June 05, 2010

Baby Comes First



Today was the big I Heart Faces Photo Walk that I've been planning to go on. I'm bummed that I wasn't able to go. The sunshine and blue skies were perfect for today's adventure in downtown Austin.

Instead of taking pictures in town with my nice digital camera and fancy lenses, I was taking them inside of a hospital - on my iPhone. They weren't fun pictures, either. They were of a sick little boy that had us all very worried.

Thursday I had to take my daughter in to the doctor for a digestive issue (we're trying to figure out if or what she's allergic to) and a well visit for my 14 month old. I was going to allow them to give the baby some shots (mainly Pertussis since it went around in our area this past Spring and we had a friend who's kids were exposed at public school). It was a 'God thing' that the doctor's office ran out of vaccine on the kid just before us. I'm glad they didn't have them, because his immune system wouldn't have been able to take it.

That night, the baby came down with a fever. I wondered if he caught something at the doctor's office... but then, we had all been off and on sick with respiratory allergy stuff since we had our house sprayed a few weeks back. I didn't connect baby's fever to the poison in the house until this hospital visit. The ER doctor never did confirm that the chemicals caused it, but he did say that it was very plausible that the pesticide could have been a culprit for our need for asthma and antihistamines - even the baby's recent fever and pneumonia. It all seems very strange that we were the picture of health for many months and all of us started getting sick after having the house sprayed for bugs.

Baby K had a fever all day Friday, but I don't think it got over 101. I figured (since it also accompanied a bad diaper rash and he had been well up until that day) that he was teething. He had no nasal or respiratory symptoms to speak of. By last night, though, he was really not acting himself. He was lethargic. We call the boy Bam Bam because he is always on the move and banging in to things and hitting them - bouncing back like he's made of rubber. Not last night. He was clingy, limp, red-eyed, tired and ONLY wanted to nurse. My little "night owl" went to bed earlier than usual, too. All through the night he refused to nurse (very unusual for my "ninny baby") and ended up with a 102.8 fever at 2:30-something this morning.


When we awoke after fitful and feverish sleep, and he still wasn't interested in nursing, I was worried that he might have Strep. They say that if a baby's throat hurts really bad, they will refuse to eat - even if they enjoy the comfort of nursing. I was also worried that he was dehydrating because he seemed to have even less energy than before. His lips looked pale.

It was time to go.



100$ and 8 hours later, we are home again.

Even with battle scars where they did their diagnostic tests, he looks better. His lips are pink and he's walking around and talking. I'm trying to forget the image of clear fluid leaking out of his curved spine through a 3 inch needle so they could test him for meningitis. [I won't be cooking dinner tonight.] I'm quite sure there would have been much nicer images today at the Photo Walk to fill my mind with than that. The poor child had two pricks for his IV, three people holding him down for the spinal tap, and at least 5 different deeply probing sticks to get the fluid out of his back - not to mention two shots full of numbing meds and a tranquilizer after the fourth failed attempt. All in the name of medical 'practice'.

They sent us home with a pneumonia diagnosis... early stages and only one lung. I'm glad to know he doesn't have strep or meningitis... but I'm sure he will now be thoroughly paranoid of hospitals for the rest of his natural born life.

I wouldn't blame him if he grew up and became a doctor just so he could stick other people with needles to get them back.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh how scary! I am glad he's doing a bit better now. Poor little dude! (And poor Mama! I bet you are majorly engorged!)

Melissa, Multi-Tasking Mama said...

Poor baby! Glad he is on the mend!

Michelle ~ Blogging from the Boonies said...

Aw, what a rough day! I will pray for a speedy recovery!

Amber@ClassicHousewife said...

So sorry!! I can relate - we went to the children's hospital with my little boy when he was only a few months old and they did the whole round, spinal tap included and it wasn't fun. =( They were afraid he has RSV and they ended up ruling out everything but a generic virus. On the one hand, you want to think: they tested him for meningitis for nothing?? On the other hand, no they didn't right??
My 2nd had pneumonia when she was 8 months old, we caught it very early as well. I found out after the fact that when they have pneumonia at a young age, they can become more susceptible to respiratory illnesses for up to a whole year after. And she did! She came down with bronchitis and such several times over the next year. She developed a tendency toward croup from air borne irritants she was allergic to, like wood smoke. As she grew older, she grew out of it. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want you to know that his little lungs may take a while to get back to 100%, but they will. And if they try to diagnose him with asthma anytime soon (which they probably won't, they don't like to very early) don't let them officially diagnose him until they can see if he grows out of it--like my 2nd did after I was unofficially told she was mildly asthmatic (it stays on their medical record or something.)
I pray the little guy recovers quickly! The circumstances are lousy, but you can enjoy holding him a bit more (since he's probably too interested in going and going these days, right?) =)

Henry Cate said...

Wow! I hope all is well soon.

Kim said...

So glad to hear that everyone is home and on the mend. What a scare.

LeAnna said...

Bless his little heart! It's so scary when our babe's are sick. My little guy runs high fevers at the drop of a hat, and they scare me every time. I can't even imagine having to watch such a little one go through a spinal tap! So glad he's at home and praying he is fully mended soon.

H-Mama said...

Bless. Your. Heart. So glad he is on the road to recovery. These pictures are heart-melting-adorable. (((hugs)))

MarshaMarshaMarsha said...

I'm glad y'all are home and that he is on the mend!

QuatroMama said...

We spent the weekend in the ER with 1 of our 4 little dudes too. He's on the mend after a horribly scary croup attack.
It's June, after all! =)

Get better soon!

MommyTopics.com said...

Oh sweet Heather you poor thing... and your baby guy too! There is nothing worse than being worried about a sick baby. I can't believe all this might be due to having your house sprayed for bugs!!! That is so scary. Something we all do for the betterment of our family.

I'm glad the little guy is back home and doing better and I'm hoping whatever has been making you all so sick will KNOCK IT OFF AND DISAPPEAR!!!

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

So glad he's better and home again. I'm sure that was scary. Sorry you had to miss the photowalk, but sometimes life happens.

Secret Agent Mama said...

I hope he's fully recovered by now! xoxo

 

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