5 weeks old....bronchiolitis

[clairindespair]

My baby son was admitted to hospital last night with retraction

His sats, heart rate and overall self are fine, however he seems to be working hard to breathe and is now on CPAP after a night on optiflow

Any success stories as I’m so anxious and worked up.

Just want to say my ds was in intensive care on a ventilator with bronchiolitis and bacterial pneumonia and was still home after a week or so with no adverse effects. Also, they like to get the ventilator set up before it becomes essential because it’s better to do planned than in an emergency so if he does end up needing it then rest assured they are keeping one step ahead.

He’s in the best place now

I hope he gets well soon

My dd had it when she was 13 months, so a bit older than your boy.

She needed oxygen and a cannula in her foot to administer antibiotics. She also needed a nebuliser several times a day.

We was in hospital for several days but was released and was fine. She was released with a blue inhaler and now unfortunately suffers with asthma but my dh has asthma so I think she inherited it rather than a side affect of bronchitis

It’s so scary OP, but I promise you it’s so common. Every winter we are full of babies with bronch. There’s nothing that can be done apart from sometimes some breathing support, oxygen and help with feeding. It’s a case of waiting for the virus to pass. Day 3-4 is usually the worse. Make sure you get some sleep if you can and some food. It’s important you look after yourself too.

I’m just so upset and scared. I honestly feel like killing myself just to avoid the potential for anything to happen to him and I don’t know why

Do you have anyone with you?

My mums here. I’m debating spending a night at home as this is all getting abit much for me

You seriously need to talk to someone, a nurse or suchlike about how intense your feelings are.
You’re needing help & support in real life.

clairindespair before all this happened it sounded like you have PND.
Did your GP talk to you about any kind of support as well as meds?

Would it help to talk to someone who understands PND? You could call the PANDAS foundation helpline on 08081961776

www.pandasfoundation.org.uk/about-us/

My daughter had it several times as a baby. The second time she was blue lighted in and admitted to Paediatric High Dependency and put on CPAP. What I found reassuring both times was that when she started to improve there was a marked improvement very quickly - she still needed oxygen after coming out of HDU and back on the children's ward where we spent a week, but she was much brighter in herself and playing and eating. The issue is when she tired and went to sleep her sats dropped too low to be completely off the oxygen so we stayed in for nearly 2 weeks in total.

His issue is his work of breathing is worse when he wakes up and starts crying and getting agitated, when settled he’s improving

Clair it's just awful when you're scared on behalf of your little one.

But please, take deep breaths and remember, it is vanishingly unlikely that the worst will happen. Your brain is likely dwelling on it as it's such a terrifying prospect, but you need to hang on to the reality, which is it's very likely that your baby will recover just fine and that you'll look back on this as just one incredibly stressful week.

The odds are MASSIVELY in his favour. The most likely outcome by a long way is that he will be fine. The nurses have confirmed this. If you feel convinced he won't, that's the very understandable stress getting to you. Please try to recognise this stress for what it is - you are human! - and try not to let it consume you.

Some sleep could be a good idea.

I'm not sure how old she was exactly. But my sister was hospitalised with exactly this. She was very poorly. And it was touch and go when she arrived at the hospital. She'd turned grey and was rushed off quickly to be treated. If my mum had arrived at the hospital any later, I dread to think what might have happened.

I'm happy to say she's now a shouty annoying (but perfectly healthy) teenager.

She was a prem baby born 10 weeks early. I'm guessing this happened before she was 6 months.

It's so scary when they are poorly when they are so small. I hope your little one recovers quickly

Make sure you are getting a break and some support to keep strong for your little boy. I hope he gets better and you're home soon. Like lots of people have said it unfortunately is really common in little babies and so much going around these winter months, not that it makes it any easier.

I think you need to take a break, you don’t sound well yourself.

I agree you need to take a break. Go home tonight and gather your thoughts, get a good nights sleep because that can make you feel rubbish. Make sure you have something decent to eat and talk to a nurse or someone about how you are feeling.

Peadiatric nurse here. He'll be fine. Just takes time. It's been a really bad bronc season this year. I work on a specialised surgical ward and we had to cancel loads of surgery as we had filled up with broncs.

Yes it can get worse before it gets better. But Ones who have CPAP/ ventilation seem to recover quicker as it gives their body a proper rest.

@OP

I've been there. It's so scary

My baby was admitted with v low oxygen sats and work of breathing at 8 weeks old (weighing under 7lbs). She was taken in resus and although breathing we were pushed out the room. Terrifying. She was initially put on airvo (another version of cpap) and improved for the first few hours and then deteriorated. She was then intubated and blue lighted to the nearest paed intensive care unit where she spent 4 days on a ventilator. It is scary but can I reassure you that the staff in the PICU units are amazing. 9 out of the 10 beds there were Bronc. They all got better at different rates.

The worst day for us was when they extubated her as initially she didn't cope as well as they had hoped (found out that the tube had damaged her throat later....). But she came through and we were then in HDU for 2 days and then on the ward for 3 being discharged on Christmas Day.

What day of the illness is she on. It plateaus at day 4/5. Day 4 was the first day we went to hospital which is why she got worse before she got better

If she does end up in picu it's just to help her rest. So she can fight the virus rather than work on breathing

If you need any support feel free to message me

Hello - it does get worse before it gets better. I do really believe my little one had RSV but was never swabbed for it - google it and ask for baby to be swabbed. RSV then lead to further incidents of viral wheezing until she was 6. A specialist respiratory consultant said RSV that can cause bronc’ often leads to viral wheezing and then they grow out of it. As he was a children’s specialist and we ended up in children’s hospital at the age of 2 we got a preventor inhaler which helped against the wheezing and she grew out of it.

Consultant felt it was very possible the first time she got bronc’ that she had this RSV virus - so what I’m trying to say is if baby catches another cold be conscious of the signs as we weren’t and did get blue lighted a couple of times - very very frightening OP. Babies are strong

Op my ds was same, worse when awake

I made sure they gave him Calpol and calprofen alternated and it 100% stopped him feeling so miserable xx

Going home for a break will probably do you some good.
Have you spoken to anyone of your feelings or is your mum aware of how you feel?

You are not alone

My mum has been good. His blood gases have further improved so ventilation at this point is looking unlikely

I’m just so worried. His work of breathing is bad when he’s awake. I just want him to sleep this infection off and be well again. Looking at him on his CPAP machine I can’t imagine him recovering

He will recover. It will take time. Are you looking after yourself? Have you had some sleep?

Not really slept. He’s had 3 blood gas results in a row that show improved and stability so fingers and toes crossed