On Tue, 12/23/08 Banana woke-up in the morning with a fever. I could tell it was too high a fever for such a little baby. So I decided to take her to the ER. I decided to make the drive to the Children's Hospital even though my parent's live closer to another Hospital. We had a bad experience with SweetPea at the closer hospital when SweetPea was a baby (older than Banana, but still a baby.) They could not get a catheter in to get a urine sample. It was torturous to watch. I did not want to go through that again.

There was almost no one there. At least in the wait room. It is rare to see an ER so empty. Her fever at home was 100.4, and was 100.3 when we got to the hospital. She weighed 9 lbs. She had been 10 lbs a few weeks ago. I knew she had lost wait because we weighed her 12/18/08 at the doctor' office and was 9 lbs 4 oz. SO we were beginning to try and supplement with formula. She won't take a bottle!

Because of her age and fever they decided to run every test there was. It was rough. They started with collecting urine. So much better than what SweetPea had gone through. Then they tried to get blood samples. Unfortunately she was so dehydrated they could not get a vein. Now, they did not stick her. They just looked and looked and looked. They finally decided the ONLY place they could get a line in was in her scalp. Most people would think this would be awful, and to some degree, it wasn't my favorite moment in her young life, but I knew the tests that were coming. She had x-rays next. She didn't enjoy them much. I left the room for the lumbar puncture. So if you want to know about an LP on a 2 mo, don't ask me. Finally, they checked for RSV. They do this by threading a tube down the nose and to the throat to suction the mucus there.

Everything came back great, except RSV. So they admitted her to the hospital. She is in isolation. Which means everyone has to wear masks and gowns to enter our room. Everyone except Hubbs and me. And no one under 13 yo is allowed at all. The doctor's were also concerned with her listlessness, weight loss and poor muscle tone. They weren't sure how much of it was from not feeling well (her fever crept up to 100.8), and how much is some other issue (like my milk supply).

She was on monitors for a bit. Her vitals all stayed within normal range for the first night. So they turned them off the next day (Christmas Eve) so I would quit studying them. However, she began crying constantly again. Similarly to how she cried before she started reflux meds. So the doctor changed her reflux meds. So they wanted us to stay another night to make sure the new meds were a fix to the crying problem. I was thankful, I was very anxious about taking her home at that point. The rehydration did help her weight, but she still is down in weight. So on Christmas Day the doctor visited again and was pleased to see the crying had stopped, but she was still concerned about how thin she was. She was also concerned about the inability to get meds because the pharmacies are closed and no follow-up appt are in place because it is Christmas. Not to mention she wanted to run a few more tests to see if there is more going on causing the weight loss. So maybe tomorrow we will go home.

She was Happy as usual. Here you can see the "cap" they made to help keep the IV in place.

Her "Rudolph" Toe

Santa did come to visit us in the hospital. We got a gingerbread house, toy keys, a bear, a penguin, a blanket, and a teething ring. We also got some healthy snacks. He also took a picture with us...sorta. Remember, we are in isolation. SO he stood at the door, and I got as close as the cords and tubes would let us.

Sometimes I am absolutely amazed by other people's memories. It is interesting to hear what they remember, what was salient to them.

This evening I was chatting with Hubbs. Apparently he was occasionally nervous about me working as a social worker. I think because of this "fear" he remembers a lot of the stories I would tell him from work. Several of them I had forgotten, including this gem that had me laughing when it happened and had me laughing tonight. The story does not involve me, but a co-worker. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent and my legal responsibility as a social worker. We called all our clients consumers since they were mental health services consumers.

Consumer: Can we have sex?
Social worker: No, we have a professional relationship.
Consumer: Can we have professional sex?

Dirty Diaper

Well, things are pluggin' along around here. Hubbs has 2 more finals for this semester, and then we get a nice Summer Break. We CAN'T wait!

Bubba has become quite active in the last week. Almost like he was waiting for his 1st birthday. He just loves to be on the move now. He runs all over the place. He is beginning to learn how to walk on different surfaces too. With the nice weather we have been blessed with we have taken a lot more trips around town to have. Every Tuesday we meet a bunch a friends at the park to play.

Starting this week, I will begin watch a friends 2 youngest children while she is at work. I will have them at my house on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I am sure it will be a challenge at times, but I think the kids will love it. (I actually think I am slightly crazy for thinking this is doable)

SweetPea has been her silly self. I am always amazed at what she comes up with. Although recently it was a little gross. In the kids room it has been smelling a little stinky and I haven't been able to figure out why. It has been this way for over a month. I have been looking all over for a misplaced wet diaper with no luck. The smell wasn't overwhelming; Hubbs couldn't even smell it. So I figured it must be something I was imagining. Anyway, the kids and I were getting ready for preschool on Monday. It was at our house, so I was getting the kids dressed. Bubba LOVES to open drawers and remove all the contents. SO the desk in their room has little in it. So he opened a draw and I found a wet Pull-up in the drawer. I was so glad to find the "problem," I threw the pull-up away and put the drawer in my room to clean out later. When I went back to the kids room Bubba had pulled out another drawer, and it had two more wet pull-ups in it. So I threw them away and stacked that drawer on top of the other one already in my bedroom. I am not exactly sure why SweetPea decided the desk drawers were a good storage place for wet pull-ups, but I am guessing she thought it was convenient. It was pretty funny.