Honest to goodness. Just when you think you have it all under control, you realize that you really have no control. I should know this by now. All the drama we have been through in the past eight years and I still sometimes forget that I am not in control! Thankfully, it is at times like these that I know God will come through for us and give us the strength we need to get through anything.
It was a normal Saturday. We were having friends over that night for dinner and I had cooked/prepped all day. We had a wonderful night. Everyone had such a good time and my sweet Emily was in a good mood and happy. We cleaned up and went to bed satisfied that even with four kids- we could still throw a good dinner party. Emily woke up to eat at 2:10 a.m. and I fed her milk, burped her and went back to sleep with her in my arms. Around 3:00 a.m. she woke up and was making a strange noise. I walked her around for about twenty minutes and listened to her making this hitching sound in her breathing. I tried all of my tricks and I couldn't seem to get her out of his pattern. I noticed that she was upset but not moving her limbs like she would if she was normally upset. Something wasn't right. My Mommy Alarm was going off and I went to the back of the house and got Damien. I told him I was worried. I told him to turn on the lights so I could look at her and when I did, I saw that she was pale and her skin was mottled (when the veins are really prevalent under the skin). When it comes to breathing issues, I don't mess around. She wasn't breathing right and told Damien to call 911.
The paramedics came and when they got here- she had an oxygen saturation level of 86%. Not so good. They wanted to take her to the hospital via ambulance so they strapped her in the back and I rode in the front seat. She screamed the whole ten minutes to the hospital and it broke my heart because I know she wanted me. When we got there, we were put into a room immediately and they quickly determined that she had a 102 degree fever. It is extremely dangerous for any baby under three months to have a high fever. They worry about infection and fear that the infection can spread through the baby's body at a rapid pace. That is why they needed to test her for so many things when we first got to the hospital. Because it was 3:30 in the morning, Damien couldn't bring the other three kids to the hospital to be with us so he called his sisters and they came over right away. He got there as fast as he could and I was so relieved when he got there. Emily was given Tylenol right away and they they took her down the hall to do chest x-rays. Keep in mind that this whole time, she was screaming. I was a wreck. I wasn't crying- just hurting for her but I knew I had to stay in control. They were telling us a lot of things and I needed to be able to understand what was going on. Once we got back from x-rays, they had to take her blood which was a whole other screaming mess. They they got some urine via catheter to see if she had an infection there. They started talking to us about performing a spinal tap to see if she had meningitis but neither Damien nor I wanted to put Emily through that. We thought that after all the tests, they would come back and tell us she just had a fever and send us home. Not the case today.
The ER doctors told us they wanted to admit her because they suspected she had pneumonia. Then they told us it was likely she had a UTI (urinary tract infection). I was still shocked they wanted to admit her. Aside from her face being pure red from crying for the past three hours, she looked fine and wasn't acting funny anymore. But they know best and we prepared to be at the hospital for the next 24 hours. They placed an IV in Emily's right hand and brought us down to our room. The doctors were still pushing the idea of the spinal tap but we were so scared of it. We called our pediatrician for a second opinion and he suggested we go ahead with it. I was a nervous wreck. I knew that the spinal tap involved holding her down on her tummy and placing a catheter up her spinal column to get spinal fluid. They don't use anesthesia at all and I was completely terrified for her. Our nurse let me know that it is a pretty routine test they do on small babies and that it would take less than twenty minutes start to finish. She was ready to take Emily down the hall where they would perform the spinal tap and I was sick to my stomach. I asked her if she would hold her and comfort her if she was upset and she said she would. And just like that, I watched them take her from me and I just melted down. We had been up since 3:00 a.m and it was now noon. So much had happened in the last few hours. Damien and I went for a walk outside and I tried to take my mind of what my little baby was going through at that moment. Twenty minutes passed and I had to go back in and see if she was done. We waited for just a few minutes and in came our nurse, holding Emily just the way I had asked her to, and it felt so incredibly good to have her back in my arms. I just held her and told her that I wasn't going to leave her anymore. That she was going to stay with Mommy.
They gave her IV antibiotics strong enough to treat her if she did indeed have meningitis. We wouldn't know for at least another 24 hours based on the results of the spinal fluid culture. They were also looking to see what the cultures of her blood and urine showed. We were praying that it was not meningitis not only because of the severity of the infection but that it required at least a three week hospital stay. Within a few hours, we quickly realized that we would not just be here for just 24 hours. We were going to be here for at least the next 3 days. Damien called his parents who came down immediately. They stayed at our house which allowed Damien to stay overnight with Emily and me. We had our own room and it was really really nice. It was not a place I wanted to be but if you had to be in a hospital room with a baby, you would want to be there.
We were in the Pediatric Intensive Care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital whih is only about a ten minute drive from our house. We knew that the next few days were going to be hectic because the kids were starting school in two days. I knew that I was going to miss Claire and Michael's first day of school. I was devastated but couldn't let them know that. Instead, I told them that after their first day of school, Daddy would bring them to Emily's hospital room so we could have a first day of school pizza party! Damien brought them to the hospital, we ordered pizza, and watched a movie on the TV. I am sure they will never forget their first day of 1st and 2nd grade. What a memory.
Emily continued to get better. She showed no signs of fever and the blood and spinal fluid cultures were looking negative. The culture that was growing positive was the urine culture. Little Emily did have a urinary tract infection so they changed her IV antibiotics to work more swiftly on that infection. I tried to get comfy in the hospital and do the best I could to take care of Emily. If you think about it, the way you take care of a two month old is to walk them around most of the day. However, I couldn't because she was attached to the oxygen saturation machine and the IV stand. It was tough. I basically walked four feet and then turned around and walked it again. Over and over and over and over and over. The nurses were so nice and wonderful. The kids came to see Emily every single day. I wanted them to know she was okay and that Mommy was okay, too. It was crazy but somehow- we made it.
We spent four total days in the hospital. Damien would spend the night and then wake up extra early to go home and get the kids ready for school. Damien's parents kept everything organized at the house and helped out a ton with the kids, especially Matthew. Damien's sisters Ali and Heather frequented the house and even spent the night there to help out. Our families were doing anything and everything they could to help us get through this little hiccup. It's funny. A lot of people said to me they felt bad for us and that it wasn't fair we had to go through this. While I completely understand and appreciate their sympathy, Damien and I never really worried too much. We are so used to dealing with this kind of drama that we just basically put on our hospital game face and worked to get through it. After going through everything we did with Michael, after seeing him suffer so much- I don't get too thrown off by much else. I did feel really terrible for Emily but I didn't spend any time feeling sorry for myself. We are so thankful that everything worked out in the end and that Emily is healthy and able to come home with us. We had to juggle so much, rearrange just about everything, and grin and bear hospital life- but the fact is that we survived it and as silly as it sounds, it just made us stronger.
Honest to goodness. Just when you think you have it all under control, you realize that you really have no control. I should know this by now. All the drama we have been through in the past eight years and I still sometimes forget that I am not in control! Thankfully, it is at times like these that I know God will come through for us and give us the strength we need to get through anything.
It was a normal Saturday. We were having friends over that night for dinner and I had cooked/prepped all day. We had a wonderful night. Everyone had such a good time and my sweet Emily was in a good mood and happy. We cleaned up and went to bed satisfied that even with four kids- we could still throw a good dinner party. Emily woke up to eat at 2:10 a.m. and I fed her milk, burped her and went back to sleep with her in my arms. Around 3:00 a.m. she woke up and was making a strange noise. I walked her around for about twenty minutes and listened to her making this hitching sound in her breathing. I tried all of my tricks and I couldn't seem to get her out of his pattern. I noticed that she was upset but not moving her limbs like she would if she was normally upset. Something wasn't right. My Mommy Alarm was going off and I went to the back of the house and got Damien. I told him I was worried. I told him to turn on the lights so I could look at her and when I did, I saw that she was pale and her skin was mottled (when the veins are really prevalent under the skin). When it comes to breathing issues, I don't mess around. She wasn't breathing right and told Damien to call 911.
The paramedics came and when they got here- she had an oxygen saturation level of 86%. Not so good. They wanted to take her to the hospital via ambulance so they strapped her in the back and I rode in the front seat. She screamed the whole ten minutes to the hospital and it broke my heart because I know she wanted me. When we got there, we were put into a room immediately and they quickly determined that she had a 102 degree fever. It is extremely dangerous for any baby under three months to have a high fever. They worry about infection and fear that the infection can spread through the baby's body at a rapid pace. That is why they needed to test her for so many things when we first got to the hospital. Because it was 3:30 in the morning, Damien couldn't bring the other three kids to the hospital to be with us so he called his sisters and they came over right away. He got there as fast as he could and I was so relieved when he got there. Emily was given Tylenol right away and they they took her down the hall to do chest x-rays. Keep in mind that this whole time, she was screaming. I was a wreck. I wasn't crying- just hurting for her but I knew I had to stay in control. They were telling us a lot of things and I needed to be able to understand what was going on. Once we got back from x-rays, they had to take her blood which was a whole other screaming mess. They they got some urine via catheter to see if she had an infection there. They started talking to us about performing a spinal tap to see if she had meningitis but neither Damien nor I wanted to put Emily through that. We thought that after all the tests, they would come back and tell us she just had a fever and send us home. Not the case today.
The ER doctors told us they wanted to admit her because they suspected she had pneumonia. Then they told us it was likely she had a UTI (urinary tract infection). I was still shocked they wanted to admit her. Aside from her face being pure red from crying for the past three hours, she looked fine and wasn't acting funny anymore. But they know best and we prepared to be at the hospital for the next 24 hours. They placed an IV in Emily's right hand and brought us down to our room. The doctors were still pushing the idea of the spinal tap but we were so scared of it. We called our pediatrician for a second opinion and he suggested we go ahead with it. I was a nervous wreck. I knew that the spinal tap involved holding her down on her tummy and placing a catheter up her spinal column to get spinal fluid. They don't use anesthesia at all and I was completely terrified for her. Our nurse let me know that it is a pretty routine test they do on small babies and that it would take less than twenty minutes start to finish. She was ready to take Emily down the hall where they would perform the spinal tap and I was sick to my stomach. I asked her if she would hold her and comfort her if she was upset and she said she would. And just like that, I watched them take her from me and I just melted down. We had been up since 3:00 a.m and it was now noon. So much had happened in the last few hours. Damien and I went for a walk outside and I tried to take my mind of what my little baby was going through at that moment. Twenty minutes passed and I had to go back in and see if she was done. We waited for just a few minutes and in came our nurse, holding Emily just the way I had asked her to, and it felt so incredibly good to have her back in my arms. I just held her and told her that I wasn't going to leave her anymore. That she was going to stay with Mommy.
They gave her IV antibiotics strong enough to treat her if she did indeed have meningitis. We wouldn't know for at least another 24 hours based on the results of the spinal fluid culture. They were also looking to see what the cultures of her blood and urine showed. We were praying that it was not meningitis not only because of the severity of the infection but that it required at least a three week hospital stay. Within a few hours, we quickly realized that we would not just be here for just 24 hours. We were going to be here for at least the next 3 days. Damien called his parents who came down immediately. They stayed at our house which allowed Damien to stay overnight with Emily and me. We had our own room and it was really really nice. It was not a place I wanted to be but if you had to be in a hospital room with a baby, you would want to be there.
We were in the Pediatric Intensive Care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital whih is only about a ten minute drive from our house. We knew that the next few days were going to be hectic because the kids were starting school in two days. I knew that I was going to miss Claire and Michael's first day of school. I was devastated but couldn't let them know that. Instead, I told them that after their first day of school, Daddy would bring them to Emily's hospital room so we could have a first day of school pizza party! Damien brought them to the hospital, we ordered pizza, and watched a movie on the TV. I am sure they will never forget their first day of 1st and 2nd grade. What a memory.
Emily continued to get better. She showed no signs of fever and the blood and spinal fluid cultures were looking negative. The culture that was growing positive was the urine culture. Little Emily did have a urinary tract infection so they changed her IV antibiotics to work more swiftly on that infection. I tried to get comfy in the hospital and do the best I could to take care of Emily. If you think about it, the way you take care of a two month old is to walk them around most of the day. However, I couldn't because she was attached to the oxygen saturation machine and the IV stand. It was tough. I basically walked four feet and then turned around and walked it again. Over and over and over and over and over. The nurses were so nice and wonderful. The kids came to see Emily every single day. I wanted them to know she was okay and that Mommy was okay, too. It was crazy but somehow- we made it.
We spent four total days in the hospital. Damien would spend the night and then wake up extra early to go home and get the kids ready for school. Damien's parents kept everything organized at the house and helped out a ton with the kids, especially Matthew. Damien's sisters Ali and Heather frequented the house and even spent the night there to help out. Our families were doing anything and everything they could to help us get through this little hiccup. It's funny. A lot of people said to me they felt bad for us and that it wasn't fair we had to go through this. While I completely understand and appreciate their sympathy, Damien and I never really worried too much. We are so used to dealing with this kind of drama that we just basically put on our hospital game face and worked to get through it. After going through everything we did with Michael, after seeing him suffer so much- I don't get too thrown off by much else. I did feel really terrible for Emily but I didn't spend any time feeling sorry for myself. We are so thankful that everything worked out in the end and that Emily is healthy and able to come home with us. We had to juggle so much, rearrange just about everything, and grin and bear hospital life- but the fact is that we survived it and as silly as it sounds, it just made us stronger.
7 comments:
Emily is the sweetest little sick person I have ever seen! You were all troopers through this scary time. God Bless.
Love,
Nonna
I'm so sorry that happened! You and Damien amaze me with your strength. I must say, Emily looks perfectly happy in those pics, maybe she just wanted to be alone with mommy for a few days!
Lisa,
I was so emotional reading this, probably because I have a 2 month old and I was putting myself in your shoes. I can't imagine what that must have been like. You had such strength through it all, amazing. I'm so glad that little Miss Emily is healthy and home with her family! XO
You are an amazing mother Lisa! Emily and the other kids are lucky to have you! I am o glad she is ok, and that has to be the cutest picture of her...a smile on her face, after all that, she takes after her mommy!
WOW! That was a surprise blog. I was just here yesterday and missed so much!
I'm glad you are all doing well and were able to get though all of that so well. What a blessing your family is!
Lisa, I confess I haven't been able to keep up on your blog as much as I would like, but got Emily's beautiful announcement & it reminded me to check it out. I'm so sorry that she got sick...completely a page out of our book when Brooke got RSV at 6 weeks and was hospitalized for a week. Throws your world upside down and a complete blessing to have family there to help you get through it. You have an amazing immediate & extended family! SOOOO happy to see that she is doing better. Hugs & kisses all around!
Nicole
Lisa, I got tears in my eyes reading this, thinking of the anguish that you and Damien must have been feeling, not to mention poor little Emily's discomfort! I am so happy to hear that she is on the mend and admire your strength. Best to you!
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