Scary time

Most of you already know that recently, (the weekend we met baby Will, actually) Addison came down with a persistent virus. She was fighting it off as she normally would for a few days, only showing signs of a low grade fever and diahrrea, but still as active as normal - until she took a turn for the worst and became severely dehydrated after throwing up eleven times in one day, not even keeping down water.

We took a trip to the emergency room, where she received two bags of fluids and IV Zofran after becoming very lethargic and unresponsive, having a blood sugar of only 49. She was so out of it that she didn't protest to any of the procedures. She was slightly better, with her sugar back up to 150, and was discharged from the ER about 1:00am. We went home and all three of us slept all night and me & Addison slept in the next morning.

Watching Dora on the iPod to pass the time in the ER

She was still pretty lethargic in the morning, not wanting to eat, watch tv, sit up, or even open her eyes. At her follow-up pediatrician visit that afternoon, her sugar was still low and she had not perked up enough to satisfy the nurse practitioner, so we were sent immediately to be admitted straight to the pediatric floor for observation and more fluids and tests.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we saw Dr. Baxter almost immediately, and she was concerned about some of the labwork results from the ER, which showed signs of pretty severe dehydration. She ordered more labwork, fluids, and meds. Addison remained lethargic at first, but then she became intrigued with pressing the buttons to make the bed go up and down. Then she started making odd requests for food, when she hadn't eaten a meal in two days. We ordered her supper, which was very simple because her diet had been downgraded until she showed improvement, but she ate a good bit of it and started to perk up. Dr. Baxter even came back by to tease Addison about getting better just by walking into the hospital.

Then came the bad part - they had to place a new IV. In the ER, the nurse had placed the IV in the elbow bend part of her right arm - and got it on the first try. Addison didn't even flinch, just yelled "Ow" when it happened. That was not the case this time, as she was feeling well enough to scream and cry and the nurse didn't have as much success this time. It was so painful for me and Jason to watch helplessly and hold her as she screamed and cried as she was poked and prodded too many times. The poor baby fell asleep as I held her between the second and third (and thankfully final) attempt to place the IV in her tiny hand. I don't know who was more distraught, her or us. But thankfully we all survived and went back to the room to watch movies and rest. Preacher Jerry & Ms. Gail came by to visit just after the IV was placed, followed by Blaine. Addison wasn't much up to talking or interacting, but she watched Aladdin and Beauty & The Beast.

The next day started with more bloodwork at 4:00am, which wasn't fun, but wasn't nearly as bad as the IV placement the day before. Addison was a real trooper through all of this. She had a couple of popsicles and then ate grits for breakfast, followed by more popsicles before lunch. Dr. Baxter came by and said that if the labwork showed improvement from yesterday's, we could possibly go home that afternoon, which was exciting. As the day went on, Addison started to get back to her old self, evidenced by not being able to be still, playing with her IV pole, arguing with me, etc. It was so good to see her feeling better, arguing and all! She ate more popsicles and a good lunch and we rode in the red wagon and walked around the halls, looking at all the animals painted on the walls. She-She came to visit and pulled the wagon around. Here are some pictures of her feeling better.

Happy Daddy

Going for a walk

And now a ride in the wagon

With She-She

Watching Leap Frog Pirates on Netflix

She REALLY wanted to push the buttons on the IV machine!

Scheming...one of the signs that she was better! :)

Poor pitiful baby with her  IV hand - she had bruises for a week!

We were very thankful to go home that afternoon, with a "free pass" to come straight back to the pediatric floor should she get worse over the next two days. Addison's labwork had improved and she was feeling much better, so the doctor cleared us to go home with a follow-up at the pediatrician's on Monday. Nanda and Pippy came to visit for a long weekend and gave us all some much-needed rest. Addison missed two birthday parties that weekend, but we were just glad to see her back to herself. She started eating like a horse and we couldn't fill her up! She even ate things that she normally wouldn't eat! She was doing so well that after talking with the pediatrician's office on Monday, they decided not to make her come into the office and she was back at school with her friends the next day. So glad all that is over and thankful that it wasn't more serious than it was.

This is a picture of her falling asleep on the picnic table bench durng supper after Nanda and Pippy left on Monday afternoon - she wore herself out after finally feeling well enough to play on her playset!