Sick baby

Let me just start by saying - I love love love being a mom...but it kills me when my baby is sick!

Our poor little babe had to go to the ER today. He started acting a little weird yesterday evening...a little more fussy than normal, but not too bad. Then, when it was time for his last bottle before bed, he lost it and screamed uncontrollably for 30 minutes straight...it seemed like he was in pain but we weren't sure if it was his mouth from thrush or his tummy. Nate finally got him to eat a few ounces before he fell asleep. This morning Graham woke up his normal self - he ate and then took his typical morning nap before daycare. When Nate woke him up to change his clothes and get him ready, he lost it again and was completely inconsolable for 45 minutes to an hour...again, seeming to be in pain. I called his pediatrician and took the first available appointment which wasn't for another 3 hours. Graham, thankfully, calmed down again so Nate spent the first half of the day at home with him. (We actually met at urgent care b/c we weren't sure we could wait the 3 hours but when we arrived and opened the truck door...there was just a smiling baby. Odd!) So, we made the decision to wait for Graham's appointment so he could see one of his pediatricians instead of a random doctor. 

The plan was to meet at the pediatric clinic and I would take him to his appointment and spend the afternoon with him so Nate could get some work done. While Graham and I were waiting for the doctor to come in, he started screaming again. The doctor came in, looked him over and then sent us downtown to Blanks Children's Hospital ER - she was afraid that there might be a kink in his intestines because he would scream and then be fine, scream again and then be fine. 

So, as calmly as possible, I got Graham downtown as quickly as I could. Nate met us down there and we got checked in. We changed Graham into his tiny hospital gown and met with the doctor. They started us out by taking x-rays of Graham's tummy. When those came back fine they sent us to get an ultrasound. I have never seen Graham sit so still - it was bizarre. (He did try to "help" the ultrasound tech though...he kept putting his hand on hers as she worked. :)) After that we were sent back to our room for more waiting. When the ultrasound came back normal they decided to give him a catheter to take a urine sample. At the end of our 4.5 hour stay in the ER, Graham's urine sample led the doctor to believe that he has a urinary track infection - very uncommon for babies, especially boys - due to the high level of white blood cells they found. They are going to keep monitoring the urine culture to determine if that is in fact what the problem is. In the meantime, they gave us a prescription antibiotic for the UTI and told us to keep him on Tylenol until his fever comes down. We were also instructed to contact Graham's pediatrician for next steps on a workup to see why this could have happened.

It was a rough day for our baby - and for us - but he has been medicated and is sleeping. Hopefully when he wakes he'll be feeling more like himself. I'm so used to seeing his big smile and kicking legs...it's difficult to see him any other way.

Waiting for the ultrasound

Extra snuggles to make the baby better