There's a word for ya.
That should sum up the past two days quite nicely.
After another suspicious escalation of vomiting episodes and a steady decrease in successful feedings, we have returned with Ava to Arkansas Children's Hospital. We brought her to the emergency room after her the last voiding left her seeming too helplessly lethargic to second guess the seriousness of the situation. It shocked us terribly to see her anterior fontanelle (that is, the soft spot on the top of an infant's head) had begun to sink in -- a frightening sign of dehydration we recognized from Ava's previous hospitalization. In an instant, our discussion turned from making an appointment with her pediatrician in the morning to how many changes of clothes to pack.
It's like having an old injury that lets you know there's a storm rolling in before a raindrop ever hits your windshield. No more second guessing. Don't wait for the watch before the warning. Just go.
So we went. And after the all-too-familiar flurry of blood sampling and terrified crying jags, little kittenhead was admitted.
The suspects are:
PNEUMONIA. There's some milky cloudiness in her lungs. It could be attributed to aspiration of milk or puke, or it might be the community acquired variety. Or a little from Column A, a little from Column B. Either way, her oxygen saturation was in the eightieth percentile when measured during triage. She's been on O2 since she arrived, and that seems to be giving her a bit more pep in her
wiggle.
RANDOM INFECTION. She was first suspected to have a urinary tract infection (which I know from experience can mess you up ten ways to Sunday), but when her lab cultures came in later today, we found it wasn't so. She's currently on intravenous antibiotics intended to throw a net over quite a few possible problems. You could compare it to killing mosquitoes: best to swing wide with a tight racket and eliminate many than to nail one or two little suckers with a swift narrow bat, I guess.
FOOD ALLERGY. An intolerance for certain formula can make a baby's body go off like a firecracker soaked in gasoline. Just ask my husband, who projectile-vomited for six months of his life before his folks were able to locate a mix his body could tolerate. Poor lil' feller.
THE MYSTERY OF THE BOWELS. Like Lord of the Rings, but more with the preciousness.
Seriously, this is the one we're most acutely concerned over. In my heart of hearts (and I use that phrase, but exactly how do anatomically locate such a thing?!?), it disturbs me to draw a correlation between her current symptoms and those she exhibited before we discovered she had a strangulated incisional hernia back in mid-March. I knew better than to wait for the pea soupy stuff to make its inevitable entrance into this new digestive drama. We came when it first turned neon yellow. Maybe we're learning.
This is the most frustrating part of this diagnostic puzzle to me -- it's like having an extra piece that obviously belongs, yet doesn't fit for nothin'. I can't shake my suspicion that something is amiss in there, even if her initial X-Ray showed that her bowel gasses looked normal, and no blockage was observed. Just the way her stomach contents were ejected...*shudder*. Mommy's having 'nam-style flashbacks of watching her decompensate last time....
So until we know what kind of game we're playing, and against whom, I'm going to respectfully ask that there be no well-intended visitors to her hospital room. I promise to keep you all awash in updates and pictures. We simply can't risk someone carrying some hitchhiking nasties in on them and causing her to fight another battle before we've come to an understanding about her initial one. I'm sorry if I black out any other forms of communication over the next few days. She needs me, and she owns more of my loyalty than social media does. I'm sure you understand, Gentle Reader.
I will leave you with these Happies:
Ava Leigh could see that Mommy's had a rough day....
..so she offered me a pull on the ol' Wubbanub.
M
And while Mommy went to make a lap and stretch her legs, the sweet nurses introduced her to the marvelous entertainment of CARTOONS! She was captivated.
Her first one was Curious George. Then she graduated to Cinderella.
I'll consider it Princess Training.
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