Here We Go Again

I think Jack's goal so far in this life has been to cause me worry, to stress me out, and to turn my hair gray. I swear this little guy catches every bug imaginable and he like to do things to the extreme. On our way home from the farm, mentioned in the previous post, we had to stop and drop off a few extras we had in tow. While visiting for a few minutes with their mom, Noah and Zoe both start screaming that Jack is throwing up. Dan and I didn't think much of it, as we knew he had just nursed a bit and probably just spit up. Boy were we wrong. To our dismay he had and was puking full force, covering himself and his car seat. We ran him inside rinsed him and his seat off. Strapped him back in the car and hoped that it was just a one time deal. He had seemed a little warm earlier in the day and a little cranky, but we thought he might just be teething. Since he was nearing 9 months of age and that is when Noah got his first tooth.

Jack and I stayed in that night while the rest of the family attended a friend's baptism. He continued to puke a few more times that evening. The next day, he and I stayed home from church and he was still puking, but things had started to taper off.

Monday started off good, until he couldn't keep his breakfast or lunch down.

Noah holding Jack so I could take a shower and get breakfast ready for everyone. The puking continued off and on for the next few days as well as a low grade fever. When we reached Wednesday morning and he was still puking and hadn't eaten much, or kept much down since Saturday, nor had he had enough wet diapers in a 24 hour period, I realized it was time to take him in. He was also becoming more and more lethargic as the time went on. He wasn't wanting to nurse much at all, nor was he interested in crawling around. So, I put a call into his doctor. Unfortunately he was out of the office for the week, but they were able to set us up with one of his partners, Dr. Simpson, for that afternoon. Jack and I dropped Noah and Zoe off at the Egbert's and then headed into Reno. About halfway there it dawned on me that I should have packed an overnight bag as there was a good possibility we wouldn't be coming back home right away. Too bad I didn't think of that before I left.

We made it to the doctor's office early and had to wait for what seemed liked forever, before being lead into an exam room. When they weighed him he tipped the scale at 13 1/2 pounds. He didn't have a fever and was really fighting to stay awake. Dr. Simpson took one look at him, asked me a few questions, and then went to consult with a colleague. Dr. Simpson was debating about sending us to the Hospital for IV fluids and was wondering if this other doctor, Dr. Hoskote, would mind taking care of Jack. I guess Dr. Hoskote had admitted another young patient a few hours before us. While Dr. Simpson stepped out I quickly texted my Mom to see if she'd be able to come help us out, if needs be. Dr. Hoskote came in the room took one look at Jack and informed me she would be seeing us in a few hours at the hospital.

I asked, well kind of pleaded with them, to see if there was any way we could get directly admitted and skip the ER this time around. It took them a little while to figure out how to go about doing it, but it was well worth the wait. During the wait I was able to call my Mom and let her know I in fact needed her to come if it was at all possible. She said she would be on the road in about 30 minutes. I then went to work trying to get in touch with Dan. Who didn't answer any of the numbers I had for him. I even talked to one of his managers to see if she could help me hunt him down. I then tried to call Shelly, who had my kids, and left her a message letting her know the situation. Trying to figure out if she would be okay until my Mom could make it, about 4 hours later. I then called my friend Jalyssa, left her a message too, to see if she would be able to help with my kids if Shelly had to be somewhere before my Mom made it into town. Of all the days, no one answered their phone on the first try.

The nurse finally returned after what seemed like ages with our admittance papers and bed assignment and I headed to the hospital. Dan finally called me back and I advised him of where I was headed and asked him to meet me there when he could. He ended up making it to Jack's room before we did. We got held up in admitting.

They were able to put an IV in him on the first attempt and even drew blood at the same time. Then the waiting game began. We waited for the blood results, waited for him to began drinking and eating on his own, waited for him to have wet diapers, waited for him to perk up a bit, and waited to hear what the Doctors course of treatment would be. The initial blood work showed that he had low blood sugar, low iron, and a high platelet count. All can be caused by puking and dehydration. On a positive note, there was no sign of a major infection. So, the doctor decided to keep in on the IV all night and re-draw blood in the morning. So, Jack and I had a somewhat sleepless night at Saint Mary's.

The next morning it took them 3 attempts to draw blood. That round of testing showed that his blood sugar was better and his iron level was a little better after being hydrated. The Doctor came in and basically told me that we might be able to go home later that afternoon, or if I would feel more comfortable she would keep him another night. This was a tough decision to make. I wasn't sure that I wanted to be an hour away from the hospital when I didn't feel like he was completely recovered, or run the risk of having to rush him back and have him poked at again. However, I didn't know if I really wanted to be racking up a hospital bill either. The Doctor also suggested it was time to give him a bottle as it takes less energy to drink from a bottle than it does to nurse. And attempting to nurse was waring him out.

Jack and I were lucky to get a visit from Summer Powelson and Shelly Egbert. They brought me a Strawberry Smoothie from Starbucks, which Jack really loved. He made "mmm" noises or "yumm" noises after every bite. Shelly got the biggest kick out of that. It was the first thing he excitedly ate in days. Which signaled some progress. Plus it gave me a few minutes to step out and take a break. However, he still wasn't interested in nursing, or drinking a bottle. Which bought us another night at Saint Mary's. In the end the choice was made for me. He tried eating baby food that night, but was unable to keep it down. So, we had another somewhat sleepless night, however, he started perking up more and more as the hours passed. He was starting to show more and more personality.

Sometime during the second night he decided he wanted to start nursing again and increased his urine output. By the next morning he was playing in his crib and interacting with the nursing staff. He even drank a full formula bottle and ate some cream of wheat. Which got us the green light to go home. We were given firm instructions to follow up with his Doctor in a week. Their explanation was that he caught a virus, was too little to fight it off, and became dehydrated. When he was discharged he tipped the scale at 14 lbs.

Unfortunately the puking continued a few times once we got home. Which was scary. I was glad that it wasn't as much, or as often. It took me a little to figure out how much food he could keep down at one time. The hard part was that he was extremely cranky and wanted to be held all the time. Plus I was exhausted from so many sleepless nights with a sick kid. Luckily my niece, Trenity, was able to stay and help me out. She did a lot of baby holding and entertained Noah and Zoe a fair bit. I am happy to report he eventually made a full recovery.

A few pictures of the Patient:

Hanging out in his crib...
Notice the dinosaur tape...
Finally perking up...