Change of Plans

Just as we were counting down the days till Disney World, we had a slight change of plan.  Last week, Cam had to go to the doctor for bronchitis and an ear infection.  So, on Sunday when Maeve started running fever, I thought this meant she must be coming down with the same thing.  Her fever was strange in that one minute she was playing just like normal and then next, she was burning up with a really high fever.  So, on Monday morning, I called the doctor's office to make an appointment for her that afternoon after I was finished with school.  (I have quite the luxury with mama keeping my kiddos in that I can send them to her when they are sick and are running fever). 

Mama sent me a message at school and left a message on my phone that I might want to get an earlier appointment because she was trembling and jerking with her fever.  I bumped up the appointment to early afternoon and was going to leave early to get her there on time.  Then mama called the school to let me know that Maeve's fever was 104!  By this time, she had already called Laura to get medical advice.  Laura told her to put her in a cool tub of water.  So, I called the office back to let them know what was going on. They told me to bring her ASAP.  So, Moo and Doo loaded up sick Maeve and Cam (who had had to come home earlier from school due to coughing that led to throwing up) and met me at the doctor's office.  I know we all looked frantic busting into the office with the whole family and a week-eyed little girl. 

Dr. Murthy gave Maeve the once over, checking the normal places first...ears.  They are the usual culprit for a sick Maeve.  Ears, throat, nose, and chest were all clear.  He then proceeded to do a flu test on her, which came back negative too.  His conclusion was that she had a viral infection that would have to run it's course.  They only medicine that would help was to alternate Tylenol and Motrin every three hours.  He said viruses usually last about 72 hours.  So, at this point, we still had about 48 hours to get through like this.  Selfishly I brought up the fact that we were planning to head out to Disney World on Saturday.  He assured me that she should be well by then. 

Monday night was uneventful except that I was giving her medicine around the clock for her fever, and she still had a fever.  She slept right between us so that we could be close to her and feel her burning up body at intervals throughout the night.  Tuesday was round-the-clock meds for fever and her appetitie started to fade.  Which for anyone who knows Maeve is a sure sign something is wrong!  The fever wasn't as high going into Tuesday night so I didn't set the alarm to give her medicine, but when my alarm went off, I could hear a crackling sound in her breathing that hadn't been there the night before.  So, I gave her a saline breathing treatment while she still slept, wrote down notes for Mama to have throughout the day. I was hoping this would be her turn-around day.  However, I found myself making another appointment after checking with Mama and learning that she was very lathargic throughout the day.  Mama said that pretty much all she had done that day was sleep and lay on her.

When we got to the doctor, she still had fever, and had these eyes that would make anyone feel sorry for her.  While waiting on Dr. Murthy to come in, she fell asleep in my arms.  That was very atypical as I am usually having to entertain while we wait.  He came in and checked her again.  Then he said, "She is dehydrated.  I want her to go to the hospital to get fluids, run some blood tests, and have chest x-rays."  I guess I was holding out that a magic antibiotic would make her better, so when he said this, I couldn't hold back the tears.  It wasn't an ugly cry, but the tears just streamed down my face as I listened to all the directions and dressed her for our drive across town.  He said that she would probably be able to go home the next day.

Our Sleeping Beauty (blue gown, blonde hair and all)

When we got into the car, Maeve was very quiet and seemed to be drifting in and out of sleepiness.  I had to stop and figure out the best way to the hospital before heading out.  Then I sent out a text to most of my urgent contacts and called Tony.  Of course, he wanted to know what to do, and I didn't know so I told him that I would get back to him after I thought about what "the plan" should be. 

We made it to the hospital and my sweet girl was just content to sit in my lap while we signed in.  We went into room 3614 and the process began.  Luckily Aunt Laura arrived and calmed me down and told me some things to do that I had not thought of (oh the wisdom of a big sister).  It wasn't long before they wanted to start her IV.  She put up a strong fight, but eventually gave up and let them work.  When we returned to the room, Tony was there. I could tell he was very nervous for his little girl.  She perked up a little for her Daddy, but soon fell right back to sleep.  Soon after, they came in to take her down for x-rays.  This was a long process through which she just slept. 

Trying to feel better

When we finally got back into the room again, Maeve decided that she felt a little better already.  She was playing in her hospital crib and didn't notice the iv too much at all.  We told her it was medicine (something she is very familiar with).  It was looking as if the fluids were doing the trick. All of the bloodwork showed nothing to be alamred about, so we were still just treating it as a mean virus.  After awhile Daddy had to leave to go be with Cam so his whole world wouldn't be turned upside down.  Being the "parent" at the hospital was something not-too-familiar to me.  It still felt like one of my parents should be sitting with me.  We made it through the night, even after one of the night nurses convinced me that it would be fine for me to crawl up in the crib to comfort her.  (Talk about a cramped space...and hilarious for anyone who was fortunate enough to witness that sight!) 

If I could just get rid of this thing, I would be outta here!

The night brought with it more fever and low oxygen levels.  So, upon daylight, they gave her breathing treatments and started a low flow of oxygen into her nose, which meant another tube attached to her.  This made the shift from bed to rocking chair to bed and back again very tedious.  Later that morning the rsv test came back positive, so she was put on isolation.  Dr. Murthy came by to check in with her and cautiosly asked me about our trip.  I think he was afraid I might let the floodgates open again.  He told us that it would be best if we rescheduled it because she would not have her strength back by departure time.  This was a sad realization for me, and I was heartbroken for little Cam who had been counting down the days for a whole month. 

Playing with Playdoh makes anyone feel a little better

Maeve just felt miserable, and there was not a whole lot I could do to comfort her.  Her usual food comfort was not doing the trick as she pushed away anything that made contact with her mouth. Moo came and helped us out as much as she could.  We finally got a regular bed instead of the crib, and she lay beside me in it.  The iv monitor kept going off and kept her from drifting off to sleep.  Luckily we requested Barney Christmas movie and that held her attention and kept her content until naptime.  She slept for a solid three hours.  In the meantime we found out that she also rotavirus as well.  Both cause dehydration and  high fevers.  This finally made since why she was having such a difficult time shaking this:  it's because she was being hit with a double whammy!  Dr. Murthy told us that she would probably not be going home until Saturday, which was, ironically, our originally scheduled day of departure. 

Passing the time with a good book

Thursday evening I went home to grab a few more things for our extended stay and to see my little guy who was struggling without his mama.  Maeve perked up for Tony and Laura, who were there with her.  She colored and played with her stickers and was taking care of her own baby doll.  Thursday night she had more fever but did not cough nearly as much as she had the night before.  She definitely rested better.  



Busy making something



She got up Friday morning after sleeping past 9:00, and was raring to go.  She must have walked every inch of that hospital room with the iv pole following her.  She was showing her Irish temper a bit too when she felt the least bit restricted by that pole not being able to reach the spot where she wanted to go.  She played with playdoh and even ate a few bites of her breakfast.  Tony got off early to help me contain her in that little room.  We watched a couple of Barney's that day and had our fair share of Elmo.  I never realized pushing the nurse call button to request a movie would be a necessity! 

When Dr. Murthy arrived that afternoon to check on her, I think he could see the wild in her eyes.  He was excited to see her up and about and doing her normal toddler things.  He said he thought it may be best for her to go home to rest tonight instead of staying another night in the hospital where it's hard to get rest.  He said this didn't mean she was 100% better, and that the possiblity of her having to return was not unheard of.  My ears perked up at the thought of being able to go home.  He told us that she would need to be at home for atleast the next three days because the R & R were extremely contagious viruses. 

Pigtails help to perk up anyone

So, our eventful week is now coming to a close.  I have been the juice and diaper police all weekend, writing down all of her inputs and outputs so that I can share this with Dr. Murthy on our Tuesday visit.  I couldn't think of a better time to have a week off.  We are hoping to accomplish the real R & R while we are at home.  And although we are not where we thought we would be this time last week as we were looking forward to our little Disney vacation, we are very thankful to have been at home for all of this.  We will look forward to taking the greatest kids on earth to the greatest place on earth once we are all in our greatest health!

Scrubbing off all the hospital germs before heading home