Two days & Two Nights

Well I haven't been around much. Life has been ... well interesting. We went from this...

To this...

When I came home Tuesday afternoon I noticed that Kiley was starting to feel a little warm. I checked her left foot (the foot she complained hurt) and didn't see a thing. So we watched a cartoon with her and then noticed her right foot, specifically her big toe had a nasty look to it. It was swollen and purple and angry looking with a large streak running up her ankle. I knew something was off.

We sat in the waiting room at the clinic for 45 minutes, and another 15 in the exam room. By the time they came in she was starting to look worse with another streak and the toe swelling up more. The doctor said it looked infected and gave her two shots of IM Rocephin... poor baby about went through the roof. She kept falling asleep and she was so restless.

So they told me to give her an oral antibiotic and call if the lines got worse.

But when we got home I didn't feel comfortable with that advice. I checked her temp and it was 103.7 under her arm. I called again and the hospitalist agreed... there was something more going on and they wanted to admit her.

I felt a little silly driving up there... she seemed pretty good. A little sleepy but she was watching Tangled and enjoying it. She walked in her little pink socks into the castle and talked to the Security Guard who got us checked in at 8pm.

When we got into her room she immediately got into the bed and snuggled in her blanket. Then she checked out the chair, window seat... We talked her into getting her blood pressure checked and her O2 saturation done... weight. height.

The hospitalist who admitted her told me that it was very good that we had brought her in. That the rash looked like staph. They wanted to start iv antibiotics and fluids. By this point she was starting to go more down hill. Thankfully they have a special procedure room where they do blood draws and IV's. She sat on my lap while the nursing coordinator and two other nurses worked on getting her IV in. Kiley was such a big girl, she was so feverish and out of it but kept saying "uh huh' to everything we told her.

I don't remember a lot about that night, only that I was afraid, and Kiley was extremely restless and sick. I hardly slept between keeping her comfortable and from being afraid... and poor Christopher whom was miserable from having his shots earlier that day. (yes he came with me)

The nurses were wonderful and kept a close eye on my little girl. We watched a few movies as she snuggled on my lap with her warm little body. Eventually we had to put pads on the bed rails because she kept thrashing her body around so much that she hit her head. The poor thing would get tangled up in her IV so badly that I could hardly leave her because I was afraid she would pull it out and we would have to get another one.

The next day she came around looking quite a bit better. The other hospitalist decided to switch her antibiotic to Vanco, a more powerful antibiotic to help her fight the infection. He explained that the rash and the way her body looked indicated that the infection was systemic. Meanwhile the nurses helped me with Chris, holding him when I needed to be with Kiley for procedures, rocking him to sleep and holding him when Kiley needed me. I'm very grateful to them all for making things much easier. They even had a little swing and bassinet for Chris to hang out in.

 She began to improve with the antibiotics and fluids... we had visitors and thank you to everyone for the toys, coffee, muffins and the company. It made her stay (and my own) much easier. Her appetite is still taking some time to return and she has her moments of feeling clingy. The toe is looking a lot better but we need to do baths three times a day and antibiotics twice a day... She has another appointment on Monday to check in with her and Chris has an appointment on Thursday... so they never end!

One thing I have learned through all of this... never second guess your mommy instincts. I knew something was wrong and got a second opinion. Was her infection serious? Yes... she could have gotten very very sick from this with how quickly it spread... in fact she could have died. It scares me to think that I even considered not calling... not bringing her into the hospital. But thankfully she is doing well, and back to her Kiley self :)

It was probably hardest for these two to be separated... Kara was extremely sad leaving her sister and escaped Tom twice to get back to her. It made me cry... what a neat sister bond these two have.