And we are out

We were discharged this evening, they cannot figure it out at all. So they discharged us and said to come back if it happens again.

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Back in the Hospital

Bug had an incident yesterday and we are back in the hospital. She had an MRI last night and the good news is they didn't rush her into surgery or straight to the ICU! Instead she was admitted to the neurology floor for monitoring.

We definitely are asking for prayers as the doctors try to get to the bottom of what happened instead of settling for "she seems fine now."

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sick baby update 2

The last 24 hours have been rough for poor little Bug. She had started to feel better after being at the pediatrician's office. But when we started to get the kids ready for bed last night things went down hill FAST. I'll try to describe it as best I can for you.

She was standing there eating her gingerbread cooking and suddenly started to shake. Initially I thought it was shivering, but it progressed to be stronger than shivers, but less violent than a full fledged grand mal seizure. I truly believe she had a seizure. I laid her down on the ground out of concern that she was heading for a grand mal. I called her name and she eye tracked to me (she moved her eyes to look at me) but that was the most reaction I could actually get from her for several minutes. Even when she started to react more she was still twitchy in her hands and feet. And that lasted for another hour and a half. I tried to get her to stand and she fell at first. This just confirms for me that she had a seizure.

BFF picked her up and was holding her and we grabbed the thermometer, it wasn't reading too high (101's) but this is the same thermometer that the Nurse Practitioner told me only hours earlier to replace due to it's age. While BFF is holding her she could FEEL Bug's temp climbing. So we rushed off to Wal-Mart with Bug and BFF's DS1, he was SO concerned about his "Love-Bug." We bought a new temporal thermometer, an oral/rectal/underarm thermometer (as much as any person hates rectal temps, I was to a point of being willing to do it to her last night. So I wanted one that COULD go rectal!), dye-free tylenol and motrin (we MUST have dye free because BFF's DS-3 is allergic red #40 which is in most regular liquid meds), and a couple other things.

We managed to get the oral thermometer opened on our own and BFF was getting the temporal opened while I took Bug's temp with the other thermometer. Mind you, this is still IN Wal-Mart. Her underarm temp (adjusted) was 105.5, I immediately took it orally (wasn't sure my 3 1/2 year old would cooperate with me but I did it and she did), it was 105.9. I didn't even wait for the temporal to be ready, I headed for the car. We got her strapped in and told DS1 he was going to be dropped off at home. By then the temporal thermometer was ready for use. I used it 4 times and ALL FOUR readings were 105.9, 106 or 106.1. No matter which way we tried, no matter what I tried, this child was ON FIRE.

The only decision to be made was go to the closest ER or go to Children's, which is AT LEAST a 45 minute drive away. The problem is, the closet ER is a hospital her pediatrician's practice does NOT have privileges at, and therefore there is little communication with. Also, a serious factor for me, ALL of Bug's specialists, and therefore her big fat electronic medical record, are at Children's. PLUS, she had just had a TON of blood work done THAT AFTERNOON at a Children's facility. IF (and I knew it was a BIG if) the bloodwork was done already, it'd be in the computer and it wouldn't have to be re-drawn (It turned out it WAS done, so it was a good call). SO... I decided to risk it and drive to Children's.

We already had Bug's Diastat with us. Diastat is her emergency seizure medication. If she has a seizure lasting more than three minutes (and in this instance it would be a grand mal seizure that interferes with breathing), I can give her the Diastat rectally to stop the seizure. With a fever of 106, this is a very real concern. So I was prepared for this.

I called the pediatrician's office and left a message with the answering service. I received a call back within 10 minutes, before we'd even made it home to drop off DS1. I explained everything and why I felt Children's was worth the drive and the doctor agreed with me. She asked if I had given her anything for the fever yet. I don't REMEMBER telling her that I was afraid they wouldn't believe her temperature was that high if it came down, but BFF said I did. But the doctor reassured me that they WOULD believe me. She told me to give her motrin and start bringing the fever down. By the time we got to Children's an hour later (darn road work) her fever was down to 104.3. So she was STILL hot.

We were expedited due to how hot she was. I actually was quite impressed with the front end staff. The check in desk gal was so friendly and when she put the bracelet on Bug she said "She is burning up" and had her pushed ahead of other patients! We got a urine sample for them and next thing I know we are in a room. They had given her tylenol and within another 30 minutes she was down to 103.4.

When we got settled and she started waking up a little more as her fever was coming down, the nurse offered her a popsicle. She happily accepted. It was bright green and I have some great pictures of her bright green tongue. She didn't eat all of it but she still enjoyed it and it was nice to see her FINALLY perking up a bit.

The resident came in and well... let's just leave it at he and I didn't get along real well. He pretty much tried to say that she did NOT have a seizure, she just has a virus, blah, blah, blah. He also told me that what my daughter's doctor told me earlier that day was FALSE, to NOT bring her to the ER with a 103 fever... I was ready to rip his head off.

Then the attending doctor comes in. HE was different. He was reasonable. He said listen to your pediatrician, we like seeing kids, but if you feel okay keeping her home go ahead. He still felt it was viral, but he listened to me when I said it was a seizure. He did NOT feel it warranted calling neurology as it didn't last for more than 2 minutes at the most and even I say it was NOT a grand mal seizure.

So a little later the resident comes back in basically saying his same little line. And then says as nearly an afterthought, oh, since you did get a urine sample we'll dip it JUST in case. But I doubt it's a UTI.

About 20 min later he walks in again. And asks the most LAUGHABLE question... "are you sure her urine sample was a clean catch??" Oh how I wanted to be sarcastic and tell him no, I'm not sure, because I handed my three year old a cup and said go pee in this. Instead I told him, yes I am sure because I am the one who collected it. I wiped her first, I wore GLOVES and I ticked her off royal making her pee in a cup, oh, and did I mention she peed all over the floor of the bathroom in the process leaving me to clean it all up for you guys?? YES it was a clean catch. (yes, I can be a bit witchy at 1:30 am when my baby is sick and a "doctor" is questioning if I made sure I got a clean urine catch. The former EMT in me would NEVER have done less!) At that point he took off his mask (no one but him had ever worn one) and says "then she has a UTI because she has broken down nitrites in her urine."

FINALLY an answer. So they prescribe some antibiotics, give her a dose in the ER, give me the script and FINALLY at 2 am send us on our way. Unfortunately, BFF and I realize that we will be in NO condition to try and go to the pharmacy in the morning to get this script filled for her next dose. So we act like responsible adults and after a 45-60 min drive we get to the 24 hour pharmacy and get it filled (well, after a stop at the 24 hour dunkin donuts, come on now, the adults needed a little "prescription" too!!). And then we headed home. We finally arrived home at 3:15 am. I should have given her some motrin or tylenol then, but she was fever free and sound asleep.

She woke up this morning though with 105.5 again. *sigh* I quickly dosed her with her motrin, antibiotics, and her regular morning meds. That was all at around 10 am. It is now about 12:30 and she has a pretty much normal temp (just over 99 when I last checked :) ). But I will be giving her some tylenol momentarily just to keep it at bay for the day. I'll be going out shortly to get her some popsicles and maybe some gatorade. (she did NOT like Pedialyte!!!)

If she is not improving by Monday morning we will be back to the pediatrician for follow up. Actually, I suspect we are going anyway, but I have to make several phone calls first. I want to talk to her pedi, talk to her neurologist and find out if some of the side effects of her medications can make her more susceptible to UTI's because of the meds effects on her kidney's.

It can be so tough being a mom some days!! Bug is acting SO much better right now. She is trying to fold laundry. It is very cute. You can tell she is feeling better. I love seeing her happy and playful again (even if she's making a mess of the laundry!!!)

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Forgive me?

Sorry for the unintentional blogging break, can you forgive me? LOL Life has just been so busy in the last 2 weeks.

A summary, if I can manage it.

I've been working like crazy. Most weeks lately I have 25 or more hours, this week is a slower week at only 23 hours but it's because I have 2 days off. I'll get to why soon. Last week I actually worked 33 hours and did 6 days straight!

A little over a week ago BFF's oldest DS got hurt on the trampoline and had to go to the ER for a nasty bump on the head. And then yesterday got hurt on the skateboard and broke his 2 front teeth and had to have emergency dental work done! *sigh*

ALL the kids have physicals in the next two weeks, that is why I have an extra day off this week. I asked to be off UNTIL 2 pm and my supervisor gave me the entire day off on Thursday, but that is fine, as I have PLENTY of other things to take care of that day! LOL

BFF's kids have dental appointments now for cleanings, and as soon as xDH gets my girls on the dental insurance (better text him about that), my girls will have appointments too).

The girls are growing like weeds and there is fear that our THREE year olds will not fit 3T clothing for long!!!!!! They are already wearing some 4T's and girls XS's!! But it is there FEET that seem to be giving us the most run for our money all of a sudden. BFF's DD, Duck, had been complaining about this ONE pair of shoes, now Duck has wider feet, so I looked at her feet. She has a cut on the toe. I showed BFF and said we needed to get her different shoes with more room (shoes didn't cause the cut but she needed some closed toe shoes to protect the toe while the cut heals). So we headed off to get Duck some shoes. She measures Duck, then Diva, her other DD, then she comes over to find me in the dresses and shoes me the SIZE NINE her Diva is wearing. OMG. The biggest shoes we had at home were EIGHTS!!! So out of fear, cuz I know MY girls aren't THAT much smaller than her's, we take Bug and Peanut to be sized, Bug is a solid 8, and Peanut is an 8 almost 8 1/2. So basically, NONE of the girls REALLY have shoes that will fit, or at least for very long. Some of BFF's girls shoes will fit MY girls for a LITTLE while because the brands run big, ya know?

So we run to Target, no shoes there, we go to Payless, she finds shoes, but I start to discover something. My poor Bug has NARROW feet, NOTHING fits her width wise. The evil words are uttered. Words that will cost me way too much money... Stride Rite. AHHHHHHHHH... Yes, My daughter is destined for expensive shoes. *sigh* She needs narrow shoes for now, and until this morning, there was only one place we could think of. But this morning I remembered another place, Preschoolians. I bought shoes from them before. They give a multiples discount. So I have sent off for the discount, and will be looking into both them and Stride Rite, but I HAVE to get poor Bug some properly fitting shoes quick!! LOL

Now onto our car seat dramas of late... *sigh*

We took the seats out of the car for cleaning, and read the manuals, and discovered our princesses are close to outgrowing them in HEIGHT!!! OMW!!!! Now in BFF's case this is less of an issue, as her seats are closer to their "age out" of 6 years too. But my seats are only 3 1/2 years old! *sigh* At least I know they have gotten used plenty!! So we started looking into seats that will accommodate taller children harnessed and convert into booster seats. We are looking at spending between $180-300 PER SEAT. *sigh*

On top of ALL of this other drama, Christmas is coming, and I have decided to go to EMT school and become an EMT again. That will happen in January. But I need at least $800 for the class. And then the money for the testing for MA, then the money for the testing for National Registry. Then I need to take Anatomy and Physiology and ACTUALLY PASS THE DANG CLASS for once in my life. Then take Paramedic and FINALLY become a Paramedic!!!!!! LOL At least once I am an EMT I will be working and making nearly double what I make now and have insurance!!

Well, I have a TON to do today!!!!

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