Just after Harrison’s birthday party, Ellie started to get a little cough. It wasn’t much, more of a nuisance to Ellie then anything else. At first we thought it was a little cold or allergic reaction but over a day or two it progressed to something worse and that little voice started to work inside my head… This just doesn’t seem right. The Wednesday following his party, Ellie and I headed to the doctors office to get her checked out, just to be safe, and try to silence that voice. Our usual pediatrician was away on vacation, but we saw the other pediatrician in his practice. She listened to Ellie’s chest and it sounded clear as a bell. She felt it was just an irritation or slight reaction to something and it was nothing to be concerned about. I left feeling glad it wasn’t anything big to worry about.

By the time we reached the following Monday, Ellie was coughing hard and barely able to breath. That little voice wasnt so little anymore and it was now screaming at me… “Something is definitely wrong with our little girl!” After a call to our doctors service and a chat with his fabulous PA Susie, we were up bright and early the following morning for walk-in hours to see her and have Ellie checked out… AGAIN. Luckily this time Ellie went into a coughing fit right there in front of Susie and that’s when things changed.

Before we knew it she was calling the ER at Providence Tarzana to let them know we were on our way. From there we spoke with an ER doctor (who had a very, “Holy-er than Thou” attitude) who ran tests for RSV, Influenza, Pneumonia and Pertussis. Ellie also had chest x-rays done just to make sure that she didn’t have any fluid in her lungs. The results for Pertussis and RSV take several days to get back but he didn’t feel it was either. The chest x-rays showed a small spot of fluid but nothing to be concerned about. He felt it was either bacterial or viral pneumonia and from there he sent us home with the final words of “a cough has never done serious damage to anyone.”

Later that night, after we visited with Zoe and said goodbye before she left for a 10 day trip to Belgium, Ellie had another coughing episode. This time, however, she could not breath and after a few moments started turning blue. Just before panic turned into chaos, she was able to catch a breath. That was the point where I knew something was very wrong and that come hell or high water I would get some answers and I would not leave the ER or that hospital until I knew Ellie was ok. So from there we sped off to Patrick and Fiona’s house to drop Abby off and then went to the ER. This time someone listened.

The ER doctor felt Ellie’s situation was a bit of gray area. Her lungs sounded clear but the cough was a concern. He left the decision of what to do for us. Without hesitation we decided to have her admitted for 24 hour observation. The process began and it certainly was something I could have done without. I am proud of myself for being so strong but I was dying inside. Watching them take blood and start her on an IV was probably the hardest thing we have done as parents thus far. Ellie was scared and hurting and I couldn’t do anything to comfort her. She didn’t understand what was happening. Shaun and I felt helpless and honestly I think that is the worst feeling as a parent. After two hours of preparation, tests and paperwork we were finally admitted to Tarzana’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

By the time we were moved up to PICU, it was almost 1:30am on Wednesday August 18th. Shaun and I were already exhausted from several nights of interrupted sleep worrying about Ellie’s cough and breathing. Luckily the night nurse, Ed, was amazing and kept us focused but also took our mind off of things. He got Ellie settled in to her hospital crib and tried to make her as comfortable as possible, swaddling her tight and showing us what we needed to do and how they would help her during each coughing episode. From there we also learned that another baby with pertussis had been there 10 days already and showed no sign of heading home. I had a gut feeling that we wouldn’t be there for just a 24 hour observation anymore. And as for the ER doc that said “a cough has never done serious damage to anyone”, he should have been there when our nurse had to rush to the bedside of another infant to give her chest compressions to get her to start breathing again during a coughing episode.

Ellie with her IV board resting peacefully. At this point she had gone several hours without a coughing episode. Things were looking better for our precious little girl.

I stayed with Ellie around the clock, most of the time, because she relies on me to eat and trying to introduce formula wasn’t a good idea. We didn’t need to add anymore issues to the mix. Luckily I had some frozen milk at home, which allowed me to escape for a few hours to go home, shower, sleep and stop by Grandpa and Nana’s house to visit with Abby. This lasted for 8 days, but with a few visits and an amazing staff of nurses and doctors, the time spent in a dark PICU room was bearable. Ellie was the hit of the PICU though and most of the nurses had no problem holding her and watching her so that I could take a break. They were amazed at how much she smiled and giggled for a 7 week old baby. Ed, Jaimie, Rosie, Sandy, Val, Esmer, and more were smitten with Ellie. Even though they were happy to see her healthy enough to be discharged, I know they were sad to see her go. On Wednesday August 25th, Dr Lee the Pediatric Doctor, gave u the all clear to go home.

Ellie is going home! No more IV board, monitors, cannula, and hospital shirts!

Ellie is doing well thus far. She still has coughing episodes that last a bit but she can breathe and regain a normal breathing pattern on her own. Whooping cough can take up to a few months to get rid of, but we are over the worst. She went in for a follow up with Dr. Calig today and he says other then the nasty cough, she looks great. We go back next week for her 2 month check up, where she will have received her first DTaP vaccine.

While I am not generally a preachy person, I can say that I have a strong opinion about childhood vaccines. I know there are some concerns and I dont judge those people who have their opinions either, but the end result of people not vaccinating their children can be deadly. While we were in the PICU, 5 other cases of Pertussis came through. In the last few months there have been 5 confirmed deaths from Pertussis in Los Angeles County alone. Dr. Calig told me that up until this year he had only seen a handful of Pertussis cases during his 30+ years in practice. Shaun and I were both vaccinated and we kept Ellie away from most people while we were out. Its becoming an epidemic and I feel lucky that Ellie will come out of this just fine. Its something she will never remember but its also something we will never forget. The sad thing is that this infectious disease had basically been eradicated in the U.S. Now its yet another worry for parents of children under the age of 1.