Emerson's Hospital Visit

On Saturday night, Emerson started acting like she didn't feel good...wasn't eating very well, crying a ton, screaming a lot, etc. Then, Sunday, we realized she had a fever. I called the doctor and she said to bring her in right away. So, I brought her to the E.R. at Children's Hospital while Zack stayed home with Zane. When we got there, her temp was up to 101.9. The doctors had to do 3 tests...first a catheter to test urine, then they had to take blood from a vein. They tried one hand, then one foot, and then the other hand before they finally found a vein that worked. It was awful to watch!! Then, they had to do a spinal tap. For that, the doctor told me I needed to leave the room because it would be too bad for me to watch. Poor baby. They did get it on the first try, luckily. After all that trauma, I finally had a chance to feed her and comfort her. She ate and relaxed, but then ended up throwing up her whole meal. The burp cloth was literally dripping with milk!!

They had to admit her into the hospital for a urinary tract infection (kidney infection) for 24 hours to give her antibiotics through an iv and to watch and be sure her bacteria and infection didn't spread to her blood or spine. They kept checking all the blood cultures that needed time to develop. All of those tests ended up being negative, thank goodness. The best part of the hospital stay was one nurse who came in every time after I fed her and swaddled her and put her back to sleep for me. Also, all the free diapers. :) They sent her home the next day with an oral antibiotic and although she threw it up the first day, she's been taking it since.

Now they want to schedule another test to see if her kidneys are working right because they are worried about why such a little baby got such a bad infection. Let's hope that it was a fluke and not something with her kidneys!

Check out the cool hospital gown! They wrapped her iv in tons of tape and a wash cloth so she wouldn't scratch her face.