Xander, Emilie and Baby #3 » August 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Wed, Aug 27, 2008 1:12 PM
For those of you who haven't heard, Emilie was in the hospital Monday and Tuesday. Here's her LONG story (both because Mommy is wordy and because of the long lead up to her hospitalization).

On Friday (Aug. 15) she started having diarrhea. We weren't too surprised; she was cutting all 4 of her eye teeth. On Sunday, it had gotten really bad. Our friends, the Johns, had given us tickets to tour Lucas Oil Stadium when the first poopy of the afternoon hit. We only planned on being out for 2-3hrs and had packed 4 diapers in the bag and had another in the van. We figured we were over prepared...wrong. We ended up leaving after less than 2hrs because we needed that 5th diaper in the van!!

Emilie stayed at home on Monday with Mommy and Tuesday with Daddy. The frequency had died down so we figured she was safe to head back to Donna's by Wednesday. Especially since we thought this was only teething poo. We only kept her home because we didn't want to tie Donna up all day changing diapers. She was still drinking and eating some, less than normal but no big surprise with a sore mouth.

Her food and beverage intake had continued to dwindle all week until she got to the point where she wouldn't drink a drop of anything (and trust us...we tried it all) except milk, which just caused more nasty diapers.

By Friday we thought she was done because she had no dirty diapers all day long...wrong again. No more than 10sec after I walked in the door, up came her cheese cracker snack (note to others: they stain HORRIBLY so don't feed them to a sick/teething kid!). Chad and I thought it was a fluke...maybe she just choked on a cracker. Then we sat down to dinner and minutes later we had a repeat episode.

Saturday morning, the hunger strike continued. We had planned on calling Dr. Duck but figured we'd just hear that she had a virus and to force fluids. Nothing more they could do. But by mid morning she was begging for a cup of water. By lunch she was bring Mommy food to make her. Before dinner she was running around and playing. We thought the virus had finally run its course. Then she sat down by the island in the kitchen as we were making dinner and lost her lunch.

Sunday was the worst yet. She wouldn't touch a bite or drink a drop. She sat around and watched Xander play. We debated whether to wait to take her in on Monday or make a trip to the ER. Chad was still suffering from the stomach bug he had apparently caught from Miss Em so a Sunday trip didn't seem logistically possible.

Monday morning we dropped Xander off at school and brought Em in for her appointment. We were given two options: admit her or try to treat her on an outpatient basis, which would just delay the inevitable. An hour later a room opened up in the surgical ward (the pedes unit was full again). Four horrible, blood curdling scream filled sticks later (all tearless), her IV was finally in and she was asleep from exhaustion. That had to be the hardest thing any of us have ever been through!! :o( Then came her chest x-rays and KUB (x-ray of her abdomen to check her kidneys and bladder).

When we got back to her room, they finally started her on fluids. About 20min later, she was smiling and talking to us. [Huge sigh] Later that evening, she saw food commercials on TV and asked to have some food. Since she was on a clear/liquid diet, she got to feast on Jell-O, which she loved! We found out from Dr. Duck that night that her bicarbonate level was at 15 (24 is normal) but no other tests were ready yet.

By Tuesday morning, she hadn't vomited anymore so she was allowed to progress her diet (try solids). She ate some bacon (our meat loving daughter), jelly toast, and some cheese omelet. Her 4am blood draw showed that she still wasn't completely rehydrated (up to 20 now) and that her potassium level had dropped. They put her on fluids + potassium for the rest of the day and told us that if she ate and kept everything in, she could go home that night. All of her other tests showed nothing (although they never did get a stool sample) so her diagnosis was a nasty virus that knocked her down more than it should have. By 5pm, we were packing up her room, changing her into clothes, and escorting our baby to the van.

She was sooooooo excited to be home and playing with the balloons Daddy and Xander got her! She still looked a little weak but she played all night. Before dinner, she finally made that much desired poopy--another messy one. Fantastic! Back to the hospital. Luckily the on-call doc told us it was okay as long as the frequency didn't pick up, she kept having wet diapers, and she didn't start vomiting again. So we headed to bed after reading every book she could find and got so much needed rest. Amazingly, Xander hasn't shown a single symptom through this whole ordeal.

Today we have our old Emilie back--bouncing around as if she was never sick and taking care of Baby. She was given a doll at the hospital with yellow, curly yarn hair that has become her new best friend. They gave her juice to drink in a sippy cup (that she would never touch) that she now feeds Baby with only after she puts a bib on her. Em also had to wear a soft cast looking contraption to protect her IV that Baby now has to wear, too.

Gotta run. I'm sitting on the couch in the living room and I can hear Sully's stomach gurgling. We don't need to be cleaning up sick doggy messes after all of last week's messes!

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