An eventful...and unpleasant....few weeks

Ok, let me see if I can recount all of the unpleasant events these two babies have experienced in the last couple of weeks.

It all began on Monday, September 21, when Allie awoke with a runny nose and fever. Well, actually, she had a fever on Saturday and Sunday prior to that, but it was a low grade fever and wasn't really interfering, so I thought she was likely just cutting some new teeth....I was wrong! Back to the story....So, we decided to keep her home from school on Monday, and about mid-morning she poked at her right ear and started saying "Ouch, ouch". Uh oh...we all know what that means. I called the pediatrician, got her an appointment for that day, and sure enough Allie is diagnosed with her first ear infection. We pick up our 10 day course of antibiotics (yes, the lovely pink bubble gum flavored amoxicillin that we all know and love), and we head home. Within a couple of days, Allie feeling better, but she still has a runny nose on Wednesday, so we keep her out of school again. No worries by the following week though. She's back to normal and back to school....and still on her 10 day course of antibiotics. On Thursday, October 1, Allie finishes her antibiotics and all is well.....but not for long! By Sunday afternoon, the 3rd, Allie is running a fever again and is fussy. Is the ear infection back? Were the antibiotics not strong enough to clear it up completely? Monday morning, Allie awakes with a fever of 102.7 and a stuffy/runny nose....YUCK! No school for her again :-(

So, back to the doctor we go. Normally I wouldn't take her to the doctor for a fever and runny nose, but given the previous ear infection and all the H1N1 flu going around, I thought we better head back to the doctor. This time, the ears are all clear and there is no sign of obvious infection. Diagnosis: probably a viral illness. Give Tylenol/Motrin and make sure she drinks plenty of fluids. Oh, and let's not forget, keep her away from Will as much as possible and wash, wash, wash our hands a lot. We certainly don't want Will to catch this viral infection "because any baby less than 8 weeks of age that gets a fever must go to the hospital!" Note: Will is only 6 weeks old at this point (did you catch the foreshadowing here?).

Tuesday and Wednesday are not so bad. Allie's fever and runny nose are pretty much gone, and she's acting pretty normal other than being a little bit clingy. On Wednesday afternoon, Allie goes to Granny's house to spend a few days/nights so that we can keep her away from Will in hopes that he has not contracted the viral illness and she'll have a chance to fully recover without passing it to him. On Thursday, the 8th, while out running errands, I notice that Will feels a little warm. I take his jacket off of him and feel him again after a few minutes....he's still warm. He's also been moaning while sleeping, sleeping a bit more than normal, and spitting up more than normal, but nothing so striking that I would have suspected anything was wrong. We drop the errands and head straight home to grab our handy thermometer. Wouldn't you know it....a temperature of 101. Lovely. Now what? Oh, and let's not forget Allie: she has a low grade fever again, a runny nose, and is whinny/clingy.

I call the doctor and they make an appointment for Will within the hour. I just happen to see the same doctor that I saw with Allie 4 days earlier. She reminds me, very politely, that he's so young that he will have to go to the hospital for evaluation. I know, I know. She does a quick check of his ears and chest and all is clear. She warns me that when we get to the emergency room, they will likely draw blood and collect urine for some initial tests. If those are completely normal, then they will likely send us home because he is so close to 8 weeks old (he's 7 weeks, 2 days at this point). If there is anything concerning in the bloodwork, like an elevated white blood cell count that could indicate an infection, then they will likely admit him for 48 hours and continue with testing....a lumbar puncture (also known as a spinal tap)! Ugh....I knew that was coming, but I didn't want to hear it. So, the doc calls the ER to let them know that we are on our way.

We arrive at the ER and David meets us there. His temp is still 101, so it was no fluke. A couple of hours later, the testing begins. The little guy went through so much (with his Daddy by his side while Mommy retreated to the waiting room to cry). He had his blood drawn, was catheterized for a urine sample, had a chest x-ray, AND had a lumbar puncture! He was a trooper, although those little eyes sure were red from lots of crying :-(

After 5 hours in the ER, we are told that all tests are normal and he likely has the same viral illness as Allie. We should take him home, make sure that he drinks lots of milk (ie...Mommy gets to wake him for frequent bottles in the middle of the night!), and take him back to his doctor tomorrow (Friday) for a check. Whew....we finally made it out of there!

Back to the doctor we go on Friday. He still has a 99.9 fever, but is acting pretty normal aside from a little fussiness. He's still drinking his milk, tinkling, pooping, etc. His exam is still normal. So, we're told to just do more of what we are doing. Tylenol as needed, drink plenty of milk, etc. A fever associated with viral illnesses is usually gone within 5 days. If he still has a fever of 100+ by Tuesday (tomorrow), he has to go back to the doctor.

I'm happy to report that Allie is all better! She even went to school today (finally!). Will is still running a low grade fever of 99+, but it hasn't reached 100 since last Thursday, and he seems to be acting his normal self. Hopefully we are all in the clear and on our way to happy, healthy babies again!

Nikki