Hospitalization #6, Day 3

We're back. Did I mention that we left the hospital? We went home July 17, last Saturday, at about 11 pm. On Wednesday I went back to work. I had clinic in the morning (a new clinic I'm just starting for breastfeeding support, yay!) and in the afternoon I had a hysterectomy scheduled. Fortunately, there were 2 very capable senior residents operating with me, because half-way through the case, I had to run out of the OR and throw up in the garbage can. Also fortunately, one of my colleagues was available to come down and supervise the rest of the case. (My patient did really well, no problems, thanks a million to everyone who helped!)

I went home, and Pete was in bed, moaning. I crawled in next to him and whimpered a little myself. Pete's sister Penny and her husband Frank were staying with us to help with Annie and Lively, so while Lively napped, Annie enjoyed some aunt and uncle adventures. Well, she did for a few hours, until she started throwing up. And then Penny started feeling sick. And then Frank. And then our babysitter texted us to say both her kids were throwing up.

Twelve hours later, Annie was good as new, although the rest of us were gulping ginger ale and dragging ourselves from bed to the TV, where Annie happily enjoyed a day of videos. I slept most of the day, because I had been the least sick of all the adults and so had been up all night with Annie the night before. By 24 hours, we had all mostly recovered.

Pete and I assumed that Lively was the source of this. We thought that he had probably picked up something at the hospital or at a doctor appointment, and he had vomited quite a bit more than usual Tuesday night, and was better on Wednesday, so it seemed to fit. We all recovered enough to have a birthday party for Annie and Lively on Saturday July 24. Lively seemed a little tired and fussy during the party, but he took a long nap and was OK when he woke up.

Sunday morning around 5 am, I woke up to Lively throwing up. This isn't terribly unusual. However, this time he didn't settle down, but just kept emptying his stomach. His feeds were going into his intestine, and he seemed only to be losing stomach acid, so I didn't worry too much about dehydration. Two hours later, however, when there was no sign of the vomiting subsiding, we decided, reluctantly, to take him to the emergency room. I hated to do it, because I knew they would admit him, and I still thought we could keep him hydrated at home. We switched his feeds to Pedialyte, and Pete packed a bag while I cleaned up Lively.

By the time Pete was ready to leave with him, just a short time later, I considered calling an ambulance. Lively didn't look well at all. He was whimpering, gagging, and no longer opening his eyes or looking alert. He responded to us stimulating him, but sluggishly. Pete rushed him to the hospital, and only after getting quite a lot of IV fluid, Lively woke up and smiled at us. When we got there, he looked like this:

Lively is doing much better now. He's well-hydrated and feeling OK. He's not vomiting any more, but he's still having a lot of diarrhea, so we're still in the hospital. His feeds haven't been restarted yet (maybe today?), so my chubby little boy is shrinking before my eyes. Perhaps he'll get so hungry, he'll eat a sandwich!

Here's Lively today, feeling more like himself:

Perhaps later I'll write about how I feel like everything that happens to Lively is a side effect of some other intervention, and how I wonder if he would be a walking, talking, eating boy at home right now if we'd just left him alone. I also want to write about how I just found out that a little girl whose blog I've been following who also had infantile spasms died very unexpectedly a few days ago. I don't know this girl or her family, and her story is quite different from Lively's, but obviously, they have quite a bit in common. I found out about Samantha through hopefulparents.org, and her mother's blog is here. I am devastated for her family. I'm going to go hold my baby close now, and never let him go.