An Unexpected Visit
This weekend brought an unexpected first hospital stay with Mazy. Thursday, Mazy seemed a little off, but she kept putting her finger in her mouth, so we assumed it was teething. She was getting pretty fussy, but for Mazy, that wasn’t out of the ordinary, especially when teething. Then Thursday night, she had a 102.3 fever. That seemed a bit high for teething (she was getting her molars in).
Friday morning, I had my yearly checkup with my doctor who is also Mazy’s doctor. I asked her about Mazy and she said to keep a close eye on her, but if she spiked again, to take her in. The thing is, we had her 15 month checkup on Tuesday and she was perfectly fine! Friday she was even more fussy and I knew something was up. Sure enough, Friday night she had a 102.7 fever. She did not sleep well at all, so I ended up sleeping with her (no shame). When we woke up, I knew I had to take her into the walk-in, so I immediately got us both dressed and flew out the door.
We had to wait a bit at the walk-in, but as time passed, she was getting worse and worse. I had flashbacks to when she got pneumonia because this was exactly what happened a few weeks prior. When we saw the doctor, he was so kind and explained what it could be, but after a long pause, said that really she needed to be admitted across the street (the hospital). Hard words to hear, but I also felt relief. I knew I was not capable of taking her home and caring for her. Her oxygen was low, her heart rate high, a fever, and quite lethargic. So when the doctor said he would feel better about her being there, so did I. So we headed straight there, was immediately admitted, she was hooked up to an IV, and had numerous tests done. They ran everything on her – x-ray, strep, rsv, blood culture, blood work, everything. It all came back negative. I was so certain it was pneumonia, but I was wrong – plus, lets be honest, what do I know anyways!
So, really, all they could chalk it up to was a virus. She was rather dehydrated, so after she received some fluids, via IV, she started to perk up ever so slightly. By nighttime, she hadn’t had a high fever since noon, but was becoming quite agitated. Unfortunately, she was not passing fluids well, which was a bit of a concern too.
I tried to put her down, but she would wake up every 15 minutes, just screaming. Two times, she was inconsolable and the second time, I called the nurse. I was succumbed to tears. I think I hit my breaking point and didn’t know what else to do or what was wrong. By about 1 AM, she finally settled down and fell asleep for the night (with just a few wake-ups in between).
By morning, she woke up pretty happy and you could tell, she turned a corner. The morning was a bit hard because she wanted to get moving, but she was still hooked up to the IV and O2 machine, which made movement interesting and difficult. But by 1:30, we were able to head home.
I realize that it is common for children to go to the hospital for one reason or another, but once it is your kid, I never felt so helpless, yet so much relief. The love and care the nurses gave Mazy, I can’t thank them enough. God put the right people in our path! Plus, we were able to see some of the people that were in the room when Mazy was born! It was like a little sweet reunion, though we decided meeting in Target or something like that, would be a better place next time. We felt so blessed to be where we were (granted we were the only patients in the peds section), but regardless, so much love was shown to her.
Now that we are home, we now know what to keep our eye on and what to look out for. I feel confident again! She does have a rash, but they are thinking it’s just a viral rash. She is eating again and she is back to our crazy Mazy!
Then…
Lo and behold, Mazy decided to start to WALK today! Apparently after her hospital stay, she figured she could conquer the world. Why not start walking, right? Forget that 24 hours prior, she could barely keep her eyes open. Though more on her walking, later!
God knew to prepare me for what was to come this weekend. One of my devotionals this week was about pruning and how God prunes what it necessary for a healthy spiritual life. When I was driving over to the hospital, God reminded me of that very devotional and that “this” was the pruning that He meant.
I also told the nurse at the doctor’s office before we were told she would be admitted, that I wasn’t sure what to do, whether to take her in to the walk-in that morning or not. I didn’t want to look like a weird-o and be told that it was just teething, so I prayed for a sign. When the doctor told me that she had to be admitted, the nurse told me, I think God gave you your sign. The sign that I wasn’t crazy!
Finally, thank you SO SO much for all of your prayers! It was so hard to see her sick, and I feel nothing can prepare you for that! Like I said, I know that many of you have had children in the hospital for MUCH longer than we have. Though I suppose any length of time is never easy to see.
So thank you for all the care and love you have shown! And now we pray that she will stay fever free, that her rash will go away quickly, and she will have a clear bill of health. For the past 4 months, Mazy has struggled with ear infections, had tubes put in, had pneumonia, and now this, so hopefully the next month will mean a healthier little 15 month old! Or should I say our WALKING 15 month old?UPDATE: Mazy woke up this morning pretty frustrated and fussy, and her rash on her trunk has gotten a bit worse, but it is not spreading and it does not look like hives (two things they told us to look out for). We are just praying we can stay hospital free this week! We know viruses can take awhile to get over, so we are more than happy to give her all the snuggles and loving she needs! As for walking, well, that might be on hold for a bit. We just need to get our sweetie back to health!
