Well, Mary Claire was NOT teething. She was very sick. From leaving for her doctor's appointment Friday at 10:40am until Sunday around the same time, Mary Claire and I never came back home. We went from doctor's office to Cabrini for blood work, back to the doctor's office and then straight to Rapides for a weekend hospital stay.
The main concern for Mary Claire's well-being was that her fontanel, or "soft spot," was bulging. This is not normal. What really had them puzzled was that Mary Claire was not acting sick AT ALL. And that is what puzzled me! If I had known that this was as serious as it ended up being, then I would have never waited until Friday to go to the doctor! But she just was not acting sick at all! Well, the doctor's office swabbed her nose to test for the flu, and sent us on our way to the lab to get her blood drawn...a CBC and blood culture. This was not fun. At the outpatient lab, one technician said she did not stick babies and the other one was unable to stick her because she was the same age as her grandson. This may have been a blessing in disguise as the next lady, Mrs. Sylvia, stuck her on the first try. Praise God for this because if I had had to listen to Mary Claire's screaming any more alone (Brian was on his way), I don't think I could have let them stick her again. So that mission was accomplished.
Back to the doctor's office....WBC count was 21.....very high for a baby to just have an ear infection. So that, coupled with her bulging fontanel, had us on our way to be admitted to the hospital. The doctor's office knew we preferred Cabrini, but really recommended Rapides based on the fact that they have a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (holy shit did this scare me that they thought she might need this service!) and an "pediatric hospitalist" there constantly. That way he could do the SPINAL TAP as soon as we got there! They believed she had some type of meningitis due to her fever, elevated WBC, and bulging fontanel. Now I was scared - more scared than I have ever been in my life. I didn't even read all the possible detriments, or side effects, that this could cause if something happened to go wrong. I just signed the consent and she was whisked off. So, a spinal tap, a catheter for some clean urine, a blood draw for another CBC and blood cultures, and an IV in her arm later, Mary Claire was brought back to us in Room 319. She was started on precautionary IV antibiotics (Rocephin 380mg q12hr and Vancomycin 115mg q6hr), had her vitals checked often, and a few more blood draws.
Sunday morning the "pediatric hospitalist" came in and said all tests were negative - no RSV, no influenza, no bacterial meningitis and no viral meningitis!! Praise the Lord! It appears my baby girl just had a "severe viral ear infection." She was sent on her way with absolutely no medications at all....just a follow up pediatrician visit this Thursday! Whoohoo! But this weekend was the LONGEST and HARDEST weekend of my life. (And I thought I had bad weekends before I was a mom!)
So, that is our story of Mary Claire's first ever (and hopefully last!) hospital visit. I've chronicled it with some pictures, so you can see for yourself:
This device on her left foot is a safety device. If Mary Claire got too close to an elevator or an exit or someone tried to tamper with this device, the whole pediatric unit would shut down and an alarm would sound. She was under "hospital arrest!" And, yes, it does work! We were being wheeled down for an x-ray Friday night about 10pm and she was not signed out and all the bells and whistles alarmed! How neat is that???
The green gown was her day two gown and the little stuffed horse was a gift from Uncle Vince:
Going home....finally!
No comments:
Post a Comment