On Friday I was nursing a lot, which makes sense because kids have a growth spurt around this time. I was crying a bit urgently and mom thought it was a sign that I wanted to eat a lot for the next few days. At one am Saturday, she changed me and was going to move me into a position to nurse, but she thought I felt warm. Vie walked in the room right then. Mom took my temp and it read 102; the cutoff for emergency attention at my age 100.4. She sent Vie to get Dad, who said when he took it three times my temp was reading "one hundred point four". Since it was right on the line, they decided to wait and see if it went up or down or stayed the same. Mom explained that one hundred point four was right when you should get your kid checked. Twenty minutes later, Dad said, "Nope, it's still one oh one point four". Mom sat straight up and said, "You mean one hundred point four?" They had been miscommunicating. Mom had a scary tone in her voice and told Dad to get Vie ready right away because we were going to the ER.
When they first took my temp it was 99. Mom was so glad, saying they were just terrible at taking temps. The nurse said no, if you got a rectal reading of 101 he had a fever which could read lower because he just pooped. They started drawing blood and running tests. The doctor said she recommended a spinal tap to test for meningitis just so we could all sleep better and then she would send us home. Mom and Dad looked at each other a minute and decided to do it. It hurt. Daddy took Vie away so she wouldn't worry so much about me. Mom stayed by my side and talked to me and comforted me when it was done. The doctor came back and mom was ready to get things wrapped up when she told us that my white blood cell count was elevated and I did have meningitis. We were admitted to a room on the third floor at about 7am.
Mom whispered to Dad that she would hold it together in front of Vie but that she was terrified. He nodded quietly like he does. It was a long 36 hours of IV antibiotics, three different kinds, while we waited for cultures to even find out if it was bacterial or viral meningitis. It turned out to be viral from the enterovirus, which is very common in the summer months. My fever stayed down on its own and we were sent home Sunday in the late afternoon. I am so glad to be home and back to normal activities of fussing, looking around, smiling, cooing, eating, and pooping.
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| Vie at around 3am at Wolfson's Children's Hospital with her mickey mouse gloves on |
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| Atlas in an arm board for his IV |
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| In the room where he would stay for 36 hours. They gave him the gown with pink animals so people kept calling him "she" |
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| Vie loved the car in the kids' area of the hospital. |
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| Mommy and Atlas on the couch where she would camp out in his room for 36 hours. |
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| Unc and Atlas |
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| Napping while waiting for the doc to sign the discharge papers. |
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