Friday while visiting Ryan at work I noticed he was covered in a head to toe rash. He also had a temp of 102.2. We went to the clinic to have him checked out. His doctor ordered blood work and a urine sample. It took a poke in the arm, hand and finally they were able to get blood from a vien in his head. Next the nurse had to cath him 3 times before he finally had urine in his bladder. He also had to get a shot of antibiotics to cover him in case he had a bacterial infection. She wanted us to come back the next day to be checked out and get another shot of antibiotics.
His fever continued through the night and we were back at the clinic early on Saturday for his other antibiotic shot. The doctor said his labs were all looking "ok" and that most were indicating that he had a viral infection not a bacterial infection but she was still waiting for the blood cultures to come back. She said she would call if anything changed but wanted me to follow up on Monday if things weren't better.
His fever still continued 100-101 over the rest of the weekend. He was irritable and just wouldn't rest. Our nights were long. He was also having diarrhea. He acted as though he was in pain. Anytime I would touch him he would just cry out. He just wasn't right! On Sunday evening his temp was 101.3 so I gave him Tylenol. While sitting in the chair he started throwing up all over me. That was the icing on the cake so it was off to Children's Hospital we went.
They told me they too would want to draw blood, get a urine sample, start an IV and then finally do a spinal tap. Things went smoother this time. They got urine on the first try, they started the IV and drew blood off of that first. I decided to step out during the spinal tap. I wouldn't be able to hold him so I didn't think I could watch. The doctor told me it was unsuccesful. They weren't able to get enough fluid for cultures. After all that she told me we would be admitted to the hospital so that he could get IV antibiotics until we figured out the cause of his infection. In babies 2 months and younger they treat them until they figure out the cause instead of trying to figure out the cause and then treat.
That was a long night. He was up every hour eating and fussy. I think over the night I slept a total of 20 mintues. Children's Hospital is a teaching hospital so I felt like we had a care team of about 10 taking care of him. He had medical students, residents and nurses all watching over him.
His Crib
They came in with a plan Monday morning but after watching him and checking him over, the plan changed. (Side Note: I learned Nolan had a heart murmor. It's a common thing for newborns). He had still been running a temp and still seemed very irritable. They decided to continue the antibiotics for a bit longer and they wanted to do another spinal tap. They were trying to check for meningitis.
The 2nd spinal tap didn't go well either. I think they poked him a total of 3 times and still weren't able to get enough fluid. Very frustrating. I just keep telling myself he wont remember this right? So back to the orginal plan. We stopped the antibiotics and Tylenol. We monitored him over night to see if the fever would spike again or he showed signs of infection. He surprised us all and seemed to make a turn for the better. His fever stayed around 99 for most of the night. He actually slept a 4 hour stretch! He also was eating more at each feeding.
Once they stopped all IVs I could get him dressed. It didn't take long though and he peeped all over during a diaper change. That's how I knew he was feeling better!
Hopsital green just isn't his color!
Dressed and ready to go home!
