We didn't blog about ER visit #3 on Saturday because we've both been trying to focusing on taking care of Bailey and ourselves. Here's the summary - around 4pm on Saturday, Bailey's temperature spiked to ~105 degrees and her heart rate was at 96 beats a minute. The pediatrician's on-call doctor advised us to go to the ER immediately, so off we went to the third ER in five days, this time to the Children's Hospital of Colorado's main campus in Aurora. Bailey and I had been there just 5 hours earlier for her blood work...
We spent the better part of the next 8 or so hours at the ER, mostly waiting and wondering when this whole episode was going to come to an end and we would have some answers. More poking and prodding...actually no more poking (shots) but a lot of prodding...after these additional tests (and a lot of hours of waiting) the doctor provided some more info: the flu strand she has is H1N1, she also has an adenovirus infection, and a urinary tract infection. With another prescription for antibiotics and much more clarity, we headed home around 12:30 a.m.
Since then, Bailey's health has been improving. Two days without a visit to an ER - woot woot!! :-)
Her fever has since come down to just under 100, her sleep patterns seem to be normalizing, her cough and congestion somewhat improving, and her breathing seems to be slowing. Hopefully within a couple days, these illnesses will be just memories.
Jenny and I are running on empty but slowly catching up on sleep, life, etc.
Some lessons and I'll try to stay off the soapbox tonight :-) :
53. All ER's are not created equal - medical professionals, what say you: Is it OK/appropriate to judge a hospital by its ER???
54. That poop face I was talking about in #45...yeah, that could just be her in pain from the UTI. Worst. dad. ever.
55. Single parents, I don't know how you do it.
56. Collecting stool samples...where to begin? I promise to keep it clean-ish. So we're handed 3 bottles in "biohazard" bags. That should've been my first signal...so, we get home from the ER (ER visit #2) and within a couple hours Bailey needed a diaper change. Since Jenny was asleep and not feeling well, I figured I might as well prepare sample number 1. I change the diaper, get Bailey back down and get started. Now, it's one thing to collect a solid or semi-solid stool. It's a completely different story trying to collect a tablespoon of liquidy stool being absorbed by the diaper with every passing second. I open the bottle and bless their hearts, there's a little spork attached to the bottom of the cap.
Now there isn't anything in the picture to put the size of this spork in context. If you look at the nail on your pinky finger, it's just slightly larger than that. And I need a tablespoon at least. I snap on the rubber gloves and begin scraping. Slowly but surely, I start filling the vial but I'm quickly losing the sample to those diaper fibers that are doing their job...oh, and the netting of the diaper and the blades of the spork don't make a great combination. Cue a mental picture...enjoy. Alas, I collected all I could and called it a night.
57. I know that our Facebook friends are VERY interested (read: not even the slightest bit) in what I had for dinner or my stance on gun control, but there is no greater value in Facebook then being able to celebrate the joys and share the burdens that will mark our journey with our community of friends and to be a part of theirs - family, friends, friends from elementary/high school/college, friends that have dealt with children with illnesses much more severe than what Bailey has dealt with, other adoptive families, etc. That, Zuckerberg, is why I appreciate Facebook.
58. Girls scout cookies and frozen yogurt can make a hard week a little bit easier...thanks, friends!
59. Laundry - my goodness, it never ends. Throw up, drool, snot, explosions, spit up, other random spots that mysteriously appear after being in close proximity to Bailey...
60. Despite the surprises that await me each time, I much prefer changing Bailey's diapers over Abby's. Not having to cut a tail hole every time makes it so easy and takes much less time!!
.JPG)
We spent the better part of the next 8 or so hours at the ER, mostly waiting and wondering when this whole episode was going to come to an end and we would have some answers. More poking and prodding...actually no more poking (shots) but a lot of prodding...after these additional tests (and a lot of hours of waiting) the doctor provided some more info: the flu strand she has is H1N1, she also has an adenovirus infection, and a urinary tract infection. With another prescription for antibiotics and much more clarity, we headed home around 12:30 a.m.
.JPG) |
| Some pictures from the various pediatrician & ER visits last week |
Since then, Bailey's health has been improving. Two days without a visit to an ER - woot woot!! :-)
Her fever has since come down to just under 100, her sleep patterns seem to be normalizing, her cough and congestion somewhat improving, and her breathing seems to be slowing. Hopefully within a couple days, these illnesses will be just memories.
Jenny and I are running on empty but slowly catching up on sleep, life, etc.
Some lessons and I'll try to stay off the soapbox tonight :-) :
53. All ER's are not created equal - medical professionals, what say you: Is it OK/appropriate to judge a hospital by its ER???
54. That poop face I was talking about in #45...yeah, that could just be her in pain from the UTI. Worst. dad. ever.
55. Single parents, I don't know how you do it.
56. Collecting stool samples...where to begin? I promise to keep it clean-ish. So we're handed 3 bottles in "biohazard" bags. That should've been my first signal...so, we get home from the ER (ER visit #2) and within a couple hours Bailey needed a diaper change. Since Jenny was asleep and not feeling well, I figured I might as well prepare sample number 1. I change the diaper, get Bailey back down and get started. Now, it's one thing to collect a solid or semi-solid stool. It's a completely different story trying to collect a tablespoon of liquidy stool being absorbed by the diaper with every passing second. I open the bottle and bless their hearts, there's a little spork attached to the bottom of the cap.
Now there isn't anything in the picture to put the size of this spork in context. If you look at the nail on your pinky finger, it's just slightly larger than that. And I need a tablespoon at least. I snap on the rubber gloves and begin scraping. Slowly but surely, I start filling the vial but I'm quickly losing the sample to those diaper fibers that are doing their job...oh, and the netting of the diaper and the blades of the spork don't make a great combination. Cue a mental picture...enjoy. Alas, I collected all I could and called it a night.
57. I know that our Facebook friends are VERY interested (read: not even the slightest bit) in what I had for dinner or my stance on gun control, but there is no greater value in Facebook then being able to celebrate the joys and share the burdens that will mark our journey with our community of friends and to be a part of theirs - family, friends, friends from elementary/high school/college, friends that have dealt with children with illnesses much more severe than what Bailey has dealt with, other adoptive families, etc. That, Zuckerberg, is why I appreciate Facebook.
58. Girls scout cookies and frozen yogurt can make a hard week a little bit easier...thanks, friends!
59. Laundry - my goodness, it never ends. Throw up, drool, snot, explosions, spit up, other random spots that mysteriously appear after being in close proximity to Bailey...
60. Despite the surprises that await me each time, I much prefer changing Bailey's diapers over Abby's. Not having to cut a tail hole every time makes it so easy and takes much less time!!
.JPG)
We brought our son home from Ethiopia in 2010 and he was just plain ill with a lung infection that had likely gone untreated for 6 months. He is now a sever asthmatic. He sleeps with a humidifier in his room. When he is congested or having a rough time sleeping we add an essential oil called Eucalyptus radiata directly to the water(must be a very pure essential oil). Makes a huge difference! Smells nice too! I normally don't share advise like this,but just couldn't resist having been in your shoes in the past. God bless you all-what a beautiful family!
ReplyDeleteHello! My family is adopting from the same country, and I believe with the same agency! I'd love to connect and share our experiences! We are waiting on our referral!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips, Evan! Glad to hear from someone who's been through something similar.
ReplyDeleteJen and Richard - are you guys are on Facebook? If not, please email us at travisandjennyadopt@gmail.com