“I wish I had good news but I’m just as concerned today – she woke up but didn’t move – she acts like she’s soo tired – fever 102.4 – the medicine that is supposed to dissolve in her mouth wouldn’t because her mouth was so dry – diarrhea 3 times – nursed once and so far has kept it down. I’m worried she is dehydrated.”
This was my text Sunday morning to my cousin when she asked how Evy was doing. We gave Evy some pediatlyte and she gulped it up but immediately threw it up. We started giving her smaller doses at a time and she was able to hold that down. She was still having diarrhea but no wet diapers. I started alternating nursing and pedialyte but by 1:00 she was just too tired to wake up. I had given her motrin so the fever was temporarily gone.
“No fever – but she won’t eat or nurse – had to fight her to get 1/2 teaspoon pedialyte down – almost liquid poop – she doesn’t cry so no tears – no wet diapers – very tired”
I called my doctor-on-call to let them know that she didn’t have any wet diapers and they suggested going back to Children’s ER. I picked Adam up from work and then picked up his mom, Sue. When we arrived, Evy’s temperature jumped back up to 104.8. They struggled to get an IV in her tiny arms. (Maybe because the room we were in, was a broom closet turned ER room. We kept joking about that tiny room. It kept our spirits lifted.) Third time worked. They drew some blood and discovered her phosphate levels were low, she was dehydrated and from my urging, decided to admit her. My parents also drove up to Children’s so that they could see out little pumpkin.
I felt if they didn’t admit her, I would just be driving back up the next day. She was still very lethargic, but I did get her to nurse. While Adam was holding her, she had a major blow out that exploded out from all angles of her diaper. It was quite funny to see Adam trying to catch it in his hand.
When our room was ready upstairs, the grandparents left. I sat in a wheelchair and held Evy tight while they wheeled us up to our overnight room. Several doctors came in that evening and a couple nurses. I was so happy to see so many people working on her and asking us questions. Our nurse was great. She was perky and just thought Evy was the cutest. She had an order for a stool culture, but as soon as she was able to collect the stool culture, they canceled the order. She said we’ll just leave it here for a bit incase they change their mind.
Adam and I took turns feeding Evy throughout the night. I started pumping only so that we could tell exactly how much she was eating from the bottle. I finally felt calm knowing that she was getting her fluids and with the team of doctors and nurses that she had. They all felt she just had a stomach bug and that she was a little dehydrated. I just knew that she would have to be feeling better by morning.
Dear Evy: 