I called my Dad to tell him that he didn't have to come that afternoon, and he offered to stay with a sleeping Caleb while I picked up Joshua from preschool, which was nice. Caleb slept a good part of the morning, and I was productive with school work, cleaning, laundry and a lite work out, which is still making me sore in my gall bladder region. Ugh!
I put Joshua down for his nap after preschool and got ready to go teach classes. Poor Caleb was sick throughout the evening and poor Shawn had the same cleaning duties I had had all day long. :( I asked Shawn about wet diapers, which Caleb continued to have and I asked my hubby to dig out the Pedialyte so we could start giving him teaspoons full. Since I had already been through this once with Joshua, I knew that the key to our baby's survival was staying hydrated. Caleb took the syringe-full that Shawn gave him. He's been intrigued with the syringe ever since we gave Joshua his medicine that way. But, with the taste of Pedialyte (we were told it takes worse than ocean water), soon Caleb didn't want it. So, we put it in his sippy cup. And we'd take it away after a couple swallows. Pretty soon, he was vomiting that. And he continued to throw up all night long. We got up in the middle of the night for me to clean up Caleb and snuggle him while Shawn threw everything in the washing machine and change his sheets (I'm so thankful for a helpful husband!). It was a looong night. At one point, I thought about calling the on-call pediatrician, but I decided to wait it out until morning.
When I did call, they told me the first available appointment was in the afternoon at the North Point office with a doctor I don't care for. I told them I would drive to the Lititz office if they could get me in sooner, and they gave me their earliest of 11:20 with Dr. Hoshauer, one of my favorites. I continued to try to give him sips of Pedialyte. His diaper was dry that morning and his tears were gone. He also barely had the energy to wimper, and when I put him down to get dressed, he immediately collapsed to the ground. I knew he was sick, and I was worried. We had prayed for him fervently the night before, but I began again. In fact, before tucking him in bed, we all laid hands on him, including Joshua. Joshua started the praying "Fank you, God, for making Caleb feel better and not spit." Then after we had each taken a turn praying for Caleb Luke, Joshua said "Can we pray for Josh now? Sure!!!" He was so sweet and missing the attention after a long day of us worrying about the baby and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning you-know-what.
Grandpa agreed to come watch Joshua so I could take Caleb into the doctor's office. Dr. Hoshauer was running behind, but I'm used to that. She takes her time with each patient, so she's often running late. She finally came in half an hour late and told me he looked 'pathetic.' He was shaking, and she thought that may be from his low blood sugar. She said she thought he needed to go to the hospital, but she could give him anti-nausea medicine and try pushing the Pedialyte harder. I told her that I had been praying for him and I wanted what was best for him. If that was the hospital, I was okay with that. She said "Go now, and don't stop until you get there. There's parking that says 'admissions 15 minute limit' - ignore the limit and park there. Get him there immediately." She told me she was glad that I was okay with the hospital because he was so sick, he really needed to be there. Some parents are offended by the idea - ???? I just wanted what was best for him! (But, you can pray that we don't get any outrageous bills, too, while you're thinking of it).
I called Shawn on my way out the door, telling him that Caleb & I were headed to the hospital. I then called Mom to see if she could watch Joshua later that afternoon. Shawn went home to relieve Dad, feed Joshua lunch and get him down for his nap. Then Shawn came into the hospital and Grandma came to stay with the Bean. Shawn went back home and picked Joshua up at 5 pm so Mom could go to Bible Study. They came in then to visit with Caleb. The nurse told me that older siblings are allowed and actually encouraged since they're often worried about their younger brothers and sisters and the younger ones miss them. Joshua said "Caleb is in the Hossed-Dibble" and Shawn & I smiled. By the end, Joshua was saying hospital correctly, but the first couple times he said it, we thought were adorable. They left just before 8 pm to get the Bean in bed at home and I arranged for Mom to take Joshua to and from preschool in the morning.
Meanwhile, when I first got to the hospital with a fairly limp and lifeless Caleb, I met a resident doctor and a nurse who took the information on Caleb. Then the 'real' doctor came in. LGH no longer has Roseville Pediatrics going in to see their patients; rather, they now have their own Pediatric Doctors who are there 24/7. Dr. Hoshauer said they are from Dupont and really good. I first met Dr. Bridgeman, who I really liked. He looked so young that I thought maybe he was a resident, too, but no, he was the 'actual' doctor. He said it's rare to see vomiting without diarrhea. And since Caleb had been saying 'ow' and 'ouch,' they would likely run some other tests. The nurse that did his IV was impressive - she got him the first time! They did blood work and were going to take a urine sample, but the bags wouldn't stay on. After the third try, they just gave up. He also said they may do an ultrasound to make sure everything looked okay and there weren't any obstructions or anything like appendicitis. That made sense to me because everywhere we had been, Joshua had been other than them having separate classrooms at church. Josh is typically the one with a weak immune system, and Caleb's is normally really good. If one child gets sick and not the other, it's normally the oldest rather than the youngest.
But, Dr. Bridgeman left within an hour or so and a colleague of his came in. The bloodwork came back with his white cell count a little low, which they said could come from a virus. His sugar looked okay, and everything else was pretty normal other than him being dehydrated. So, they gave him the first major bollis (sp?) of IV fluids along with anti-nausea medicine through the IV. When he hadn't gotten better, they gave him a second round of both, which the nurse said they typically don't do but he was severely sick. From there, they went down to 'maintenance' fluids through the IV that night. But, Caleb still wouldn't eat or drink. They gave him a 'clear liquid' diet, so on his tray came broth, jello, italian ice and apple juice. Eventually he took a few bites of orange jello but then turned his nose up at it. The one student nurse we had came in to listen to him all the time - it literally seemed like she was in there after five minutes. She was driving me crazy. She also didn't take his temp right - I overheard Caleb's 'real' nurse telling her how to do it, but I saw that she wasn't doing it the same way. She would press the button before the thermometer was in his ear. So, while he felt warm, she kept reading his temp as low. Ugh! I was glad when she eventually went home, which allowed Caleb some time to rest. I understand that students need practice, but I think that someone should also monitor how often people are going in to look at the patients. He really needed some rest and he was really, really grouchy from not feeling well and missing his nap and being poked and prodded, etc. I've never seen him so irritated.
Caleb did better overnight than I expected. He didn't want to be held, but he kept getting tangled in the IV, which I would think would be painful. At one point, the nurse came in and said his cord was around his neck but he was breathing okay. She fixed it (this was the same nurse who had done his IV). Another time he woke me up screaming and he was pulling on the cord and it was tight. I got him untangled and noticed his diaper was down around his knees along with his jammies. He had finally started wetting his diapers! And this one was full! I changed his diaper and re-adjusted his beautiful pink jammies and tucked him in with his blankey that Daddy had brought from home at my request. I also gave him a hospital blanket and he finally fell asleep. I think it was around 4ish at that point. I had seen every hour come and go. Finally at 6:30 I got up and went to the bathroom. He heard me get up and got up himself. I went outside to get an apple at 7 am from the breakfast cart, along with one of the most heavenly chocolate chip muffins I have ever eaten in my life. When I came back, he said "Boo!" I figured he was feeling better. I smiled. But, he wanted my food and the doctors said no. Ugh!!! He said "apple, please." Poor kiddo!
That morning, they took his IV out. Hooray! I knew that was a good sign, meaning they thought that he'd get to go home. He was also completely puffy, with his eyes nearly swollen shut from the fluids. Throughout the day, though, he continued not to eat or drink. I told the nurses that came in (mostly student nurses, though) it was probably what they were offering him. He doesn't drink juice at home and doesn't like broth or jello or any of that stuff. I said "I've never seen him turn down Cheerios." I finally decided to cancel class for that afternoon. It's so early in the semester that I hated to cancel, but there was no way I'd leave Caleb and it didn't look like he was going to be released any time soon.
The second doctor that we had seen the day before (can't remember his name, but he looked a lot like the old guy from 'Back to the Future') came back in and woke Caleb up from his nap at 2:30. I told him the same thing, and he responded "yeah, I don't like jello either. And babies aren't like adults. They won't eat something that they don't like just because it's the only thing offered. He'll wait until we give him something he enjoys. So, give him Cheerios or whatever you think he'll eat. There's no limits anymore. He's just got to eat and drink or he won't go home. Sometimes with little ones this could take a few days." A few days?!?! I hadn't been able to get any rest, and that room is tiny. Caleb finally wanted to be up and play and there was no where to go, and I only had a few small diaper bag toys. That same doctor ordered more IV fluids since he hadn't been drinking or eating. So the nurse came back in and hooked him back up to that dreaded machine.
Grandma took Joshua to get his second H1N1 vaccine that afternoon. Both boys had been scheduled for it, but I canceled Caleb's and asked Mom to take Joshua since I knew it was important. When they were done, they came into the hospital. I immediately went and got Caleb some Cheerios while she was in the room with the boys. Both boys gulped them down. Then Caleb started to drink some juice mixed with water - he was thirsty from eating! I also ordered him a dinner other than clear liquids - chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots (typically Caleb's favorite), applesauce and a dinner roll. He ate half a dinner roll (Joshua ate the other half), half the applesauce (again, Bean ate the other half), and half a chicken tender (Joshua ate the other half). There was plenty more food there, but Caleb was done and didn't want any more. I thought he did really well considering he hadn't eaten anything in days and had just ate a really good amount of Cheerios before that. Joshua ate the mashed potatoes and neither of them wanted the carrots. Daddy & I each ate a chicken finger as our dinner. Daddy had just come in, and Grandma left then. We had put on the "Up" movie for the Bean, and he was begging for Sesame Street, which wasn't on yet.
I took Joshua home with me to watch TV while I showered, just in case they decided to keep Caleb overnight. I didn't think they would, but I couldn't stand being grungy anymore. Daddy, in the meantime, stayed with the baby, who was feeling better since he had eaten. It felt wonderful to come home and shower, have a new set of clean clothes, put on deodorant, brush my teeth, etc. Within an hour, we were back at the hospital. And they told me that they were releasing Caleb. Shawn said right after I left, the doctor came in and saw Caleb playing and giggling. They also heard that he had eaten and said he could go. Hooray! It was a few hours until they did the paperwork, but we were home by 8 pm.
I gave Caleb a bath (after all, he had been vomiting, then in the hospital, etc.) and gave him clean jammies and put him to bed. He was happy to be in his own room and crib. Joshua didn't want a bath, and we were so tired, we didn't fight with him. He got jammies and we tucked him in. By 8:30, we were in bed watching a little TV before I turned out the light and went to sleep myself... pretty much getting the first rest I'd had in almost 72 hours. Shawn, meanwhile, went to watch the Presidential State of the Union Address before coming to bed. I didn't even hear him. I was exhausted.
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