Baby Brother in the hospital…

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It’s crazy how life throws curve balls and things can change in an instant. There were fun blog posts planned on the calendar for this week, play dates with friends, projects to do around the house… and it’s all come to a screeching halt, as I sit here typing this from our local Children’s Hospital. Baby Brother was admitted last night after a trip to the ER! babybrother_hospital1The good news is that he’s stable and oh so much better than when we arrived. But, we’re here for at least two days. This is new territory for us!

What happened?

Obviously, this is the question that everyone’s been asking. The full explanation is a little long. The short of it is that he has a nasty infection, spiked a high fever (105.3 to be exact), and needs to stay in the hospital to be monitored because of that.

Here’s the longer version for those interested in medical jargon & the exact stuff that’s been going on. With Mr. Mom Endeavors’ my biology background, we get pretty into the full biological & medical explanation of it all! 😉

So, behind the scenes, my “mom endeavors” this past month have involved a bunch of not fun stuff – especially with Baby Brother. It’s been a really rough month for this little guy!!! It all started about a month ago when his mouth looked “off” one night. It got worse quickly and within a few days his mouth had sores, looked like the skin was sloughing off, and he could barely eat or drink. He also had sores on his whole diaper area. A trip to the pediatrician revealed that he had a terrible-sounding virus (but totally common in little ones) called Herpangina (related to hand, foot, and mouth disease). From start to finish, that took almost 10 days to clear up. Poor bubba, it was awful!!

The sores in his mouth were totally gone and the diaper area improved a lot. But, then, within a few days, his whole diaper area was flaming red. We tried to treat it at home with all the usual diaper remedies to no avail. Yes, you may have guessed it…an epic yeast infection. The yeast seized the opportunity to prey on his weakened immune system in the area. And, prey on the area it did–his whole little diaper area was covered. It finally mostly cleared up by this past weekend, which allowed me to notice the fact that his right bottom cheek had a red spot on it that looked sort of like a welt or bug bite. It was worse by the next day and hard! UGH!

Because Monday was a holiday, we didn’t have an appointment with the pediatrician until first thing yesterday morning. By that point the hard, red area was large. And, he had been running a fever on and off for a couple of days. The pediatrician was notably concerned, started him on antibiotics, and told me all the things to watch for (& when to go to the ER immediately). By last night, Baby Brother was miserable. All day he would not put any weight on his leg and was screaming any time we moved him in any way. I was a nervous wreck thinking about how serious it could get and my “mommy instincts” just told me not to wait any longer.

And, thank goodness I listened to those instincts, because when we entered the ER his temperature was 105.3 degrees and his heart was racing! (Then, I promptly started crying). I can’t really recall the last time I’ve been so scared, upset, worried, nauseous …literally freaking out on the inside. We finally saw the Dr., got a plan, and everything started getting better for him (and me 😉 ). Listen to your instincts, moms!!!!! It could have been really bad had we not brought him in when we did. Blah…tears!

What now?

They lanced the infected area last night in the ER (we were allowed to watch and that was crazy)! Then, admitted us to the hospital on iv antibiotics. His vitals are better, as is his personality and temperament. He didn’t even cry at all through tonight’s wound dressing change!! But, we are here until multiple things happen…

  1. The fevers go away and his temps regulate on their own (so far we’re looking pretty good on this one).
  2. The infected area looks better (unfortunately, it’s still hard, still looks really bad, and the area has spread – so not good on this one).
  3. We get the cultures back. They’re doing a blood culture to see if anything shows up there (let’s hope not) and they’re culturing the fluid from the abscess. Obviously, they want to rule out any really nasty like MRSA. And also, by finding out what bacteria it is, they can tailor the antibiotic he gets to that particular infection.

So, we may go home tomorrow, maybe Friday…or maybe even after that. We’ll shall see!

How did it happen?

Apparently, these abscesses (or boils as a lot of people call them) are really common in little ones like this in the diaper area. The ER said they see them all the time (though Baby Brother’s is particularly nasty because it’s SO big). These infections are especially common when that area has been immuno-compromised (like from other infections). So, clearly, after the rotten month he’s had, he was a prime candidate since his whole bottom had already been dealing with so much. 🙁 Poor baby!!!!  photo(27)So, this little guy & his mama thank you for all the prayers, well-wishes, questions, concerns, etc.! Hopefully things will get back to normal soon!

And to all the parents out there…listen to your instincts and do NOT wait to be seen when infections are involved. Things can get bad, fast!

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I’m Sara, a mom to three adorable boys living in the Arizona desert. As a former teacher, I love sharing my passions with others. So, have a look around for creative inspiration about cooking, creating, celebrating, traveling with kids, and more everyday mom endeavors!

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18 Responses

  1. ooh you poor mama! Major kudos for listening to your instincts and taking him in. So glad to hear he’s doing a bit better now and hoping he’s doing ALL better soon.

  2. Poor little guy! And how completely terrifying for you. I’m so sorry your little guy has to go through all this. Prayers for a healthy, happy boy soon. And yes, it is amazing how much we take health for granted.

  3. The poor little guy!
    I had two boys, there is nothing worse than your little guys being that sick!
    Your family will be in prayers
    May your whole family be comforted and your sweet little heal completely!

    LeAnn

  4. WOW Sara, what a scare for all of you. When I read about the fever being so high I got scared. Luckily I never experienced that one with the boys. I will be praying for a speedy recovery and all home safe and healthy VERY soon. Sending big hugs…

  5. Hoping things are improving fast! Keeping you and family in heart and prayers. You are a smart Mama and in tune with your Mom intuitions and instincts!! Way to go!!

  6. So glad there is a plan. I think not knowing is the worst. We had a situation on a long drive that ended with us having to find a hospital in unknow territory for our then 10 mo. The time spent looking for the hospital is time I will never forget and never want to relive. Hope to hear he is out sooner than later!

  7. This is so scary! I’m glad he’s gettng the help he needs! It’s so hard to listen to our instincts when we live in a culture of wait it out and see and “You’re overreacting mom” comments… You did a great job of seeing he needed help!! I remember K had HFM disease around baby brother’s age! So hard to watch them in pain!

  8. Oh my gosh!!!! How scary!!! Hugs and prayers from our family to yours. I hope he heals quickly and you all get some rest soon.

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