I posted last Sunday that I thought Arianna was not feeling well, but that I had no idea what was going on. She was not herself. She was often sitting around, wanting to be held, crancky... Just not herself. She is typically super active.
On Tuesday afternoon, I noticed her head felt warm. That night, she got up at 1am and it was clear she had a fever. 101.8. We have been giving her tylenol around the clock. The fever won't give. The lowest temp we get is 101. Last night, her temp went up to 104.1. She was shaking. That was scary. 104 is the magic number, the "do not pass go, call now, get medical attention..." number.
She still is asymptomatic, except that she is complaining about her left leg. She is limping and it seems like her thigh hurts.
We saw her pediatrician today. The pediatrician says it can be joint inflamation that will take care of itself or some sort of joint infection that "could be a lot more serious." She sent us to the hospital for bloodwork and an x-ray of her leg.
Being at the hospital was hell. Where do I start? The appointment with the pediatrician was at 1:15pm, so I could not put Amor Chiquito down for her nap. I figured she could take a nap around 2:30, after seeing the pediatrician. But, instead, we went straight to the hospital. We waited for ever to register. Then, we waited at the lab.
At the lab, the lovely lab techs said they would look at both arms and draw blood from the one that had the best looking veins. Guess what? One nurse looked at one arm and tried to draw blood from that one without looking at the other arm. The minute she put the needle in, Arianna was crying. It was a heart-breaking cry, the type of cry where she is so upset that she can't even get the cry out. This tech was poking Amor Chiquito for what seemed like for ever. Another tech was trying to help. I was holding Amor Chiquito. After all this, minutes, I'm not exaggerating, they didn't get anything.
So, on to the other arm... Arianna knows what is coming, so she won't stop crying. This time, they got blood, but it took even longer.
K, done with that. It is now past 3. Amor Chiquito has not slept. Her arms are sore to all hell. She keeps grabbing at them. She won't stop crying. This was the first time her entire life when nursing was not doing its magic. With shots, for example, she'll cry for a minute, I offer the breast, then she is fine. Not today. She would nurse for a few seconds, drop the breast, cry some more, over, over, and over again... I am worried, full of questions, feeling helpless... I was ready to start crying with her.
Eventually, Amor Chiquito fell asleep on Abuela's lap while we waited for the x-ray tech to see us.
Just before 4, we went in for the x-rays. Amor Chiquito was so tired she didn't even move when I put her on the table. Normally, she would not have stayed still, especially knowing she was surrounded by strangers.
These two techs drove me nuts even more. At least the lab techs were being nice, even if they were morons! The x-ray techs... I don't even know how to put it into words... They had an attitude. They were treating us funny. They treated me like I was a stupid mom who could not get her kid to do the right thing or hold her child the right way. "I'll have to hold her myself..." They wanted Ari to be on her side, but she kept getting back on her back. Let's see, the kid is 20 months old. She is sick with a high fever. She has not slept all day. She just got poked and prodded. You're freakin' strangers, weirdows... Hello? Can you tell I'm not happy?!
I don't know why I went to this hospital anyways. Every time I've been there I've had bad experiences. I should have gone to where Amor Chiquito was born, even if it was further away. I'm not claiming that that hospital is perfect. No one hospital is. But it kicks the ass of the other hospital, for sure!
Now we're home, trying for the n'th time to get Ari to eat and not being very successful. She is never very interested in eating when she has a fever. She does take fluids. And, she'll take mama milk any time, of course.
I am waiting to hear from the pediatrician. She was hoping to get lab results today. That did not happen. In theory, we should hear something tomorrow.
I don't know anything about this possible joint infection. I could go online and research, but I think, for now, I rather not. I always prefer to be educated, but I don't want to drive myself crazy with possible bad scenarios when I have no clue if this is what is going on or not.
I gotta tell you - I have yet more respect for parents of little ones with illnesses that require ongoing care. Tuesday night, I got three hours of sleep. Wednesday, I was alone all day; Geeky Entrepreneur was gone for 12 hours. Today, I am wondering what is going on with my kid, wondering why this fever won't go away, feeling so helpless, doing my best not to be scared, but having no problem dmitting that I am, indeed, scared. It's very possible that tomorrow we'll hear everything will be just fine and this craziness will be over. What about the parents who have such days day in and day out, though? One of my readers just spent three weeks in the hospital with her little one (cancer) and they're at the hospital again. She's due in a month with #2. LogicalMommy, from the bottom of my heart, you're my hero! I'm thinking of you guys and hoping that he gets to go home soon.
I'll update whenever I hear from the pediatrician
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Thanks--we always appreciate the props. We're just doing what we do. Our babies are always worth it.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it just drive you bananas, all the hospital nonsense? It's mostly second nature to us at this point and I forget just how scary it can be when you are not familiar with it. Finding veins on little kids are the worst and of course you are so scared as a parent that they need to find a vein in the first place that you don't even think to tell them to look on both sides or to ask the person to seek help if they don't think they can do it right. And getting them to hold still for things like X-rays...well unfortunately, you can't be very peaceful or kind about it. You have to force it, and the more quickly you get it done right, the sooner it's over and you can give hugs and boob again.
Yeah, going through that craziness yesterday made me feel like I need to do a better job advocating for my baby. I was disappointed with the staff, but, mostly, disappointed that I did not think ahead. Perhaps I could have prevented the drawing blood hell, to an extent. I'll know for next time. I was so tired and scared I was not thinking clearly.
ReplyDeleteYes, our babies are definitely worth it, despite all the hard days and nights. That being said, I hope the kids sleep better and I hope you guys get to go home soon. No matter how nice nurses are, there is nothing like being home. My ex-boyfriend had cancer and I spent a summer with him at the hospital, so I have an idea about what it's like.