Tulsa family says RSV was difficult, but not to be feared

TULSA, Okla. — Adria and Josiah Mullins knew something was wrong when their 4-month-old daughter Shiloh was breathing from her stomach and laboring to breathe. Last weekend, after Shiloh had been breathing with difficulty for 3 days, they took her to the emergency room at St. Francis Hospital, where she was admitted and later diagnosed with RSV and rhinovirus - which causes the common cold.

At the hospital, the Mullins said, they heard a lot of kids coughing both in the E.R. and in their room in the Children’s Hospital -- showing the national trend of increased cases of RSV is happening in Tulsa.

Baby Shiloh stayed for 2 nights in the hospital, where nurses suctioned the mucus from her nose and gave her oxygen. Josiah Mullins says that was particularly difficult for him to watch because it was uncomfortable for Shiloh, but it was just what she needed to turn the corner. Both Josiah and Adria say they weren’t afraid or worried. They had a lot of support and Shiloh’s case wasn’t as bad as some of the other babies they’d heard about.

On Friday, Shiloh was alert, eating normally and playing with her toys, with only a faint sound of congestion.

After their experience, the Mullins are advising parents not to get too worried about RSV but to take it seriously if they see their child laboring to breathe and their chests collapsing and stomachs extending.