A Trip to the Hospital...

In one of my recent posts, I alluded to the fact that our track out was eventful--and definitely not how I had planned it. Instead of going to a museum or a park, we spent the first few days of track out at the hospital.

It all started the night of her last day of school (when they had the writer's day celebration). In fact, Kate was supposed to go to school the next day--yes on a Saturday--as a snow make-up day. Hmmm....that never happened. She started throwing up around midnight...and continued for the next several hours. The next day she was exhausted, and was having a tough time drinking anything. She did manage to take sips of her Pedialyte (which by the way, do NOT believe it when they say that the flavorless is flavorless...Bryan and I both sampled it and YUCK!), but continued to complain of stomach pain.

By Sunday, she was still acting lethargic, and after trying to eat a cracker, her stomach decided to start the entire process all over again. Sigh. What IS a blessing is that I have a pediatric ER nurse for a friend and neighbor. After talking with my friend, I decided that Kate needed to be checked out at the ER. Not only did my friend GO with us to the hospital, but she was able to expedite us through the ER waiting room queue. Thanks C!!!

I have to say, I was a nervous wreck. I knew that it was probably a stomach virus, and that Kate would eventually get better, but it was still a tough situation. It was even more difficult once Kate found out that they were going to have to give her an IV...and that involved poking her arm with a needle. She looked so scared...so unsure...so little. It broke my heart. But--I knew it had to be done, and so I told her that I would be right there, holding her hand.

Thankfully, my friend stayed to help with the IV. I loved WakeMed's pediatric ER...they even had a specialist come in and distract Kate with a princess book while they put the IV in her arm. Believe it or not, I think it actually worked! Don't get me wrong, it still hurt her, but she didn't freak out (like she has done in the past with shots). I was very proud of my big girl.

This was actually taken the next day in her room. She was not smiling the night before.

Kate's bloodwork showed that she WAS dehydrated, and so they decided to admit her for the night. We had to wait until after midnight (thanks Kim for the long visit) before they wheeled us to our room. Here's a picture of my big girl in her own hospital bed:

I think Kate really liked her bed. You could move it up and down, and when I would sit down on it, it would instantly deflate. Kate thought that was hilarious!

So, they pumped Kate full of fluids that first night...and I mean, her face looked kind of puffy she was so FULL. And outside of having to get up every so often to go pee (and yes, Mommy had to unplug the IV from the wall each time and try her best to not trip over the rollers) and have her vitals checked by the nurses, Kate slept like a rock.

I wish I could say the same, however, I had two things working against me that night. #1...an aggravating dry cough that seemed to get worse each time I tried to lay down and #2...a hospital "bed" that actually fell apart on me halfway through the night. Our nurse found me curled up in fetal position on half of my "bed" the next morning. She then proceeded to question me as to whether I realized I was only sleeping on half? Ummm...yes. I showed her how the top section of the "bed" fell down in the middle of the night (yes, I could've taken a nosedive to the floor). She tried to tell me it was fixable, but then had no luck fixing it herself! It was rather humorous.

The next day, they decided to stop the IV and see what Kate could do on her own. By this point, Kate had regained some of her strength, but her tummy still ached. We took it VERY slow. By the end of the day, Kate was eating and drinking on her own. They wanted to keep her one more night for observation, and thankfully my sister agreed to take the night shift so I could go home and get sick.

We tried EVERYTHING, but Kate just wasn't thrilled about any of her food options. And, I would have to say, hospital food is STILL very unappetizing to me. So, I can only imagine what it was like for a picky eater. At least she enjoyed the popsicles!

Finally, after two nights in the hospital, Kate was able to go home the next morning. I think she had a lot of fun in the hospital, but was also ready to go home. Thanks to everyone who visited, gave gifts, and prayed for Kate to get better. A big thanks to Kim, AV, Kelly, Claudia, & KESLEY--you guys really came through for us in a big way and we are so thankful!