I haven't worked a full day since last Monday and have done
at least 20 loads of laundry {blankets, rugs, towels, clothes, bedding, etc.}, & my kids have logged roughly 40 hours of TV time! I earned a few new mom badges by catching puke in my hands and spending the night in the hospital with a kid for the first time…
Tuesday | I got a text from the sitter that Cullyn had been acting 'off' all morning and woke up from his nap with a {low} fever. So I left work and grabbed them.
Wednesday | I had an appointment in the morning, so Adam stayed home with the kids. At 8a, he text saying Cullyn just threw up on him. So, after my meeting & photoshoot, I came home. Adam went to work and I stayed with them that afternoon. We restricted him to the BRAT {Bananas, rice, apples, & toast} diet with Pedialyte and lounged the rest of the day. He acted pretty good. Extra cuddles, and he would tire easily and rest often, but didn't seem too sick.
Thursday | Our sitter text again saying he wasn't himself and had diarrhea. So, I left work early again and took Cullyn home. He had diarrhea, but was acting pretty good. Again, he would tire easily, but was playing fine.
Friday | Jordyn had preschool and then Art Class, so I dropped Cullyn with the sitter for a few hours. I text her to see how he was doing and to see if J & I had time to grab lunch and she informed me he was okay, but still not himself. So we grabbed lunch to go and headed to pick him up. When we got there, he was acting a little lethargic and stopped drinking. So, on the way home, I called Dr Metts {a pediatrician I work for} and he said as long as we could get 5-10mL of fluids in him every 10 mints, we could avoid getting fluids from the Emergency Room since he hadn't . He fell asleep at 12:30 {while I was talking to Dr. Metts} and when Dr. Metts called back at 3p to see how he was doing, I told him he was still sleeping. He had me wake him up and try to get him to drink. He was still refusing, so he had me get him to the ER. So I woke Jordyn up and took the kids to the ER, fully expecting to get a bag of fluid and be home by 6p or so.
We got in right away. They applied numbing cream {to four areas} of his arms for an hour. Adam had arrived by the time they started an IV & fluids, thankfully, so I didn't have to hold him down. Luckily the nurse was great and got him on the first stick, despite his dehydration. We spent the next couple of hours walking the halls, at Cullyn's request, waiting for the fluids to run their course. Around 7p, they decided they wanted to do an x-ray because he still didn't seems settled. I took him to radiology and they got 2 photos. About a hour later they said they were doing to admit us because he had an obstruction in his bowels. At this time, I told Adam to take Jordyn home {who hadn't even had dinner yet--she was SUCH a trooper at the hospital!} and I would stay with Cullyn overnight.
About 9 we finally made it to room 388 on the Pediatrics Inpatient floor of Mercy. We got settled, met our nurses, etc and started to wind down for the night. Cullyn got to bed around 10 and the Nurse Practitioner on shift came to talk to me. She was recommending an NG {nasogastric} tube through his nose down to his intestines to relieve the gas/fluids. Since he was passing gas & sleeping at that point, I {talked it over the the NP, Dr Metts, another pediatrician I know, & Adam} made the call
not to go through with the 'procedure'. It seemed a little invasive and we were having a hard enough time keeping his mind off of this IV tube, I couldn't imagine trying to get him to leave the nasal tube in. We were up every hour that night {for about 30 minutes each time by the time they checked his vitals and I rocked him back to sleep}.
Saturday | Around 5a he was up for the day, but we couldn't leave our room until 6a {they have 'quiet time' from 10p-6a & 2-4p}. Around 8, Adam, Jordyn, & Adam's parents came to visit. The resident rounded and gave us the official diagnosis of ileus {a blockage of the intestines typical due to a virus}. We were given the okay to start clear liquids around 10a {I think}. My in laws took Jordyn home for lunch and a nap. Since the liquids were staying down, we started a regular diet around 2p {again, I think--it's hard to keep track of time in the hospital!} At this point he hadn't had a stool since 1a on Friday morning. We were warned that we would probably have another night in the hospital since they wanted him eating & drinking {peeing & pooping} normally before we left. Considering I logged
at least 5 miles of hall walking by this point, I was pretty defeated with that news. But, we wanted whatever was for Cullyn {obviously} and didn't want to go home to turn around and come back, so we embraced the news. We tried so hard to get him to take a nap, but it just wasn't happening. Every time we got him to sleep, someone came in to check on him and woke him up again. Luckily, Dr. Eggbalackin understood how difficult it was keep a 2 year old corralled in a hospital room and approved our request to monitor him from home as long as we closely monitored his fluid intake. So, around 7p {I think?} we came home. He was happy to be home {he'd been asking all day!}
Sunday | We skipped church, opting for a relaxing day at home. All was well, until 7p, when Jordyn threw up. Ugh! We put the kids to bed and made arrangements for me to be home {again!} with Jordyn today.
Is it summer yet?! :)
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Man alive, I have no idea now parents do it with terminally ill children. We barely survived 24 hours with the help of friends and family. It truly takes a village to raise children and we were reminded of that yet again this weekend. So many thanks to my in laws for stepping in to help with Jordyn, and my sister & bil for the visit and offering to take Jordyn if we needed it, to our good friend J&J for offering many times to help with Jordyn, Murdock, or me! :) And to our sitter, for stopping up to check on our little Cully man! Biggest thanks of all to the team of nurses, students, residents, & physicians that helped get Cully back on track. Huge shout out to the Ronald McDonald House foundation who held a nightly meal at 6p and offered to launder our clothes {amongst other things} during our stay. I think we've found our March Pay it Forward project! :)
