Our Crazy week

All of the children in our house have been pretty sick the last two weeks. It started with Abby having a fever of 102 and throwing up for two days, followed by Elizabeth having a fever of 102 and complaining that her stomach hurt for a few days. Then they both had fevers, coughs and runny noses.

Last Thursday, Benjamin was really sleepy, not eating great and felt warm to me all day, although his temperature was normal. Later in the afternoon, I took it and it was 100.6. General guidelines for a baby under the age of 2 months is to call the doctor if their temperature is over 100.4. So, I got an appointment at Urgent Care in Fontana. When I arrived there, they wouldn't even see him, because he was so little and told me to take him to the Emergency room.

As soon as I walked in, a nurse saw me and pulled me into a triage room (I never even waited in line). She had me undress him and when she took his temperature it was down to 99.8. She called the doctor, who rushed over to talk to Alan and I. She explained that anytime a baby had a fever under the age of 2 months, they treat it like meningitis because frequently, a fever is the only symptom. So, their plan was to perform a series of tests and admit him to the hospital for a 2-3 day course of strong IV antibiotics and if everything came back negative and his fever stayed down he could go home. I asked if we could wait in our car while they got a private room ready in the ER to perform all of the procedures so that we could avoid the ER waiting room. They agreed and we waited in the car until they called us. When we got to the room, the nurse asked if we felt comfortable with the plan of care. We felt really unsure since he had only had that one high temperature at home, so they took his temperature again and it was 100.8. At that point, God  gave us peace that we should go ahead with their plan of care (well that and my own knowledge that if you refuse medical treatment for your child that potentially puts their lives in danger, they technically can get a court order to take your child away). So, they proceeded to draw blood, remove a sample of spinal fluid through a spinal tap, insert a urinary catheter to get a urine sample, perform a chest xray, swab the inside of his nose for respiratory viruses and start an IV which took 4 attempts. Poor little guy was pretty exhausted at the end of it all. Then they admitted us and started the antibiotics while we waited for all of the test results.

Poor Little Guy

We had really wonderful doctors and nurses. Thankfully everything came back normal and late Sunday night, we were able to come home. Side note...We came home to a wonderfully clean house (Thank you Daddy, Papa & Gigi). Benjamin continues to have a stuffy nose but other than that he is back to normal and eating well. While Benjamin and I were at the hospital, the girls continued to have coughs and Lizzie's fever came back so Alan took them to Urgent Care on Sunday. He said that as soon as they got to the doctor, the girls started acting like their normal goofy selves (Isn't that the way it always goes?). The doctor said they both had a virus.

Pictures of the two goofballs at Urgent Care

We are so thankful to be home. Thank you for praying for baby Benjamin!