It all started late Monday night. She had been a terrible eater all day... but that was truly nothing new for my little one... and only had a couple ounces of her bedtime bottle before we continued our normal bedtime routine and she went to sleep. Thinking back on it now... her tummy was rather rumbly, but I just didn't think anything of it at the time. Phillip and I were catching up on the evening news and just relaxing before we were headed to bed ourselves, when all of a sudden, she woke up, crying the most strange cry followed by a very suspicious series of coughing. Phillip wanted to wait it out to see if she would go back to sleep... but I insisted on going in to check on her. It was wasn't normal. The moment I opened the door, the smell hit me. My baby had gotten sick. I turned on the lamp and called for Phillip to come help me. It was everywhere. Her entire crib bedding was a mess. She was terrified. Poor sweet baby. So Phillip took her and cleaned her up, changed her jammies, while I got to work cleaning up her room. I told him to offer her some water... no one likes the after taste of that. So he did. She didn't drink much... and then all of a sudden, as I was just starting the first (of what was to be MANY) load of laundry, she did it again... all over daddy, and a blanket we had draped over the couch (saving our new couch!!). Something wasn't right. Phillip and I agreed we would let her sleep with us that night... just in case it were to happen again. Which it did... over and over again... nearly ever 10 minutes for almost 3 hours, followed by every 30 minutes after that until 8 in the morning. At about 3 am... I knew that this wasn't ok, so, unsure of who to call and wake... I called the charge nurse at Wesley (on my labor and delivery unit). With the amount of mom's and nurses on the unit at any given time. It was my best bet for someone telling me whether or not this was ok. The girls collaborated, along with a couple of the resident doctors to tell me that as long as she was urinating and producing tears, she was fine, she just needed to vomit this stomach bug up. So she did. Over and over again.
Tuesday was a day spent snuggling on the couch, watching too many episodes of Barney and Sesame Street to count (thank goodness for DVR!!!)... she didn't want to each anything... and she vomited several times throughout the day. I was able to get her to drink some... so I was certain that she was going to be just fine.
Tuesday night came and went, she slept from 9 pm until 9:30 am... I thought for sure we were out of the woods. And then the vomiting started again. Just a few times throughout the day... I called her pediatrician, and again, she reassured me that as long as she didn't seem dehydrated, they weren't concerned. (Watching your baby wretch her little body so many times over a little blue basin might be one of the worst things I've had to witness... and every time it happened, or started to happen, she would cry "Mama... NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!" and then proceed to get sick. She couldn't understand what was happening, or why.. and it just broke my heart. I had to call in sick to work on Wednesday, I just couldn't travel an hour and a half with her in the car, with her already not feeling well. And thank God I did. Phillip came home early from a work dinner, and the first words out of his mouth were... I think I'm going to get sick. Great, it was spreading!
By 11 pm Wednesday night... we were all getting sick at the same time and the diarrhea had set in for Callie too. It was too much... again we put Callie in bed with us, each taking turns getting sick, Callie going back to vomiting every 10 minutes. She was dehydrated. I knew it. No tears, no urine... by 4 am I knew there was no way I could rehydrate her on my own. I couldn't syringe feed her pedialyte and get her to keep it down, she couldn't even hold down the ice chips I made for her. The next 4 hours dragged on and on... lifting my limp baby to the basin when she started to vomit... and laying her back down... she was a rag doll. Once the pediatricians office opened.. they couldn't see her until 10:30 (UGGHGHHH)... but I wanted to see my pediatrician. I sent out an SOS to my mother at this point. I was exhausted and felt awful... Phillip certainly didn't feel well either... we had all been up for over 24 hours... just catching bits of sleep here and there. We needed reinforcement.
By the time we were at the pediatrician's office... my mother was already on the road, what a blessing, I thought, maybe I would get a nap today. But at the doctors office, Dr. Bridge took one look at Callie and said, she needed IV hydration. She wanted to admit Callie overnight to the hospital... and obviously, I wanted to do what was best for Callie, but I asked if we could try the IV, see if it got her "over the hump" and able to hold down fluids, so we could rest at home. She agreed... and even attempted to start the IV in the office to let me hydrate her at home. But Callie was too dehydrated, she didn't even fight the IV start. Her veins were so small and collapsed, Dr. Bridge couldn't get the IV started. I felt that lump form in my throat... because I knew we were going to the hospital... but this whole mom thing makes you become some sort of super human, I couldn't let Callie see my emotions... I just needed to be strong... for her. I called Phillip and asked him to gather a few things up for us, including a couple of small stocking stuffer gifts I had planned to give her for Christmas... and away we went. My mother beat us to the hospital. Seeing her was like seeing a breath of fresh air. Everything was going to be ok... my mommy was there... and she would take care of all of us.
Callie barely got out a "Gee" (her name for Grams) and wanted to snuggle in her Grams' arms. Which is where she spent most of her hospital stay. Grams sent Phillip and I down to the cafeteria to eat (we hadn't eaten a bite all day) and told us to rest on the bed while she rocked her bitty baby for 2 hours throughout the infusion.
(For my medical friends... they called in the IV team to start Callie's IV... they used the sono to start it and got it with one stick... they were really good and I was very impressed, especially since I told the nurse Callie was a hard stick and I would prefer that we only do it once. The nurse, having been told by Dr. Bridge that I too was a nurse, respected my wishes and told me she wasn't even going to try. I had a really great experience.)
After the infusion... my lethargic baby was no longer... she went into the hospital limp and lifeless and walked out holding her daddy's hand. It's amazing what a little fluid can do!
My mother went to the grocery store for us and made homemade chicken noodle soup, easy on every one's tummies, and stocked us with every remedy we could need to help rehydrate and nourish our baby. Then she even agreed to stay overnight and watch Callie so we could sleep. Callie slept in her Grams' arms and only got sick once more. Today, she is not quite 100%... but is definitely more herself than she has been all week. And I know my fathers words are true, that they just have to get some of this stuff to strenthen their immune system... but, ugh, it's so hard to watch them suffer through it!
I can't thank you all enough for the support, love and prayers you have sent our way during this extremely long week. We are truly beyond blessed.
(sorry for the lengthiness of this... here come the photos!)
Callie loves those socks, she will chose those to wear every day. So of course she needed them at the hospital.
So grateful for this woman... she held this baby for hours...
trying to comfort my sweet sweet baby...
We were sent home with the IV still in place, just in case she started to vomit again... Dr. Bridge gave me orders to discontinue the IV before bedtime if I felt I was ok with doing that. That's the beauty of living in a small town and having worked with Callie's doctor. There's a mutual respect and trust of each others practices'.
After mommy discontinued the IV... thank heavens for Grams again! Mommy didn't have ANY band aids... and Gram's pulled a Mickey Mouse one out of her purse! Which Callie was quite proud of...
Her mouse... (the IV team marked where her veins were with a marker... hence the markings on her little arm.) She insisted that she be able to see her mouse the entire time he was on... so her sleeve had to be rolled up.
Grams even made rice krispie treats for everyone... Which we all loved and shared.
So other than getting her birthday incorrect... We had a great experience at Salina Regional.
Snuggling with her Grams. And looking at Grams' Baby (she wants to see everyone's baby photos on their phones) Also... Gram's brought her a new Winnie the Pooh doll and book...
And of course, what's a hospital stay without a balloon? Bitty's prize for doing so well... She loves it.
Poor VanCourts!! I am glad you are starting to all feel better!
ReplyDeleteYour mom's a rock star! You are too, by the way!!
ReplyDeleteMorgan did the IV, dehydration thing once and hearing her scream for it was just awful. Hope everyone's 100% soon!!