Elli's Hospitalization

We had a rough week turning 6 weeks old.  Ellianna started the week not wanting to sleep in her bassinet as she would wake up crying within 15 minutes of me laying her down.  Well, I was tired, so I propped myself with pillows and slept with her in my arms...Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night.  About 2 a.m. Wednesday night, I woke up to her choking on thick saliva.  I quickly suctioned her mouth and nose and was alarmed to pull out so much yellow, thick mucus.  She basically woke up every 30-45 minutes coughing.  Finally at 8 a.m., I called the pediatrician's office and was told I could walk-in in the afternoon.  We got to the doctor's office right at 1 p.m., saw the doctor around 3 p.m. and I was alarmed to see she had a fever and had lost weight.  In hindsight, I should've realized that she wasn't eating as much because her urine smelled concentrated and I was getting blocked milk ducts again.  The pediatrician was extremely concerned to see fever and congestion in a 6-wk old baby, esp. because she hasn't had any vaccines yet.  Doc sent us home with direct admit paperwork for the hospital, in case Elli didn't get better as the afternoon went on.  Doc also told me to feed Elli pumped breast milk so we know exactly how much Elli is drinking (to measure her input/output). Doc called us around 8 p.m. to see how Elli was doing and basically nothing had changed.  Elli seemed to be getting weaker, more lethargic, and she hadn't peed since 10 a.m.  Our baby girl who usually doesn't nap during the day had slept all afternoon.  Doc called the hospital, got us a room and off we went. 

We got to the hospital by 9, finally got to our room around 10:15, and waited.  Our pediatrician wanted IV fluids ASAP but the nurses said we had to wait for the on-call doctor to do rounds.  Finally, at midnight, we saw the rounding doctor.  Elli had a chest x-ray.  From 1:30-3 am, the nurses tried to start Elli's IV but the poor baby was so dehydrated, they couldn't find her veins.  But they were able to get her urine sample with the catheter and nasal sample for a culture.  They had several different pediatric and oncology nurses attempting the IV.  I think that was the longest 90 minutes EVER.  She was crying and screaming and of course, I joined the crying.  Poor Elli was so exhausted at one point, she just gave up, laid on the table, stopped crying, and I made myself watch her stomach to make sure she was still breathing.  After blowing 4 of her veins, they finally let us go back to our room to try feeding her Pedialyte for hydration.  The lab people came in again at 3:30 but I quickly kicked them out, telling them no one else is poking my baby until they can guarantee they will do it right, and we'd only had 30-minute break between pokes.  We kicked them out again at 4:30 a.m. because Elli had only drank 2 oz. 

During this time, Ryan and I were ready to leave the hospital because they weren't doing anything that we couldn't be doing at home.  We agreed to let them try the IV one last time around 6:30 a.m. and finally they got the IV needle in.  However, by 8 a.m., she still wasn't connected to any fluids.   I called the nurses station as this is ridiculous...we'd been at the hospital for 11 hours and Elli still wasn't getting the IV fluids she needed.  The nurses apologized stating that it was the shift change.  I'm sorry but no excuses when the baby is so sick.

Friday was spent trying to rest and keeping Elli happy between the every 2-hour vitals check.  The blood pressure cuff they were using was slightly big for her so it rarely got a reading.  Rectal temperature checks were also performed every 2 hours with her temperature staying between 99.5 to 100.4 degrees.  We were hoping to go home Friday but the rounding doctor wanted to wait for the urine and blood cultures to come back before discharging us.  By Friday at dinner time, we had learned that her mucus tested negative for flu and RSV, bloodwork was normal, and  chest x-ray was clear.  Elli stayed on IV fluids until 9 p.m. when I noticed a damp spot on her onesie.  She had been fussy and I was nursing her at the time so I thought, maybe it was just breast milk.  But then I looked at her IV, and could see blood.  Ryan called our nurse who came pretty quick.  He looked at the IV, said yes, it had blown.  Nurse was going to run and get some gauze.  10 minutes later...we are still waiting.  Ryan goes out and finds our nurse in another patient's room and basically orders him to come back to us as Elli continues to cry as though she is uncomfortable or in pain.  Nurse comes and can't fix the IV so we have to remove it.  After all the effort to get the IV in her, Ryan and I were beyond frustrated.  We, politely, told the nurse and charge nurse, Elli is not getting another IV at this time and that they need to speak with the rounding doctor before attempting another IV.  Fortunately, the on-call doctor said she can be without the IV through the night and see how she does in the morning.

Saturday, Elli seemed to be feeling better as she was more alert and was eating better.  Around noon on Saturday, the rounding doctor told us we were clear to go home as the urine and blood cultures were negative for bacteria.  They felt Elli had caught a viral cold causing her fever and congestion.  No antibiotics and just give her time to recover.

Post hospitalization, Elli is adjusting to life without fear of being poked and sticked.  Poor Elli seemed so traumatized from us laying her down and her subsequently getting poked, that even with diaper changes, she'd scream in fear.  She and I had been sleeping upright on the couch for her nasal congestion.  But, starting Tuesday, she began to be okay for floor play and diaper changes again.  Tuesday night, she also slept wonderfully in her bassinet again!  Life is slowly returning to normal :)

I think that those were the longest and hardest days we have ever gone through, as a couple and as parents.  It's just fine with me if we never have an experience like that again.  So, this explains why the blog has been quiet lately...life has been hectic!