Life in the PICU

**I started to write this post on Saturday...so it is a little old, but it tells you our whole story. That we know has a happy ending! Thanks to everyone that has supported us with prayers and love. Thank you!**

What is the PICU?

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

A place we never dreamed we would be. A place where a nightmare puts you. A place where my baby is getting the best care possible to keep him alive.

That sounds so scary to say. But, it is true. How long can you live without breathing? Not long.

Zane had congestion since early this past week. I called the doctor's office last Monday and they said it was probably just "newborn congestion" and as long as he wasn't running a fever, we should be fine.

Zane was seen on Wednesday at the doctor's office. The doctor did his circumcision and listened to him and said that although he was congested, his lungs were clear and to follow up on Friday for his congestion, to check on his circumcision and his weight since he had not gained any of his birth weight back.

Zane pretty much slept the next 24 hours. He would wake up once in a while to eat--and I was waking him up to eat since he needed to gain weight. But he just seemed tired. We thought he was just traumatized from his circumcision and needed to sleep.

Thursday morning we went to the mall. Zane hung out in the stroller--still sleeping. We had lunch and took Cade to see the Easter Bunny. I had taken Zane out of the stroller so he could get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny, too...but I changed my mind and just had Cade in the picture. My Mom took Zane so I could pay for the pictures and we walked out of the mall. When we got outside, Mom said she was glad to be outside in the sun because when we were in the mall Zane's upper lip looked a little blue. But he looked better outside.

I sat next to Zane in the back seat of Jim's truck on the way home from the mall. I was watching Zane pretty closely as my Mom's statement had freaked me out a little. His breathing seemed shallow--and his skin pale. I told Jim that he had to watch Zane when we got home to see if we needed to get Zane to the doctor on Thursday instead of waiting until his appointment on Friday. By the time Jim pulled him out of the car seat at home, Zane was really pale and limp. Jim told me to call the doctor's office--he needed to be seen. I was put on hold with the doctor's office. Watching Jim's face change, I knew this was a little more pressing than running to the doc. Jim then said lets go to the ER. Then told me to call 911.

I called 911 and the rest of what happened is somewhat of a blur. Jim was trying to keep Zane breathing and occasionally blowing air in his mouth. Zane quickly turned a grayish blue color and Jim said he wasn't breathing by the time the fire department got to our house. The fire department came in and took over right away. Cade just wanted to go outside and see the firetruck. The firemen got Zane breathing again and stabilized him enough for transport to the hospital.

I rode in the front seat of the ambulance to John C. Lincoln where they have Mendy's Place--an ER for kids. Once there, a team of doctors and nurses took over keeping Zane breathing. After a couple of tense hours there, they transferred us by ambulance to the PICU at St. Joes hospital down town. We got there around 7:00pm. They tried to do a lumbar puncture on Zane to get a culture to rule out meningitis. However, he stopped breathing a couple more times, so they stopped. We spent the next three days in the PICU and then was transferred to the regular pediatric floor for one more day. They had Zane on oxygen, fluids, antibiotics, monitors...the poor baby had so many wires and tubes coming out of him it was hard to hold him.

The RSV swab came back positive. A viral infection that most kids and adults respond to like a cold, but in the little babies can be very dangerous. Since Cade was recently battling a viral infection that left him with steroids and breathing treatments, we are pretty sure we know the source of the infection. It just hit Zane hard.

This week has been crazy. Well, the last almost three weeks since Zane was born and in the NICU have been crazy. But, thank God we are home and mostly healthy. We are hoping to keep it that way.