It was just a fever...or so we thought!

For those of you who don't know, our family had quite the adventure this week. Sunday morning, our daughter, Elayna, was running a fever. It wasn't a high fever, but high enough that I planned to take her to the doctor on Monday if it wasn't gone. In the meantime, I decided to call the nurse hotline at my doctor's office to see if I could give her some Benadryl to help her sinus drainage. The nurse told me that Brandon and I should take her to an after hours clinic to be checked out since any fever in a less than 3 month old baby can be serious. To be safe, I made an appointment at Children's for 3:15 pm. At 4:15 pm the doctor poked her head in the door just long enough to explain that they couldn't see us and that we needed to go to the ER! I almost lost it, but as calmly as possible asked if that meant we were going to have to wait in the ER after being there for an hour...she, obviously noting the desperation in my voice, called over and had us taken straight back. The doctor came in to see us and before even looking at Elayna told us that their typical protocol is to keep infants for 48 hours to rule out any major illnesses... again, remember, I just wanted a dose for Benadryl! So, 4 attempts before starting an IV, a lumbar puncture and urine sample later, we were admitted. Apparently being a chubby baby is good, unless you have to be stabbed with a needle! They started pumping her with antibiotics while we were in the ER at which time she began turning red! Apparently they call it "Red Man Syndrome" and it is relatively common...I am not a doctor, but I would have called it an allergic reaction! So, they gave her tylenol and slowed the infusion of the meds...not sure how tylenol helps, but she did return to her usual pink self. We finally made it up to our room at about 11 pm and Elayna finally went to sleep about 11:30...and slept until 7:30am with only one minor waking so she could take her tylenol, then vomit profusely, then the nurse could take vitals. Although we will likely be on welfare after paying the bill, Elayna is home and we are all recovering. The final diagnosis? Febrile illness (rule out sepsis) and possible viral gastroenteritis...funny thing is I didn't even know it was abnormal for an infants gas to be able to clear a room until I realized the second day that her gas wasn't tattooing the air! Well, at least it solved ONE problem...worth hundreds? I don't know, but better safe than sorry! And we did get a t-shirt out of the deal (and a nasal suction thingy that Brandon stole from the ER cabinet!)...
By the way, in a hospital with so many well educated people wouldn't you think one of them would notice how impossibly uncomfortable the "beds" are? It's not even a bed, but rather a chair that pulls out into three uncomfortable, uneven sections that are perfectly spaced so that some bony part of your body is bound to end up on a hard surface...who can sleep on those!?! Thankfully, my dear husband brought me an air matress to sleep on the second night...I was going to have to resort to sleeping in the barbaric jail cell looking bed they had Elayna in if it weren't for him!