My worst days as a Mommy yet...

The lapse in my bogging is due to a Mommy Nightmare. This little fam has just returned from a 3 day stay in the hospital.

On Tuesday morning, E felt warm. Hubby and I dismissed it due to the fleece sleepsack she had warn on a warm night, and her general morning snugglebug routine. So, went about our business of the day, running errands and such. When we got home, she was fiery to the touch, and the temperature reading I got was 102.2. Lucky for us, the pediatrician's office hadn't yet closed for the day (it was after 4pm) and they told us to come right in. The temperature they got was even hotter- 104.5!

After a short emotional breakdown, we went home, packed a bag, and checked into the hospital. Because our doctor was on that call, he was with us and was the one to do her spinal tap. Do you know how scary it is when someone says the words "spinal tap" in reference to your 4-month old. She also had bloodwork, a urine test, and got started on an IV of concentrated antibiotics. Check out the pathetic little sock that she had to have to keep her from getting at her IV! 24 hours later, it was looking like her temperature had stablized enough to not be frightening, and the spinal and blood tests came back negative. The urine test, however, showed a nasty infection. Happily, it was sensitive to the antibiotic she was on, so we were looking at a speedy-ish recovery. Her fever hung on another day so we ended up staying til Friday morning, which gave us the comfort of knowing she'd had 3 more doses of the strong antibiotics, and that her temp had been under 100 degrees for over 24 hours. She may have spent her first Valentine's in the hospital, sleeping in what I thought looked like a cage at a vet's office, but she was still our sweet, darling little angel.

We are SO happy to be home. This was the most heart-wrenching thing I've experienced in a long time, but E is definitely on the mend. She'll be on oral antibiotics for another 10 days, and after a clear follow up with the Doc next week, she'll have a couple of procedures to check her bladder and kidneys for any defects that could have caused this. More likely, though, it's just a fluke and we'll never have a scary week like this again.