This past weekend was a tough one; something parents hope to never go through. We had to take baby Drew to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. All through the night on Thursday, Drew was screaming and I could not settle him down. I slept a whopping 1.5 hours that night because he was in such pain. He was also burning up though I never took his temperature. Finally Friday morning he was so hot and still uncomfortable so I decided to call his pediatrician. Thank goodness my parents were here that morning for a special grandparents breakfast. Mom came with me to help with Drew because he was so upset. Once at the doctor's office, they took his temperature and it was 101. The doctor then said we needed to get him to the ER at Texas Children's Hospital. I couldn't believe it. She said that a temperature that high in infants could be very dangerous, even deadly.
I called Josh and we were so glad that he was in town and it wasn't a busy day at work. He came home and we discussed back and forth whether or not we should really go to that extreme (of taking him to the ER over an hour away.) Finally we decided to go because, if Drew did get worse, we would never forgive ourselves.
Here he was on the ride downtown
Once in the ER, we were sent to triage where his temperature was still 101. They gave him some baby tylenol which worked wonders. We then waited...and waited for a room to come available. Finally, 2 hours later, they called us back. Once in a room we had various nurses and doctors visit us. Because of his age and his fever, they had to perform all kinds of tests. They put in a catheter to collect a urine sample, and a tube up his nostril to collect fluid there. Then they poked a needle in the top of his hand to collect 3 viles of blood. Lastly, and sadly, they did a spinal tap. I was in the room for all of it except that. I walked out nearly in tears knowing sweet Drew was getting poked and prodded. Through all of this, his fever never returned and he was not fussy at all. In fact, he was so good! However, they needed us to stay the night until all the test results came back. Finally at 8:00pm (after checking in at 1:00pm) they had a spot in the NICU for him. I had never been in a nicu before and had no idea what to expect. One of the first doctors that saw us said we'd be in a room with beds...not so much. There was one chair next to Drew's bed. I was so upset. After all we'd put him through (which Josh and I questioned the whole time whether or not it was all necessary) then he was left in the NICU. I did not want to leave his side, but I was completly exhausted and knew I would get no sleep sitting in a chair. Josh convinced me it would be okay to leave him and check into the hotel across the street. I was very reluctant, but finally around 9:00pm we left Drew there.
The next day, I never left Drew's bed (other than a couple of bathroom breaks!) A group of doctors came by and told us most of the tests were negative, but he did test positive for a viral meningitis called enterovirus. Basically, it's a big scary term for a cold. For what's a common cold in children, can be deadly in infants. This all makes sense because since school started, Reid has on and off had a cold. And as much as we try to keep Drew away from the big boys, it's nearly impossible. They get so excited to see him when they get home from school and it's hard for them to keep their distance.
SOOO...we were given the green light to go home and were finally able to leave around 8:00pm.
We ran through every kind of emotion --- exhaustion, sadness, guilt, thankfulness, relief. But mostly, blessed that we were able to walk away with nothing more than a cold. After seeing so many very sick babies in the NICU, it really made me count my blessings!
As hectic and stressful as my days with the kiddos can be, I'm able to kiss 3 healthy boys goodnight and for that I thank GOD!!
Once we were home, I gave him a bath to wash off all those hospital germs. He was just as glad to be back home as we were!
