My Mommy Nightmare

It all started with my little poltergeist baby.  On Monday might my 8 week old projectile spit up her milk like I had never seen before!  It just kept going!  Wow, I guess I overfed her is what I thought.  On Tuesday she had a similar spit up and again, I just assumed she was making the signs saying she wanted food but really wasn't hungry.  Then in the middle of the night on Tuesday she continued with the projecting and added diarrhea to the list.  Now it was no longer an issue of over-feeding and I knew my little baby was sick so I made her a Doctor appointment for Wednesday afternoon.

The doctor said she was about 5% dehydrated and had some kind of stomach virus.  He recommended if she showed more signs of dehydration that I should take her to the ER for an IV.  So I took her home, and she continued to vomit or diarrhea every time she drank and could not keep any food down.  My biggest worry was how would I know if she was at the point of dehydration to need an IV.  The doctor told me what the signs would be and said: "I trust you" when I expressed this concern.  After dinner I saw the signs clearly and Jesus and I rushed our little baby to the ER.  Her eyes were heavy from not sleeping but also looked sunken in from dehydration.  Her coloring was off and she was lethargic.  It was so scary because it was like she changed in an instant from being ok to not and it happened so fast because she's so small and doesn't have any reserve.

Jesus was so excited that she didn't cry when they poked her for the IV but I knew it wasn't good that she didn't cry.  It was because she was too lethargic and dehydrated to even respond and the Doctor confirmed my thoughts.  Then things got worse when they admitted us for the night.  She had a rash all over her body, a fever and needed to be monitored to get rehydrated and needed to be able to keep her milk down at home.  Jesus went home to be with Joaquin and I stayed in the hospital for one of the worst nights of my life.  I laid in the room with my baby and listened to her whine the entire night in pain.  She barely slept and was hungry.  We mixed her milk with Pedialyte but she wasn't drinking nearly as much as normal (which was actually fine because the IV could compensate).  Then the tests began.  My little girl was poked and prodded with blood draws and even a catheter.  She wasn't peeing and the Doctor had to be real with me.  He let me know all the tests were to rule out things like a urine infection, kidney infection (or failure!) and he said depending on the results, they would possibly need a spinal tap to rule out meningitis.  Meningitis?!  Isn't that some crazy disease in the old days like Polio?  Maybe not, but that's what I thought and I was not about to google it and find out!  Thank heavens the tests did not need to go that far.  I couldn't handle my baby screaming and crying anymore so when they put in the catheter, I went downstairs, sat on a bench and cried.  I cried all night in fear and sadness. But later that night, my daughter peed!  I was so upset from not sleeping but when she peed, I no longer cared about sleep and was just so happy her kidneys were working!

Then an hour later, the doctor came in and told me her urine test results were good and she did not have a urine infection.  Her blood work also came back good and we did not need to test for meningitis!  She just had a very bad stomach virus that would run it's course.  This morning, Jesus joined me at the hospital again and he and the missionaries in our area gave our little girl a Priesthood blessing.  The blessing reassured me there was much work for her to do yet on this earth.  Now, was I being a crazy mom all night wondering if she was going to pull through? Maybe but maybe not because what would you think if your doctor said they needed to rule out meningitis and kidney failure for your 8 week old! But the good news is all results have pointed to just a stomach virus and no crazy disease.  A sad battle to fight but only a few days long hopefully.  

Today she looked amazingly better!  Just look at her before and after photo within a matter of hours.

Her rash has cleared up tremendously and her fever has gone down!  She even smiled today and to not see that smile for even just 24 hours was heartbreaking. She's drinking her milk again (still mixed with some Pedialyte) and she worked herself up to her normal dose.  If she holds her milk down all night and all the other symptoms stay away, she will be coming home in the morning and I couldn't be more excited!  So please pray for no negative changes and only improvements.  It was only two nights in the hospital but honestly one of the scariest nights of my life.

Tidbits:

• I had the best nurses and doctors.  So knowledgeable and so sweet!
• When I arrived in our hospital room, the nurse brought me ice cream.
• The grandma nurse was the best who offered to hold my baby without being asked and loved to cuddle her.  Her story about how she doesn't drink much but had four coronas at a wedding and sang karaoke and thought she'd get "whiplash just from her butt," while my baby was getting blood drawn helped to lighten the mood...well...she tried!  
• We went to the ER on my husband's birthday.
• I believe in the Priesthood being restored and on the earth today and am so grateful I have the gift of faith.
• Fingers crossed we are out of the hospital and home in the morning!