Thursday, May 27, 2010

Rough past 12 days for Emma

It all started on Friday, May 14.
The day started out just like any other day. That after noon I we to feed Emma and she would only eat 2oz. She normally would eat 5oz every 2.5-3 hrs. I really didn't think much of it and thought that she just wasn't hungry. Three hours later I feed her again and she only took 1oz. I was a bit puzzled, but Jason reminded me that Brooke did the same thing once when she was little. Right before bed time Emma had a diarrhea diaper and again would only eat 2oz. I made a mental not of this and just really paid attention to what she was taking in verses what was coming out. During the night she woke up and had another diarrhea diaper and would only take a 3oz bottle.
Saturday, May 15th:
Emma woke up with yet another diarrhea diaper. And would only take 2.5oz. I just thought she had an upset tummy because she was still acting normal. Over the course of 2hrs she had 6 really bad runny diapers that resulted in us having to change her clothing 5 times. As the day went on we headed to Houston for the afternoon and Emma seemed to be just fine besides that she didn't want to eat very much.
Sunday, May 16th:
I got the girls up for church only to find out that my keys were locked in the car. I had to use a coat hanger to try to get the door open. After watching a video on you tube, I hit the jackpot and opened the door got my keys and headed off to church. After coming home I put the girls down for a nap. Emma woke up after about 30mins and I feed her. She only took about 2oz again and the proceeded to throw it up. That is when I started to worry. I told Jason that I was making her a doctor's apt in the morning. She threw up later that night right before bed time as well.
Monday, May 17th:
Emma continued to have diarrhea. I call first thing to make an apt. She was headed to her pediatrician's at 2pm. When we got there I explained what was going on and the Dr was concerned with dehydration. He told me to keep an eye on her since she had not had a pee diaper since Sunday afternoon. I was told that if she did not pee by 7pm to take her to the ER. So 7pm came and still only diarrhea no pee, so off the the Children's hospital ER we went. We got checked in and waited. After about 2hrs of waiting they called us back. The nurse brought me a hospital gown for her and said to change her and someone would be right with us. Not but 2mins after I put the gown on her she started throwing up and it just kept coming. I felt so bad for my poor little baby. 15mins goes by and a nurse comes in. I told her we needed a new gown and sheets for the bed. She took her vital signs and the Dr came in to tell us that they needed to start an IV to give her fluids because she getting really dehydrated. They pumped in half a bag and gave her some anti nausea meds to help her stomach. 30mins later they brought me some pedialyte to give her. She took 1.5oz and then threw it up. They asked me to give her some formula and she took 1oz and was able to keep it down. After half a bag she still was not able to pee, so they gave her the other half. Around 2am she finally made a wet diaper (just a couple of drops of pee) so we were told we could go home. 3am we here home and getting in bed.
Tuesday, May 18th:
We had a follow up apt with her pediatrician at 1:30. She woke up and was able to keep her first three feedings down. The only thing was that she only took 2oz each time. So when we go to her pediatrician's office they weighed her and were surprised. He said he thought she would weigh more after getting the IV fluids the night before. When he found out that she had only taken in 6oz all day he was worried and told me to feed her 2oz right then. I did and she then threw it up all over the office floor. The nurse cleaned it and her Dr brought me some pedialyte to give her and she took two oz and then threw all of that up and some more. I was then given a syringe to feed her 5ml at a time. She took down 10ml over 30mins when we gave her the next set of 5ml she threw that up. The Dr told me to go home and give her 5ml every 10 to 15mins and see what she would keep down. He called me back at 7pm to check on her and was not happy with her progress so back to the ER we went. But before we headed down Jason loaded up Brooke and met his parents half way between Austin and San Antonio. They were going to watch her for us until Emma got better. We got to the ER at 9:30 pm and waited in the waiting room until Midnight.
Wednesday, May 19th:
Just after midnight we were called back. We then waited another 45mins before a nurse came in. They decided that they would start and IV and get a urine sample to rule out an UTI. Emma as so dehydrated that it took them 30mins to find a vein to start the IV. They had to call a nurse from the NICU to come start the IV. They got it started and told us Emma would be admitted. At 3am they moved her up to her room. The Dr on the floor came in to talk to me. She was very nice and helpful. We spoke for about 45mins. They brought me pedialyte to give her. Most of the day Emma was on an IV and just taking pedialyte. They gave her some more anti nausea meds and then I was able to give her some formula. Most of her formula came up, but she was keeping down the pedialyte so they took her off the IV around 5pm.
Thursday, May 20th:
The Dr's came in to see her and said that she was looking good and keeping her self hydrated with the pedialyte so that we could go home. I was worried about the fact that she was still throwing up and still had diarrhea. They Dr told me it was not that big of a deal and it would pass. I trusted them and we left. I called to let Emma's pediatrician know. They asked us to come in Friday morning for a follow up. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out at home. You could just tell Emma did not feel good. She would moan and sleep. She didn't want to eat much and what she did eat she didn't hold down.
Friday, May 21st:
We got up and headed to Emma's pediatrician's office. At this point she would only hold down pedialyte. The good news was that the diarrhea had stopped. They weighed her and she had lost even more weight. It was decided that she should have an ultrasound of her tummy to make sure they was nothing wrong with the muscles around her stomach. I took her straight from her pediatrician's office to the the next Dr's office to get the ultrasound. My poor baby cried the entire time. After the ultra sound we went home to wait for the results. I got a call form her pediatrician's office at 2pm telling me everything looked OK. They asked me to feed her and call them back and let them know if she kept it down. As soon as Emma woke up from her nap I feed her. She was not even half way through her bottle when she throw up all over her, me and the floor. I got us cleaned up and call the Dr. They said to give them a min and they would call me back. About 10mins later they called me and told me to head to the hospital again. (This would be the third time) I was to take Emma right to her room and they would call me on my way down there and give me her room#. She was put right back in the same room. The Dr's at the hospital told me to just give her pedialyte for the next 24hrs to see how she handled it.
Saturday, May 22nd:
She was weighed and found that she had dropped below 13lbs. A GI doctor came in to see her and decided that she need tummy rest. So he was going to put her on IV fluids only for 24hrs. He said that I could give her .5oz of pedialyte every 2hrs to help calm her down since she would be hungry. Around 1pm my MIL showed up with Brooke. I was so happy to see her. At 1:30 the nurse came in to get Emma and I to start her IV. This was the worst one for me. I cried while they were putting it in her. I just felt so bad that she had to get poked once again. I wanted to take away her pain. I felt so helpless. By 2:30 they had her hooked up to the IV. Not being able to feed her made for a very long day. Phyllis my MIL offered to stay the night at the hospital with me. I was so grateful for the help. Emma did not want to sleep and you could tell that she felt like crap. Right around Midnight she woke up and we could not get her to go back to sleep.
Sunday, May 23rd:
Around 3am I was able to get her to fall asleep in my arms. I tried to get as comfy as in could on my hospital couch bed holding her. Every time I moved she would stir. She slept like that for about 3-4 hrs. Needless to say My butt hurt, my leg was asleep, and I had to use the bathroom by the time she woke up, but it was all worth it for her to get some sleep. All morning Phyllis and I just kept taking turns trying to comfort her. After Church Jason and Brooke came up to the hospital to hang out for a bit. Around noon I got the okay to feed Emma a bottle that was 50% pedialyte 50% formula. She took the two oz and kept it down. Then Phyllis left for San Antonio and took Brooke with her again. Which meant I was on my own once again. I continued to feed her 50/50 until midnight. At midnight they weighed Emma once again and she had dropped some more weight.
Monday, May 24th:
Her first feeding of the day (around 3am) I was giving her 75% formula and 25% pedialyte. She took it and held it down. She got that until around noon and then was given 100% formula. After two feedings of all formula the hospital Dr came in and told me I could take her home. I wasn't so sure. The GI Dr had told me that her wanted her holding down 100% formula for 8-12hrs at least. The Dr at the hospital finally called Emma's pediatrician to discuss everything and her pediatrician suggested that we stay one more night. So that is what we did.
Tuesday, May 25th:
Emma continued to take down her feedings and keep them down so we headed home first thing in the morning. Of course the very first feeding at home she threw up, but I think that was because she gaged herself chewing on her fingers. Since then she had kept her feedings down.
Wednesday, May 26th:
Emma went in to her pediatrician's office for a follow up. She has gained some weight back, but not as much as they had hoped for so she will go back Friday for another weight check.