Well, I do have a legitimate excuse for missing his 3 month mark and that's because Henry got sick. Like really sick. Like we ended up in the hospital twice and spent 3 nights there sick.
For those who don't know, here's what happened-
The day after Memorial Day (5/26), Henry started being fussy, which is very abnormal for our happy-go-lucky, always content baby. I didn't think much of it and couldn't really complain since it was just a little fuss and I'd already gotten three months out of him without any real cries. A few days went by and I thought about calling the doctor, but he didn't have any other symptoms other than just being a bit fussy. That weekend, Cam and I babysat for a family at our church who has 5 kids. 4 days, 3 nights. Henry was still fussy and started to always seem to be sleepy, but we were staying at a new place and he was sleeping in a pack-n-play, there were 5 kids all over him, etc. etc., so we didn't think much of it. He started to have diarrhea around this time, but since he's breastfed, we didn't really know it was diarrhea.
I knew something was wrong when he stopped peeing. They always say to count how many wet/dirty diapers baby has everyday, but who does that? I didn't, until I noticed he hadn't peed all day long. The next time he peed, it was like 2 drops and brown. Bad news bears. This happened a couple times over the next few days, so on Monday I finally called the doctor and they got us in.
Monday, Henry was suuuper sleepy. Like awake for a grand total of 15 minutes the entire day and when he was awake, he was CRANKY and just wanted to go to sleep. Of course when we got to the doctor's that evening, he perks right up and is smiling at her and charmed her into thinking he wasn't really sick. She told us to feed him 2 ounces every hour, or a minimum of 4 ounces every 3 hours in order to prevent dehydration. Let me emphasize that, 2 ounces EVERY hour. At this time, Henry was only waking up once at night to eat, so this meant getting him up every 3 hours and forcing him to eat. In order to know exactly how much he was taking, I had to pump, while Cameron force fed him with a syringe every 3 hours. This is when the vomiting began. He couldn't keep anything down, which was very discouraging for 2 exhausted parents who have been up all night pumping/syringing.
We continued our pumping/syringing throughout the day and got another doc appt set up for that night. We get there and he weighs less than the day before (which was less than he was a month ago at his 2 mo appt) and they sent us to the hospital for dehydration.
They got his IV in pretty quickly and we set up shop for the night. I didn't have to stress about feeding him and we were both able to get lots of much needed sleep for the night. They released us about 24 hours later when his weight was back up and he was perky again. We were relieved and happy and glad that was over.
He was happy for about a day or two and then he just stopped eating. Just refused to eat. Every time I would offer my breast, he would take a couple sips and then scream, then sip and scream, over and over again. He was clearly very hungry, but something was bothering him and he wouldn't eat. This went on for a day or two and he started acting lethargic again. Suuuper sleepy, cranky, won't eat, and skinny. I could feel every one of his little ribs and I didn't want to pat him on the back because I could feel his bony spine. We went back to the doctor Saturday morning and he weighed less now than he did at the beginning of the week... Back to the hospital we went.
Except this time, they couldn't get the IV in. Since he was so dehydrated, his veins were too tiny to find. We had nurses from pediatrics, newborn nursery, anesthesiologist, ER, former NICU nurse, you name it, they poked Henry. And none of them were successful. He was poked probably more than 20 times, a few in each foot/ankle, both hand/wrists/elbow, all over his head. They talked about sending us to the hospital in Topeka where they could try to put in a Central line. It was a rough day. Just imagine a tiny 3 month old lying on a hospital bed with 5+ nurses hovering over him and restraining him, while one is fishing a needing in his skull. I wouldn't wish that upon any mother (or baby for that matter).
We ended up just feeding him pedialyte in a bottle all day between pokes. At the end of the day, he got an NG tube put in, which is a small little tube that goes in his nose and directly to his tummy, so that they could just pump him with pedialyte all night, so we could get some sleep. The next day, I gave breastfeeding another shot, and he finally started eating again. He still had screaming bouts, but he was taking in a lot more. The doctor kept us there for another night (since he didn't want to send us home too early like last time) and we did the pedialyte pump for another night. And they sent us home Monday (6/8) morning. We were given a prescription to use in case he started vomiting again, which we filled, but luckily didn't have to use.
The next few days, Henry was acting much, much better. He wasn't back to 100%, but he was much happier and awake and eating. He would occasionally give us a scare and start the suck and scream routine, which made us really nervous, but he always ended up latched on and eating, so we were okay. There was one night that he was up like every hour or so, just screaming. For no reason, which he has never done before. And he still had diarrhea (going on like 2 weeks I think).
Side note; A lot of times when Henry is nursing, he likes to poop, so when he was having issues eating, we thought it was because he was trying to poop and couldn't. We went back to the doctor's office because he hadn't pooped in over 12 hours and was having these screaming fits and we were given a prescription for Zantac (which is an acid-reflux medication that I became all too familiar with when I was pregnant. That's karma for you, Henry ;)). The doctor thought that maybe he still had stomach acid built up from the night of vomiting that was bothering him. So we gave it a shot, and it worked!
Well, I don't know if it actually worked, or if it was just coincidence that he stopped the screaming and got better (he had already been sick for 2 weeks) the same time he started zantac, but either way, he finally stopped screaming. Hallelujah!
About a week later, his diarrhea stopped, which was AWESOME! I didn't think it was ever going to end. Cameron and I actually talked about how we forgot what his poo was actually supposed to look like and we thought diarrhea was his new normal. But it stopped. As well as having to change his clothes every time he pooped which was like 5 times a day and a couple times a night (it leaked out every time since it was so liquidy... and also because I think I moved him up diapers too soon, so they were a bit big on him). I texted my doctor (who gave me her cell- talk about awesome doctor!), and we both did a happy dance.
So that's the story. That's why I didn't do a 3 month update. Because for 3 weeks, my life revolved around diarrhea and nursing, and going to the doctor's office avg 4 times a week.
Oh, I forgot to tell you what was wrong with him... Nobody knows!
Well, they say it was a stomach virus. But there's no test for that. They did a million labs on him, including blood tests, pee samples, and poo samples and they didn't find anything wrong. Which is good in that there's nothing "wrong" with him, but was hard because they could never pin point what it was. So yeah, if you're sick, don't touch a baby.
Please. Do not touch a baby when you are sick. Or don't touch anyone for that matter, But especially not a baby. Because one small stomach virus for you, was a whole lot of heck for us that I hope never, ever happens again.
And yes, he did have the rotavirus vaccine at his 2 month appointment; thank you very much (directed at the snarky nurse who asked in a condescending manner assuming I didn't let him get his vaccines on time). I AM TRYING MY BEST. HE HAS ALL HIS VACCINES. DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE I COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. PLEASE JUST DO YOUR JOB AND HELP HIM. *end rant*
that is all. Henry is better. Our happy boy is back and healthy and couldn't be happier. And for that, we are thankful.
Sick Henry pics:
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| Babysitting |
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| Hospital Visit 1 |
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| Hospital Visit 2 |
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| Nursing |
Look for Henry's 5 month update coming soon!
-Anna
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