I created these Valentine's cards for our family.
They were ready to pick up Friday night. All 40 envelopes are addressed and stamped. They just needed to be stuffed. I didn't really get out of the house this weekend. Samantha wasn't feeling well and I didn't want to take her out or leave her. They'll be sent, just a tad bit late ;)
So, Monday, Valentine's Day, morning I called to set up a sick appointment for Samantha. I explained that it all started with some sneezing last Sunday, the 6th, coughing started Sunday and diarrhea followed and over the weekend, vomiting joined the party. Her doctor could see her at 11:10.
After vomiting all the night before and all morning, Samantha was tired. She slept while I cleaned Kaitlyn's room, woke up, ate, threw up, and was in a good mood, so good I even got to snap some pictures of her first Valentine's day. Then we were off. We were less than a mile out and she had already thrown up twice, so violently I had to pull over. We made it to her appointment 10 minutes late as a result of the stops and of course waiting on the elevator since right at that moment the team decided they needed to clean both of them???
At the appointment her doctor noticed her constant grunting. She was working really hard to breath, but her pulse ox was at 97, so she was doing a good job getting enough oxygen. She was rattly in her lungs, she had only gained 6 ounces since her appointment 2 1/2 weeks ago (I know she had gained more, but obviously she lost it) and she just looked sick. So, he did a breathing treatment in the office to see how she did. Since there wasn't much improvement, he sent us to get her chest xrays and blood work and said he would call us with the plan.
Chest xrays were not that bad. I remember getting them with Kaitlyn a bit older and having to use the restraint. I hate that restraint. Samantha sat up great (with the help of me holding her elbows) for both xrays and while she was fussy from being woken up for it, she was fine after and went straight back to sleep. Then we headed to the lab. It was miserable.
It took 3 different lab assistants 2 draws to not get enough blood for the tests. On the second draw, they were in there moving the needle all around trying to "catch" the vein. Um, not cool. They got barely enough for one of 3 necessary tests and sent us to the hospital for them to try. They kept saying it's because she didn't stay still enough, but I know that's not what it was. Note to others, just because you're whispering to each other doesn't mean the mom 6 inches away can't hear you. They couldn't feel the vein, she has chubby arms and it's that simple. They went where they thought it should be and missed.
The hospital wasn't any better. I'm sure you could hear her screaming through the hospital. 4 techs, 3 more pokes and finally there was enough blood for the tests. Poor baby. Oh, and another note to others, if there is a 3 month old baby, screaming until she throws up with a tourniquet around her arm and you're digging around in her arm, don't pause to talk to the guy you want to desperately to notice you. You will have a really mad mom that will shoot you daggers with her eyes and will not hesitate to report you to your supervisor.
After the ordeal of lab work, we headed to pick up Kaitlyn from school. From there we rushed to the dentist to have Kaitlyn's cavity filled. Let me tell you, I remember being a kid and a cavity was like the worst thing ever. The dentist made you feel bad, the shots hurt, the drill would scar you for life (I still can't listen to a drill!) and it was just such a miserable experience. Not anymore. Kaitlyn went in, sat in the chair, picked out a movie and sunglasses, they asked if she was excited, put orange gas on her nose, gassed her up, gave her some shots, used a water drill, she was done in 10 minutes. Her punishment? A toy, a balloon and an OTTER POP! Seriously??? Um, I was going to ban sugar for a month as a punishment, but hey a blue otter pop is good too?
The doctor called with the test results. Her white blood count was elevated. Which we expected with a virus. Her Carbon monoxide levels were elevated, which we expected with the difficulty breathing, her liver tests were abnormal, which is consistent with a virus and her electrolytes were abnormal. Again, consistent with being slightly dehydrated, which is consistent with the virus. Everything was boderline between going in and staying home. So, we decided to go the least invasive route for getting better. An inhaler we give her every 4 hours. 2 puffs, a lot of better breathing.
Last night, our poor princess had no desire to eat. I kinda forced it on her. She threw up. She likes the inhaler though. Through the night, she only got up a couple times, and mostly when I saw she would toss even the slightest bit, I would grab her and try to feed her. While she normally nurses for about 10 minutes, she would go maybe 3-4 before she would fall back to sleep. I could do the inhaler without her ever waking up.
This morning, she woke up around 7:30. I fed her. While nursing she threw up some. Not a lot. So, I kept trying. She ate for a while. I sat her down to help Kaitlyn tighten her pants. In that time she projectile vomited. All over her bassinet. There were puddles of it. So, I quickly changed her, got the rest of the way dressed, got Kaitlyn finally ready and we all got in the car.
I dropped Kaitlyn off and headed straight to the doctors office. I teeter tottered between taking her straight tot he ER, especially since our appt wasn't until 9:15 and it was 8:20, but I opted to go to the doctor's office instead. He saw us immediately, which was nice.
Her weight was exactly the same. She has had 2 wet diapers since noon yesterday. Her pulse ox was at 93. No real changes. We were given an option of admitting her or waiting it out. I chose waiting it out. He said that if I were showing signs of being tired, stressed or anything, he would admit her. They would basically do what we're doing now, but add in some IV fluids and change the breathing treatments up. So, we are going to keep her home for now. Watch her. Wait it out. I've been so engorged from her not eating, I pumped 7 oz in 6 minutes, in hopes that she would get the fatty hind milk if she choses to eat.
Hopefully the rest of the day goes smoothly!
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