Our Hospital Stay!

So Avery had her first stay in the hospital....

Wednesday morning Avery woke up and I went and got her from her crib. I set her down on the couch turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and got her some juice. I was in the kitchen making breakfast and realized that she wasn't running around yet (not like her). Avery doesn't sit still ever...so I thought that maybe she was just tired. I went over and sat down with her and she snuggled up to me and I realized she felt pretty warm. I went to set her down on the ground she sstarted crying and fell to the floor. I was getting concerned at this point and tried everything to get her to take one step but she wouldn't.

She wanted to take a shower so we got in the shower and usually she stands in there with the handheld shower head and sprays everything...but she wouldn't even do that. I quickly got her out of the shower called Matt at work and told him that something was very wrong and we were going to the ER.

We got in the car and went and picked up Matt and went to the pediatric emergency room. When we arrived her pulse was high, her temp was 101.5 and she would not stand or walk. We waited in the waiting room after getting triaged and Avery fell asleep in my arms. This is also not like her. As I was holding her and waiting I noticed red spots appearing on her arms and tummy.

We finally got called back about an 1 1/2 hours later. The physicians assistant came in and he was really nice and wanted to do some lab work and xrays. Poor thing had to have quite a bit of blood work drawn and an IV put in. So this is why I am NOT a pediatric nurse. They wrapped Avery in a sheet and left the arm where they were going to start the IV in out. Matt stood on one side, I stood at her head, an aid stood on the other, and the nurse was trying to get the IV in. Needless to say she was soooo upset. I tried singing to her but she was bucking like crazy and making it pretty difficult. Her Daddy and Mommy were just as sad to put her through this but we were eager to know what was wrong... The above picture you can see her IV in her right hand and a papertowel on her chest because she got a popscicle as a reward. Then we went and did xrays which she didn't mind because they were not poking and there were lots of pictures of Disney characters in the xray room. Then we waited for results.......

So now came the interesting part of trying to keep a two year old that can't walk busy and entertained while waiting. She pressed all the buttons on the tv, she colored on the back of our registration papers, she ate fisheys, she ate raisins, and we sang a lot.

Finally they came back and said the xrays were all clear but that a couple of her inflammatory markers were high and they wanted to admit her. :-( We went up to her room which contained a metal crib like cage, a tv, a recliner, and two really hard chairs. Thank goodness we have the best family and neighbors int he world. My sister and mom went and got our belongings to stay the night and our wonderful neighbor brought us dinner. We were starving because we hadn't eaten all day. The nurse was great. I hadn't told anybody that I was a nurse until our nurse went through this whole questionnaire and then asked what our occupation was. She was cute when she found out and kept telling me to watch Avery. The pediatrician came and said he had to be somewhere else but his partner would come at some point. He had a couple ideas of what it was but wouldn't say what he thought.

At this point Avery was so restless that she wanted to get down and walk. She would limp around favoring different legs every time. The orthopedic came and she would kick and climb and he said well whatever it is its not me that she needs

They had a little playroom and we went and played in it and brought crayons back to our room to color with. It was very late and I had a feeling Avery wasn't gonna want anything to do with the crib/cage. So we asked for a regular bed, signed a release to allow Avery to sleep in a regular bed with me in it. We climbed in it and I tried to tickle her back and sing to her. Just when she was winding down we had a knock on the door at 10:30pm and it was the pediatrician. He was WONDERFUL! He gave Avery gloves to play with and she was totally showing off for him. He agreed that we watch her rash thinking that maybe she had something called HSP. When he left the room Avery said "Bye Buddy." I then tried to get her to sleep. Finally at midnight Avery was asleep. At 1:30am she woke up screaming in pain that her legs hurt so the nurse came in and gave her some ibuprofen. Then they came in at 2:30am to do her vital signs. Then they came in at 6am to empty the garbage and get us water??? And at 7:30am they came in to do vitals again and this time we all stayed awake.

We ate breakfast and the pediatrician came and said yep he thinks it is the HSP and there is nothing to do but give her Tylenol and Motrin for the pain and it will soon go away. :-/ He said we could go home. So we played in the playroom until the nurse was ready to discharge us.

We finally got discharged and got wheeled out. Avery and I sat in the wheelchair and just before we were about to go out the doors the nurse said wait, wait. Then the doctor was talking on the phone and hung up and said well her blood culture did grow something but go ahead and leave and follow up with her pediatrician in the morning and you might have to come back for IV antibiotics. hmmmm

So we went home and all took showers and long naps.

I was hoping her pediatrician would be excellent the next morning but no such luck. Avery has seen this pediatrician since she was born but she said she didn't think it was the HSP and that she just thought it was a virus causing joint pain, fever, rash, and sores in her mouth. No attempt at making Avery feel comfortable with her. She just made me hold her down so she could look in her throat, ears, and at her tummy... hmmm ok So we left and that was that.

She has been feeling a ton better and on Saturday was a different kid. She was back to her busy self...running, laughing, and playing. She broke out in a different rash for about an hour on Saturday but then it went away. Now today she is a lot better and eating everything in sight. She wouldn't eat because all the sores in her mouth so she lost a 1 and half pounds from Wednesday to Friday but she is catching up today!!!!

Never did I think we would have her first hospital visit shortly before her 2nd birthday. All in all she did AMAZING! She is such a strong little girl.