many firsts!

So you know how you have that picture perfect idea of how your holidays will go and then it just gets torn to shreds?  Well, that's us this Christmas!!  All three of us have been battling colds for the past week or so and in the past 3-4 days Samantha developed a pretty bad cough.  Thursday, I went to the doctor and found out I have a sinus infection and I went on antibiotics.  Then that night as we went to bed, Samantha started making some funny noises while she was breathing.  I put my hand on her chest and could tell she was struggling.  Chris set up the shower in the guest bathroom for us and Samantha and I sat in the steam for quite a while until her breathing got more regular.  Even still, it was pretty rapid.  In the morning though she sounded better.  We decided to run errands and then put Samantha down for her afternoon nap.  Once she woke up I could immediately tell that she was burning up.  I took her temperature which was 101.3.  She normally is in the 97 range so this was very high for her and she has never had a fever before.  I put in a call to the pediatrician and they called back and said we needed to take her to the emergency room.

We quickly headed out to the emergency room and after talking to my cousin, headed to one a little farther away from home since it was likely that we'd be seen faster there.  We ended up only waiting in the waiting room for about 10-15 minutes so that was nice.  By the time we were taken back, Samantha's fever had climbed to about 102.9.  We got into a room and waited for the physicians assistant to see us.  He did a quick initial assessment and said she looked good but they were going to do an x-ray as well.  I got to go back with Samantha for the x-ray which she was not a fan of.  We then waited and waited for the PA to come back.  During this time they gave Samantha her first ever dose of tylenol.  Finally the PA came back and revealed to us that Samantha has pneumonia.  I couldn't believe it.  He then said they were going to put in a call to a pediatrician to decide what to do.  A bit later he came back and said that Samantha needed to be admitted to the hospital.  Unfortunately the center we were at was just an outpatient facility so Samantha and I had to be transferred by ambulance to another hospital.  Coincidentally we were brought to the one Samantha was born at!!  It's right down the street from our house so that was nice.  While I waited for the transport Chris headed home to pack a bag for me.  Before he left, however, the put an IV in Samantha's arm.  Unfortunately the first stick didn't take and they had to do it again and she was none too happy about that.  Poor baby girl.  She looked so little on the stretcher but she did so good.  The ambulance ride was pretty fun and once we got to the next hospital we got situated in a room in the pediatrics ward.

I went over everything with our nurse and we got Samantha somewhat settled and then Chris showed up.  While he was there to hold Samantha, I attempted to eat a bit and I also pumped since Samantha wasn't eating very well.  I forgot how nice the hospital grade pumps are, lol.  After I was settled Chris headed home.  Thankfully, there was a bed in the room for me and they allowed me to sign a consent form so we could co sleep like we do at home.  It was a long rough night however.  We got no sleep at all.  Samantha was up constantly fussing and the nurse was coming every so often to check vitals.  Plus since she was squirming so much her IV kept beeping.  Around 2:00am Samantha got another round of antibiotics.  At 4:30 we were checked again and then when the nurse came at 6:00 there was a problem.  Samantha had thrown up so I called the nurse to help me and when she came in she started looking worried about her IV.  Well somehow her IV got moved and it was in her arm rather than in her vein.  So for at least an hour the IV had been pushing fluids into her arm rather than the vein.  Poor baby girl.  Her arm was SOOOO swollen and puffy and just hard as a rock.  It was awful.  So, you guessed it, she needed a third IV.  Before we got the IV we gave her another dose of tylenol and right after she threw up a ton.  Somehow though, the vomit was all white (the tylenol was pink) so both the nurse and I were convinced it somehow stayed down.  Crazy!

We ended up getting the 3rd IV in her hand and then she went to sleep for a while since she was just wiped.  At that point, Chris showed up so I could relax a little.  I attempted to nap but the nurse was in and out again.  I was also kind of nervous because Samantha had a wet diaper before we left for the ER around 5:30 pm, then she didn't pee again until around 11:00 pm and that one was hardly damp.  So by 6 or 7am I was concerned that she hadn't gone to the bathroom.  The decided to flush her system and then she rapidly had three wet diapers...one of which was full of poop.  (That one was RIGHT after Chris walked in so he got to change her, haha!)  The doctor came in and said we could be discharged today!  We were so excited.  So now Samantha is on a zpac for the next 5 days and we'll go in to see our pediatrician on Tuesday.  I am so excited that Samantha will get to spend her first Christmas at home.  I hope she has a speedy recovery.