPER!" and hit her back until finally, thankfully, she does. She inhales. And the color returns to her face, and then she throws up. But then she smiles because she is so sweet and happy all the time. Her heart and soul are just full of pure happiness. And it radiates into my heart and soul.

Because of all of the vomiting and severe coughing, her doctor wanted her tested for Pertussis, otherwise known as Whooping Cough. Pertussis can be fatal. Again, as a mother, I was TERRIFIED to hear that my sweet, brand new baby could have a sickness that could kill her. I hate even thinking about it. My whole body went into panic mode as we drove to the doctor's office. This flu season is from the pits of Hell (excuse my language, but SERIOUSLY!). Thankfully, luckily, she doesn't have it. She just has RSV, which is still horrible but not nearly as bad as Whooping Cough. Anyway, while we were at the doctor's office, they decided to give her her vaccines because she was finally old enough. Plus, one of the vaccines is for Pertussis so we decided to give it to her now while we're in this horrible flu season. I felt OK about it because her doctors felt OK about it. Unfortunately, later that night, as I was changing her into her Pajamas, I noticed her knees had bright red, big spots on them. Each splotch was in the exact same position on each tiny knee cap, and the first thing that I thought of was that she was having a bad reaction to her shots and what if it was also fatal? I mean, when everything seems to be going wrong and everyone you know of is sick, you think the worst. I have heard horror stories about children with bad reaction to vaccines, and because Piper has already had so many health scares, (her sacral spine indent being one of them- which, turns out, is completely fine I should add-) I, of course, think the absolute worst. So Shawn and I rush to the Broomfield Children's Urgent care at 10 pm to get her looked at. Luckily, thankfully, (again) it is nothing to worry about. The doctor's said she had a rare, but small and un-harmful, allergic reaction to her vaccines, and it won't affect her in any way. She most likely will not have any more reactions to future vaccinations, and she will be fine. It was just hives on her knees. They faded within 2 hours. I worried for nothing. Apparently, a large number of babies have adverse reactions to their first dose of vaccines because it's the first time they are exposed to anything harmful in their little new lives. So we checked out and went home and slept sound that night. It was a long day full of nerve-wracking doctor's appointments and all I wanted to do was sleep the horrid day away. And that's what I did. And I woke up to a happy baby once again.

I am so thankful for that.

Piper Everly is on the mend and we know it is because of all of the prayers that have been said on her behalf. Thank you , everyone, for loving her enough to pray for her. We haven't been to the doctor in 3 whole days! Woo-hoo! I have been to the doctor's office (and ER and Urgent Care) a couple days a week, practically, since the day Piper was born and I just want to be done!