Tess's Second Hospital Stay

Tess with her IV.  The red mark on her forehead was from the tourniquet they had to put around her noggin'.  To be honest, the IV reminded me a lot of all the crazy hats the women wore to the royal wedding a few days earlier.  

Apparently Tess really missed the hospital and decided it was time for another visit.  Due to lack of sleep and the fact that it was all so traumatizing, a lot of what happened is a bit of a blur.

On Saturday Tess seemed a little extra sleepy and a little extra stuffy.  I figured she was just trying to work through the cold that Cole had so nicely shared with her.  No big deal.

But at 7:30 that evening, when I woke her up to eat, I noticed that she was a bit warmer than normal.  I thought maybe she had gotten a little overheated, so I went ahead and fed her.  But she was still warm after I fed her so I took her temperature under her arm: 100.4. 

Yikes.

So I decided I should take her temperature the not-so-fun way: 100.3.

Double yikes.  I quickly called the pediatrician, but since it was the weekend I only got the answering service.  I decided to start getting ready to go while I waited for the on-call pediatrician to call back.  It's a good thing I did because as soon as she called she told me to get Tess to the Emergency room asap.

Lance stayed home with the boys while I rushed down to the hospital.  Poor Tess cried the entire way, still upset about me taking her temperature.  I got her checked in and a med student came into the room and checked her out.  Then a couple of nurses.  And then a real doctor.  I don't know - like I mentioned, it's kind of a blur.  All I know is Tess was NOT happy getting poked and prodded by these strangers.  I wasn't happy that I had to give her medical history 382 times; did these people not talk to each other?

The doctor explained that because of her age (she was only 12 days old), and because her temp was so high, we needed to rule out any sort of infection, which meant a battery of tests and cultures.  I wasn't too keen on the idea, but I knew it was best to go ahead and do it.

First the nurse had to get a urine sample, which meant a catheter.  I'd rather not remember how upset this made Tess.  I felt so helpless and sad.  You know how you feel bad when your baby has to get immunization shots, and you know it hurts them but it's for the best?  It felt like that, only times a million.

Next they brought in a portable x-ray machine. The techs were really weird, and the one guy was kinda rude.  He was all "Mom, if you're gonna be in here you have to wear an apron." I know it doesn't sound that bad, but the tone he said it in was pretty rude and sarcastic, and I was planning on putting one on but I was still holding Tess and waiting for the other tech to get the bed ready so I didn't have to wake her up earlier than necessary.  Sheesh.

Then, the nurses had to get an IV started.  The nurses tried once in each hand, and you can imagine how much Tess enjoyed that.  By this time I asked for a pediatric nurse, and they said they had already called for one.  I wondered why they didn't just do that in the first place, but held my tongue.  The pediatric nurse came in and decided to put the IV in poor Tess' head.  That also went over really well, but it was much better than digging around for veins in her hands, poor thing.

By this point Tess was exhausted.  She had been crying off and on for several hours and had been through all sorts of awfulness.  But the worst was yet to come.

The doctor came back in and said that the immediate tests done didn't show anything; this was good and bad.   Good because it meant that she didn't have whatever it was that those tests were looking for, but bad because we still didn't know what was wrong with her.  He really felt that we should do a spinal tap to rule out meningitis.  Once again I knew we should do it but didn't really want to. 

I decided to stay in the room for the LP.  I'm glad I did, but it was still just AWFUL.  Worse than awful.  Horrible.  They had to lay her on her side and bend her in half so her back was well exposed.  The doctor actually did a really good job and got the puncture right the first time, but still.  I couldn't help but cry along with poor Tess.  Eventually she kinda passed out into sleep, which was probably for the best.  She needed to stay on the bed to help prevent a headache, so I couldn't even hold her.  Everyone left the room and I just lost it. I was so emotionally spent and so exhausted that all I could do was cry and cry and feel sorry for myself and for my baby.

By this time it was close to midnight.  The doctor came back in later and said that the LP was negative, which was a huge relief but I also felt bad she had to go through it for nothing.  (I guess not nothing, but you know what I mean.)  He said we needed to admit Tess to the hospital for observation and so we could wait for her other tests and cultures.

We didn't get admitted into the pediatric unit until close to 2am.  The room they put us in was tiny and dark.  There was an uncomfortable chair for me and one of those jail-like cribs for Tess.  It was very depressing.  It's not like it wasn't nice and clean, it was just a far cry from the labor and delivery suite we had been in less than 2 weeks earlier!

The nurse took Tess's medical history - AGAIN - and then left me to feed Tess and settle in for the night.  Poor Tess; it was hard to nurse her when she was connected to an IV and had heart monitor wires all connected to her.  She was so tired I could barely get her to eat.

I tried to get some sleep, but the chair was seriously the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I have ever had to sit in.  It was a recliner, but not very long or soft.  Tess slept lots that night, but I sure didn't.  I spent most of the night dozing and praying.

Side note: I'm now convinced that 98% of all time in a hospital is spent in the futile - nay, impossible - attempt to sleep.

The next morning the on-call pediatrician came in to check on Tess.  She let me know that she had tested positive for RSV, which was the cause of the congestion and fever.  RSV is a virus, which means that there aren't any medications for it.  But because we hadn't gotten all of the other cultures and test results back they wanted to continue the IV antibiotics, just as a precautionary measure.

I reluctantly left Tess to go home for a shower and some breakfast.  I felt so guilty leaving her, but knew I really needed to get home for at least a little bit.  Lance and the boys were at home when I got there, having decided to stay home from church.  (Understandable, given all the circumstances.)  I thought Cole might be mad again about me leaving, but he seemed to be okay.  I quickly showered, ate, and packed a bag full of stuff I thought I might need.

I got back to the hospital and spent the rest of the day feeding Tess, watching old movies on TV (Sunday daytime TV is terrible), and trying (unsuccessfully) to sleep.  Tess had calmed down quite a bit and only got upset when the nurses had to take her temperature. 

By that early afternoon I decided to go home and eat some dinner with my family.  Tess was doing a lot better and her temperature had come down.  I got home and almost laughed - the house looked like it had been hit by a tornado.  (And still does, to be honest.)  I think Lance had just let the boys overrun the house.  I can't blame him too much - he's not used to taking care of them all by himself for that long.  I made a quick dinner (pizza sticks left by my wonderful visiting teacher a few days earlier!) and spent some time with the boys. 

By this point I knew I wasn't as worried about Tess because I really did NOT want to go back to the hospital. (I knew it would be another long night!)  But of course I went back.  

That evening my super-wonderful friend Gigi came to visit me.  She brought me yummy treats and talked with me for quite a while.  Gig, you totally made my day with that visit.  Thank you SO much for coming!  It was just a little thing on her part, but it made that night so much more bearable.

That night Tess felt better and decided to have a late-night party.  I was exhausted but happy because I knew it meant she was getting back to normal!  I was up with her until at least 3am.  We read on my Kindle and watched lots of TV.  (I learned more about the whole Osama Bin Laden thing than I really wanted to.)  We finally got comfortable and fell asleep for a while, although the nurses kept coming in to check on us because Tess kept pulling out the wires for the monitor.  (Pesky baby!)

By morning I was totally exhausted and sore, but not nearly as depressed as I expected.  Tess's pediatrician stopped by to check on her.  She was just as surprised as I was that Tess was there, seeing as how we had just been in her office the day before.  But I guess newborns are tricky like that.  Dr. Oliver said that if all of the other tests and cultures came back negative (and she figured they would), we could go home by 3pm.  Happy day!

I happily went home again for a shower and some breakfast.  Lance had gotten Spencer off to school, but Josh and Cole were still running around in jammies, so I got them dressed and spent a bit of time reading to Cole.  (Remember Hippos Go Berserk?  He's still in love with that book.)

Then it was back to the hospital.  More futile napping.  More feeding the tube-and-wire-wrapped baby.  More bad TV.  I even got to "enjoy" a salad for lunch from the hospital cafe.  (Actually, it wasn't that bad.  It wasn't that great, either, but it wasn't that bad.)

Much to my surprise, by 3:15 we were out of the hospital.  To be quite honest I thought it would take a lot longer, like when we took her home from the hospital - the first time.

I really don't remember much after that.  I was TIRED.  So was Tess.  I know we had dinner but after that I decided to take a little nap.  Three hours later I woke up to find it dark and the boys were all in bed and Tess ready to eat. 

I'm trying to end this post, but a certain baby is letting me know in no uncertain terms that it's time for her to eat.  Again.  Last week this would have irritated me a little.  But now?  I'm just glad to have her home with me.