The Exciting Eppersons: In the Hospital

We had another first for our family this past week. We had a child in the hospital. Liam was put in the hospital because he was sick. Daniel hasn't been sick enough to go to the hospital but Liam helped us achieve this goal that we didn't want to accomplish.

Last Tuesday we noticed that Liam was being extra fussy and his stomach was really hard. He was also pretty pale. Then we found out he had a slight fever. We called the doctor and made an appointment for Wednesday morning. I took him in and the doctor tested for the flu, strep and RSV and they were all negative but he did have a fever of 100.9 at the pediatrician so the doctor sent us to the ER. When we got there they took his temperature and it was 99.0. They weren't as worried but since it had been higher they wanted to test him for meningitis and a UTI anyway. It is also protocol to observe them for 48 hours when they've had a fever so we had to stay. They did a spinal tap (results were negative), a catheter for a UTI test (also negative) and he also got an IV put in so they could give him antibiotics. I hated watching them put the IV in. They had some issues finding a vein and he was just crying and crying. Then he just looked so sad during the spinal tap. I picked him up and snuggled him every chance I got and he would calm right down and cuddle up to me. He just looked so scared and confused. I hated it! It broke my heart to know he was sick and in pain.

So we were in the hospital for Wednesday, Thursday and most of Friday. He officially had no fever Wednesday night but we still had to wait 48 for the blood culture results and its just protocol for a fever to monitor for that period of time. The worst part was that he didn't want to lay on his back. So the first night we just took turns trying to sleep while the other person sat up and held him so he would sleep. It was also hard though because they had to come in and give him the antibiotics every 6 hours and take vitals more frequently than that. I'm sure his back hurt too from the spinal tap. The bed we had to sleep on was a joke. I'm sure it wasn't made for two people. We found out the best way for both of us to sleep was my head at one end and Mike's head at the other. Thankfully Mike's mom came and sat up with him the second night so we could get some sleep. We were very grateful to her for doing that for us!! That night though Liam would lay in his car seat to sleep so at least we didn't have to hold him all the time.

We also had a nice view of the valley at night. It was nice to just sit and stare out at the view and watch the sunrise. We did have a great night nurse, Ryan, who took great care of us. She was so sweet and got us anything we needed. Liam showed her his appreciation by peeing on her Friday morning :)

We also had a wonderful nurse during the day! Her name was Iggy. She was the best nurse and checked on me all the time and also sat in the room a lot just to talk to me and keep me company while Mike was at work and I was by myself. My parents also came on Thursday to keep me company and hold Liam to give me a break and also so I could rest.

I absolutely hated seeing my baby boy in pain and being sick but I'm grateful that it wasn't anything more serious. Being in the pediatric unit and hearing from parents who'd been there for days and weeks with children and not knowing if they would get to go home made me grateful that we were only there for 2 days and that I have 2 healthy boys. I'm also grateful for sweet nurses who take such great care of the families that have to come to the hospital.