Emily's 2 Week Appointment, 2 Ambulance Rides, and 2 Night Hospital Stay ;(

On Monday, April 25th Emily had her 2 week doctor's appointment.  Everything looked really good.  She gained back most of the weight she lost after she was born.  Here were her stats:

weight: 5lb. 12 oz.
height: 19.5"

The doctor was very happy that she was back up (basically) to her pre-pregnancy weight.  We had been working on that the week before.  She is eating and sleeping well.

Monday night everything seemed to change.  It was around 8:30pm and Danny was already asleep.  Kenneth and I were in the living room, me on one couch and Kenneth on the other.  I had fed Emily at 8, and she feel asleep, so I was going to see if she would eat any milk from a bottle to fill her up before going to bed for the night.  She was awake, and I tried giving her the bottle, but after just a few seconds I took it out because she didn't seem interested.  As soon as I took the bottle out, I knew something was wrong.  Emily was unable to get any breath in, and you could tell she was distressed because her entire body was seized up, and she was arching her back and was trying to get air in but was unable to.  At first I started rubbing her back thinking that maybe some milk had just gone down the wrong way, but she still would not breath.  Kenneth came over, and took her, and tried to see if there was anything in her mouth - there wasn't.  Her little face started to turn purple.  I called 911 while Kenneth tried to get her airway to open.  While checking to see if there was anything in her mouth he put his finger in, and when he did so, it opened her airway a little bit so she could get a tiny half-breath before her throat closed up again and she stopped breathing once more.

While on the phone with 911 they had Kenneth attempt to clear her airway again, but nothing worked.  She was basically choking on a ton of mucus that was in her mouth and nose.  We knew this must be the case because when the dispatcher told Kenneth to give her rescue breaths nothing went in.  It was so incredibly scary.  It was the scariest moment of my life.  Seeing my precious little girl not breathing - with her eyes so big and wide - you could tell she could see mom and dad and was just thinking, "someone help me!"

The paramedics arrived probably about 5 minutes after this all began.  After evaluating her they suctioned out her nose and mouth really well, which helped tremendously.  Afterward we headed to the hospital so that tests could be done.  Emily and I went via ambulance to the local Redlands Community Hospital.  Kenneth took Danny over to our friend/neighbor's place and then followed.  Once at the hospital Emily was doing much better.  They did some blood tests, x-rays and pulled some mucus samples from her nose.  There was no fluid in her lungs, but from the other tests they determined that she has RSV.  She most likely got it from someone in the family since we've all been sick the last 2 weeks.  RSV (which is a respiratory virus) leads to increased secretions - hence the mucus, and they think that she choked on some milk plus the mucus plus her lack of gag reflex is what led to her not being able to breath.

We stayed in the ER from 9pm (Monday) to 4am (Tuesday).   We were then transferred to our Kaiser hospital in Fontana so Emily could be admitted for observation.  Emily and I then took our second ambulance ride.  Once she was admitted to the Kaiser hospital, they reconfirmed that she did, in fact have RSV.  They also determined that she suffers from apnea (where she randomly stops breathing for a given amount of time).  That wouldn't have helped with her choking incident.  Because of the apnea they decided to administer oxygen and to monitor her for a day longer.  The oxygen seemed to help her with her breathing - as long as she didn't pull out the nasal canula, which she did several times.  We'll have to compare pictures of our two kiddos with their oxygen tubes...

After monitoring Emily for a day and a half or so, the doctors felt she was stable, and good enough to go home.  We were officially discharged Wednesday around 4:30 pm.  We are grateful to be home now, and are happy that Emily is doing so much better.  I must admit, however, that last night while sleeping, I was so worried every time Emily would make a noise.  I am so grateful for the service our wonderful friends here in Southern California have done for us, with watching Danny, and providing meals.  Also, thanks to all our family and friends who have been praying for our little one.  And lastly, thanks to Kenneth and our friend Bennett who gave Emily a wonderful Priesthood blessing while she was in the hospital.  It provided much needed comfort, and I know it made a difference.  Thanks again to everyone.  We love our little Emily so much, and we are so happy she is home.