Audrey Roloff is opening up to the public about her daughter's recent medical diagnosis.
Along with the impact it is having on the two-year old herself... and her poor, VERY pregnant mother.
As previously reported, Audrey and husband Jeremy spent hours in the hospital this week with their young daughter, lamenting both the time it took to get her treated and explaining to followers that Ember spiked a dangerously high fever.
Now, Audrey is here to tell us why.
"Behind the scenes of our reality lately," Audrey wrote as a caption to the candid photo above yesterday, adding:
"I thought I’d have more cute family Christmas photos filling my camera roll by now, but instead I have this photo... Holding a sick baby at 4 a.m. in the emergency room."
It's legitimately painful just to look at that image, don't you agree?
Audrey then went into more detail in regard to what prompted this week's hospitalization.
"Last week Ember came down with her first bad tummy bug and it was a solid 4 or 5 days of “owie tummy,” fever and vommiting...
"She started to feel better for a couple days, but then started saying “owie” when she went to the bathroom...
"And then at night spiked a high fever so I was concerned about a UTI. We walked in to the ER at 11 p.m. and didn’t get discharged till 5 a.m."
Jeremy, in particular, expressed extreme frustration with the family's visit when he shared Ember's hospitalization a few days ago.
Emphasizing her expecting state here, Audrey then did the same -- while confirming her child's diagnosis:
Sitting on that miserable chair all night, while 37 weeks pregnant, just to wait for a urine sample and a nose swab.. I do not understand the ER.
Welp, turns out she has RSV.
For the record:
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two... but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults.
Long-term? Ember should be okay.
But that's only a small comfort to parents when a child is suffering so much in the short-term.
"Was up all night again last night with a horrible cough and fever," Audrey added in her update, continuing to express sorrow for her daughter and overall frustration with the timing of this illness:
"In between comforting her, the pressure of a book manuscript that’s already past deadline, all the year-end stuff when you run your own business/shop, Christmas commitments, the final weeks of pregnancy aches/emotions, and just feeling nervous for labor...
"I’m at the end of an already frayed rope."
Seriously.
Imagine being mere weeks from welcoming another child into the world... while dealing with a very sick two-year old.
During the holiday season, no less.
To her credit, though, Ember turned this situation around and tried to relate to other struggling parents at the moment.
"So if your week doesn’t look as dreamy and perfect as the Christmasy photos you’re seeing on Instagram right now, you’re not alone," she wrote, concluding with a message:
I’m giving myself permission to have unwrapped gifts under the tree, unresponded to e-mails/texts, stay in my pajamas, let the laundry baskets overflow, put on another episode of Daniel Tiger for Ember, and order take out for the 4th time this week.
Maybe you need to extend extra grace to yourself this week too. I give you permission.
Hang in there, Ember... and Audrey. We're thinking fo you both.
