Where to start...

I've started this blog in my head dozens of times over the past 2 weeks but then got too tired to type. Our baby got sick, so sick in the early morning hours of December 13th. Cal woke us at 4:30am on Sunday morning crying. Jeff and I had been at a wedding the night before and had only been in bed for a few hours. I remember being a little bit annoyed when I saw the lights flash on his monitor, lying in bed, waiting for the crying to subside. But it didn't. It got louder. I went into check on him and he was curled up in a ball at the edge of his crib. I fished for his pacifier in the dark and patted him on the back to calm him. He was so warm. We rocked for a few minutes before I laid him down on his changing table to take his temperature. This only caused him to writhe in pain and then he began to gag. Jeff was at my side at this point and we sat him up, upon which he proceeded to vomit on Jeff's arm. I assumed the stomach flu had finally hit our home so I gave him infant Tylenol to lower his 102 temp, laid a towel in between Jeff and I in the bed and patted Cal back to sleep.

By 8:30am, we were all awake and Cal would not stop whimpering. He did take a bottle earlier in the morning but he could never get comfortable. We called the pediatrician exchange line and they told us to continue with the Tylenol and to call back if he stopped having wet diapers. Jeff and I took turns passing him back and forth, hoping that one of us would have the magic touch. I cradled him in my arms all morning with a cool washcloth on his head, wishing it would provide some relief. By noon we both knew that something we was wrong. Jeff called the exchange line again and they told us to go to a pediatric urgent care.

At the urgent care, they looked in his ears for infection and swabbed him for H1N1. Negative and negative. The nurse practitioner could tell we were exhausted but told it was probably something viral and to set an appointment with Dr. Z, our pediatrician, in the morning. As we were getting our parting instructions, we decided to change his diaper. I laughed when I saw Cal start to pee right as Jeff opened his diaper and apologized to the nurse practitioner for messing up the examination table. She didn't seem to hear me but was watching Cal urinate on her table. She looked at us and asked "Does he always pee like that"? Jeff and I were completely confused, not sure how to answer - "Yes, it pretty much looks like that when he pees". Seemed like a stupid question at the time. I was at the end of my rope and wanted to go home, not talk about my son's potty habits. She told us to wait, she wanted to do one more test. She thought it was weird that he when he did his business, it kind of just dribbled out and didn't shoot up in the air like most little boys. Whatever. All we had was time, no sleep and a sick baby that was getting close to bottle time. Sure lady. Do another test. The NP came back into the room with another nurse and catheter bag. She told us to hold him tight and proceeded to insert the catheter to get a urine sample. Cal was none too pleased. They hustled out of the room only to rush back in minutes later to tell us he had a UTI. The NP almost seemed breathless with her discovery and said that they had already checked with our insurance. We had our choice to go to Children's ER or St John's Pediatric ER. We decided on St John's since Uncle JP had some pull there and could probably get us in and out without much fuss.....

So off we went. Cal had calmed a bit after a dose of Motrin at Urgent Care. We were met by the most wonderful ER doctor, Dr. A, who told us that she was instructed to give us "VIP treatment". This day was finally looking up and Jeff and I could almost see nap time in our future. We went through the same round of questions that we had answered before and would answer over and over the next 11 days - "Does Calvin have any allergies? Has he had any surgeries? Are his vaccinations up to date?" On and on and on....

The ER wanted to start an IV to hydrate him in order to get another urine sample so the poking began. They tried 3 times before successfully placing the IV in his hand. Then out came another catheter test only to not be able to catch urine...another H1N1 swap up the nose....another catheter test a half hour later...a needle stick to draw blood samples. As soon as we would calm Cal, out came the needles again. Jeff needed a break so he left for a bit around 7pm and Cal was nearly asleep. I sat in the ER room and rocked my poor, sick baby. He actually seemed a little peaceful at this point. Then his eyes popped open and he started to shake. His hair stood on end and he stared out into space. He sucked on his bottom lip, the bright red being the only color in his face. I started to panic, believing he was having a seizure. At that moment, the doctor walked in and said they were going to do a spinal tap because they believed he may have meningitis due to his super high white blood cell count. She could see the panic in my eyes and told me he wasn't seizing but that his fever was spiking rapidly, causing the strange reaction. The nurses and doctor took him from me and laid him on the table on his side, in a position that looked like a side crunch. Cal's whole body turned red as he screamed. Due to the urgency of the situation, they did not have time to numb him before the needle went into his spine. The doctor handed me a box of tissues before I even realized that I was crying for the first time that day. They took his spinal fluid and she talked as she drew it, telling me that it looked very clear, not cloudy like it would if bacteria had set in. If it was meningitis, it was in the early stages. Immediately after that ended, Jeff entered the room. He could tell I was a mess. I was so thankful that he didn't have to see what just happened. Cal was calm at this point as we talked to the doctor about being admitted. By 9:30pm, we finally made it to our hospital room, or to what would be our new home for the next 10 days.

To be continued....