How We Survived RSV + Coronavirus With The Owlet

How We Survived RSV + Coronavirus With The Owlet

In the role of parenting children, I don't think that there is anything more nerve-wracking than your babies being really sick. My first baby truly never got sick until after she had turned one. She had a few ear infections but that was it. We had our second in August and apparently, mother nature decided it was time to shake things up a bit in our household.

Our little June turned four months old just before Christmas. We spent two weeks with family for the holidays, which was so much fun! But, the day after we got home, our three-year-old woke up coughing with a runny nose. June followed suit with the same symptoms the next day. Neither of them ever had a fever over 101, but they had this horrible persistent cough that just really started to concern me. We visited the doctor just three days after returning home from vacation, and June was diagnosed with RSV.

Owlet Smart Sock 3rd Generation

Owlet Smart Sock 3rd Generation

For having RSV, she was acting perfectly normal except for the cold-like symptoms. We watched her closely constantly, had her sleeping on an angle, and frequently used nasal saline and an aspirator to clear her nasal passages of mucus. We never ever laid her down to sleep whether for a nap or bedtime without putting the Owlet on her. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for that little sock and technology!
Two nights after she was diagnosed, the Owlet red-alarmed for the first time. The Owlet will only red-alarm if the baby's oxygen levels are too low, or if their heart rate is either too low or too high. In our case, we were primarily worried about oxygen levels. A red alarm, in the case of oxygen levels, only happens if the baby's level drops below 80%. A healthy baby should obviously be at 100% or just barely under that.
We checked on the handy Owlet Care app and June's oxygen had dipped all the way down to 74%. For the sake of not dragging this out too long, we ended up in the ER that night, but were sent home because her levels were reading at a 95%.
We were also told in the ER that we should not pay such close attention to the Owlet, that it was probably malfunctioning. After we got home from the hospital, the red alarm still went off every time June fell asleep. My mom gut was yelling at me, so as soon as our pediatrician's office was open in the morning I called, I needed a second opinion!
Owlet Cam Video Monitor

Owlet Cam Video Monitor

I used the Owlet with my oldest, and had been using it since day one with June, and had never had a false alarm. It did not sit right with me that it was suddenly "malfunctioning" when my baby had a respiratory virus. We took her into the doctor's office and took the Owlet with us so that we could compare it to the monitors the doctors used. We luckily got June to sleep so we could monitor her that way since that was when the alarms were going off, and her stats measured fine when she was awake in the ER. Guess what...THE OWLET READ EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE DOCTOR'S MONITORS!!!

The nurse was so surprised and was equally concerned that June had such low levels. As she ran out the door to get the doctor, the Owlet red-alarmed again. We were sent straight to the hospital. The thought was that parts of June's lungs were collapsing while sleeping because of the mucus. She was tested at the hospital and her tests came back positive for both RSV and Coronavirus, a completely different respiratory virus. Her respiratory system was getting rocked, and she was showing zero signs while awake.

She had good color, she was happy, she didn't have a fever, she was eating perfectly normal, and so on and so forth. Our doctor told me he is so grateful that we had the Owlet because we were able to catch it before she declined even more. Me too doc, me too!! We spent two days in the hospital on oxygen and being monitored as she fought through the worst of the viruses. Now she is completely happy and healthy and will forever more be sleeping with that amazing Owlet on her foot until the day she outgrows it.

I loved the peace of mind the Owlet gave me before this experience. Just being able to go to sleep knowing that if something was wrong out of the blue, I would be alerted. But, now I love it 1000 times more because I had it when something was wrong. Something was wrong that doctors at the ER missed simply because she was awake when they saw her, rather than asleep which was when her oxygen was tanking. It is worth every single cent in my eyes, as well as my husband's eyes, and he hates forking out money for baby products. If you are contemplating buying it, I very highly recommend that you find a way to make it work!

Written by: Alyssa Liston

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6 comments

Hi Taren — we’re so sorry to hear that your baby is sick, but we are glad we can provide any information that can help you get through this difficult time. We’re wishing you all the best!

The Baby Cubby

Currently in the NICU with my 8 month old with RSV & Covid-19. Definitely need to look into purchasing this! Thank you so much for your story. Gives me hope for my baby.

Taren

COVID-19 is a new strain found in 2019. However, coronavirus is a general term for several viruses.
From Wikipedia: Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can be mild, such as some cases of the common cold (among other possible causes, predominantly rhinoviruses), and others that can be lethal, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.

Jackie Hall

[…] Your Owlet base (or your phone) will flash and the alarm will sound to wake you up if your babe needs you. Talk about life-changing technology, mamas! There is nothing that will give a new mama more peace of mind than having an alarm that will go off when your baby is in trouble. To read about one of our Cubby Mom’s experience with the Owlet V2 Sock and how it saved her little girl, read her blog post here! […]

The Owlet Monitor Gives Peace of Mind in a Scary World

[…] you have been reading along here for a few months, you might have seen my post about how we survived RSV and Coronavirus with the Owlet Smart Sock. So yeah, we LOVE it. We think EVERYONE should have one. Do you have one […]

Sale! Sale! Owlet Sale!

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