Scary Days

So last week my baby boy wasn't feeling well. Initially I thought he was getting a cold, since my older three weren't feeling 100% either but unfortunately it was not just a cold. He was cranky and crying and he was running a fever of 38.9 for hours. I had given Tylenol but as soon as the Tylenol wore off the fever would be back with a vengeance. 

I took him to our doctors office which also has a paediatric walk-in as well. As soon as the paediatrician saw him he told me to take him to the ER ASAP.  I was freaking out.  Being a mom of four and doing the ER thing with all of them, you would think I would be a pro but alas no. Each time is just as scary and disheartening. 

I got home and got my hubby to drop us off as the parking costs at the hospital are outrageous. I was immediately taken right away and by this time his fever had reached 39.  He was so tired but not sleeping well obviously. The doctor came in and started a work up right away. Urine and bloodwork and all his vitals. His temp reached 39.4 by the time they gave Tylenol. He was such a trooper get the IV line in. We waited what seemed like forever and then my hubby showed up. He had our friend watch the other 3 so he could come to the hospital with us. The doctor came in to tell us that his urine was clear and they were still waiting on blood. The next doctor we saw was the paediatrician who decided that my little man needed to have a spinal tap done as he was irritable and just not happy. That was honestly the hardest thing I have ever had to watch my kids go through to date. I just wanted to hold him and tell him it would be alright but I had to wait for the test to be over. We were admitted and he was started on a few rounds of IV antibiotics that deal with a few different things since they had no idea what was wrong with him yet. 

The next four days at the hospital were horrible. I wasn't sleeping and neither was he. Nurses coming in every 4 hours to check his IV or sooner if the stupid thing started beeping.  We had to wait for all the results to come back.  The first test to come back was the urine.  It was positive for a UTI, which is very common in little boys under 12 months I have come to find out.  So another change to the antibiotics and a trip to the ultrasound to make sure everything was okay with his kidneys, which thankfully they were fine.

Next we find out that the spinal tap they did came back positive for enterovirus which turned into viral meningitis for my little man.  Thank god it was viral and not bacterial.  It turns out that my older three had this virus which causes headache, fever and vomiting which explains every one of my older kids symptoms.  Unfortunately for little man, he got it worse than the older three as his immunity isn't quite as good as theirs.

This whole episode with little man has been an experience to say the least.  I am thankful for the best the husband a woman could ask for.  He stayed at home with my oldest son while he was throwing up and never complained once, he took care of the other two and made sure they got to school and fed them all.  He came to the hospital as soon as he could and he even made a trip back one night as his son was not happy and wouldn't sleep for me or any of the nurses.  He got him to sleep and then went back home to get some himself.  He helped get us through a really rough few days and for that I will always be thankful.

During all of this, I really found out what and who are important in my life.  My friend of many years came and stayed with my other 3 kids so my hubby could come and be with me and his son and believe it or not, my ex took the kids as much as he could as he was working, to help us out so that my hubby could be with us. 

I am glad the whole ordeal is over and that we are all happy and healthy again and all is well in my world once more.  It really does go to show you that when the going gets tough you know who you can count on.