Poor little Ella has had a pretty hard week. On Wednesday November 30th, I notice Ella was really hot. I knew she must be running a really high fever but I didn't have a thermometer. I decided to take Chris to work that day so that I could have the car in case I needed to take her to the doctors. So at 6 am we loaded the kids into the car and took Chris to work. Thankfully there is a 24 hour CVS pharmacy right by our house so I stopped by to pick up a thermometer and infant Tylenol. I checked her temperature and it was 102.4, I knew that wasn't good. I called the doctor as soon as they opened and they scheduled to see her at 2 pm. So here I am with 2 little ones at our first visit to the doctors out here in Virginia. Ella is so tired and crying, Lincoln is screaming, then crying, then throwing himself on the ground, and I just can't wait for the doctor to come in and send us back on our way. Doc comes in and checks out Ella and since the only symptoms she is showing is a fever, the doctor wants to do a blood test (which I don't mind. I'd rather be overly cautious than sorry). The nurse comes in and pricks Ella's finger. She had trouble getting much blood so she tries again. By this point Ella is crying so hard and on top of that she is so tired and hungry. They test the blood but think there was an error so they come back for more blood. This time it was a heel prick. Results are the same and it turns out her white blood cells are more than double what it should be. Something about normal is around 15 and hers are around 38. Meaning there is some type of infection her little body is trying to fight off and now we just need to find the source of the problem. The doctor was very concerned and told me to drive straight to the ER and that she already called them to be expecting us. I feel so overwhelmed with two screaming kids, I have no way of contacting Chris, I have no idea where I'm going, and I hope my baby is okay!
I made a few wrong turns but I finally made it to the hospital and they see Ella immediately. There are four nurses and a doctor surrounding her and a stream of questions being asked to me. They check her temperature (still 102). They insert a catheter to collect a urine sample to check for a UTI. They do a nasal swab to check for the flu. Then chest x-rays are done to rule out any infections there might be in there. Then they scare me with wanting to do a spinal tap to check for any other infections. Before they do that they want to take more blood to test that out also. My little 12 pound baby has already had it hard when they start searching for blood. The nurses prick the top of both her little feet and ankles, both her arms in four places and still can't get a vein. They were able to get an IV into the top of her hand but no still no blood (I don't know how that works). Poor Ella is crying so hard, it looks like her eyes are going to bulge out! And Lincoln is still strapped in the stroller screaming and crying. I stand back and let the nurses do there thing while I try to entertain Lincoln. Once the IV is in they let me hold her and she goes right to sleep. She's been so tired from the beginning. Now Chris is out of work and I was finally able to get a hold of him and one of his buddies gave him a ride to the hospital. While Chris and Lincoln go for a walk and get some food, the ER doctor comes in and is talking to me about transferring Ella to a children's hospital about an hour away to spend the night. They still need to do blood work so a nurse comes in and tries to draw blood from the IV again and nothing. Another nurse comes in and pricks her other heel to squeeze blood out, all while I'm holding my little baby looking into her sad eyes. It broke my heart. After about 4 hours, the doctor comes in and says they found bacteria in her urine, I shout "that's a good thing!" Yes, because now they won't to a spinal tap and the can treat the problem. No because this could lead to permanent scaring of her kidneys. He sends us home for the night and tells me to return to Ella's pediatrician in the morning.
Another early morning driving Chris to work. 11 am I take Ella to her doctor and they want to give her an injection of the antibiotic. Her thighs aren't "meaty" enough so they decide to divide it into two injections, one on each leg. Once that's done, we have to wait around for another 20 minutes just to make sure she doesn't have an allergic reaction. (I have Lincoln with me and he's throwing a fit while Ella's crying). We get sent home with a prescription and order to get an ultrasound of her bladder. I get a call later that night from a nurse telling me that they also found bacteria in her blood. That does not sound good! I have to take her back to the Hospital to draw more blood. It's Friday night around 7 pm so I pick Chris up, drop him and Lincoln back off at home then drive Ella straight to the hospital. The whole way I'm praying that they find a vein on the first try so that she doesn't have to suffer too much. My sweet little girl, she's always so calm and happy in my arms. I lay her down on the table and she locks into my eyes. I can tell she knows what's coming. Two nurses come in and and the call for back up just in case they can't find a vein. First try and they found a vein! I pick her up right away and she falls asleep immediately. Time to go home and get some rest. On the way home I pick up the prescription and it's the wrong one. The pharmacists insists it's right so I just take it and leave. The next morning I call the doctor about the prescription, and sure enough they gave me the wrong medication. Good thing I didn't give it to her. I go back to the pharmacy and pick up the right one. Later that night I got a call from the ER doctor and he wants me to use a different prescription, so now I'm off to pick that one up and it's a week of meds for her.
On December 15th Lincoln and Ella both have their well baby visit. They took another urine sample and everything seems much better with her but she still needs to keep her ultrasound and VCUG appointment. Monday the 19th we head off to the Stafford Hospital early in the morning. I'm told it will be a four hour visit so I came fully prepared with lots of snacks and toys for Lincoln. First, an ultrasound of her bladder and kidneys. Then under the x-ray machine for the VCUG. The procedure consists of inserting a catheter up into her bladder and they slowly dispense a fluid into her bladder that can easily be seen by the x-ray machine. Once her bladder is full, the doctor watches to see what happens when she urinates. It was as they suspected, When she pees some of the urine goes back up (reflux) exposing her to urinary infections and she could possibly need surgery to fix that. Ella's pediatrician wants to see her again the next day to take another urine sample (via catheter) and explain things to me in person. She said it rated on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the worst and definitely needing surgery. Ella's case is so mild, they rated it at a 1 (phew!) and said in most cases like this it will resolve on it's own but she might have to be on medication in the mean time. So next month we will be seeing a Urologist who will look further into into her ultrasound and x-ray pictures and tell us where to go from there.
My little Ella has been such a trooper through this whole thing. She is still full of smiles. I'm so thankful that everything is turning out to be just fine and I constantly pray that she will continue to grow strong and healthy! (and my lillte Lincoln has been so great too)!
