Here We Go Again

I am typing this from Miss Catie's room in the Children's Hospital.  Apparently, she did not want Carter to have all the fun of being in the hospital as a baby.

We went back to see Catie's regular doctor yesterday because of the night we had (see post below).  He confirmed what my mother's instinct and gut feeling was all along - her ear infection was back and back with a vengeance.  She was likely vomiting because of the drainage from her ears and the congestion.  I was most displeased with the on-call doc who dismissed my concerns on Saturday, saying Catie had nothing but a stomach bug that she had to get over.  (That is a whole other story ... I am pretty angry at him and am determined to be a better advocate for my babies in the future.) 

So, Catie got another round of that terrible shot and we scheduled to come back in this morning for another one.  We thought we'd see quick improvement on her eating after the shot, but unfortunately it got worse. She threw up a full strength bottle at 4:30, but I thought she did okay with the 1/2 strength bottle at 7pm.  Sometime between 10pm (when I checked on her) and 12am (when Ellis went in to feed her and Carter), Catie had thrown up all over herself.  The worst of it is that she did not wake up from it, or at least barely cried about it.  And the really worst part is that when Ellis laid her on the changing table to change her, she choked on the vomit that was lodged in her nose and throat, and she could not breathe.  I popped awake hearing him over the monitor panicking and calling for me.  By the time I met him in the hallway, she was okay - gasping for breath.  But, Ellis had to turn her over and slap her back to get her okay again.  It shook us both.  Then, I put her back on pure Pedialyte and, for the first time, she started throwing that up too.

After describing all this to Dr. Castles, he admitted her to the hospital.  Despite the difficulty this poses logistically, we were both a little relieved.  Catie has been throwing up and not eating well for just about a week now.  She has lost over half a pound in less than a week, losing 2 ounces over last night.  Something is not right, and we want it fixed under the watchful eye of doctors and nurses.

Catie is doing well so far.  All her blood work and urine culture and such came back fine.  So we do seem to be dealing with an ear infection and drainage that has taken its toll on her.  She has been on only IV fluids for most of the day.  I started her on 1/2 strength bottles at 4pm.  She didn't eat much at 7, but so far has kept it all down.  If she does well through the night, we'll move to full strength bottles and might get discharged by noon.  If she doesn't, then we'll be here until she can.

So cross your fingers for her and pray we head home again very soon.

And I promise to have some happy posts soon.  My girls are hitting huge milestones in blinks of an eye.  This morning, little Carter rolled from her back to her stomach!  And we realized in the hospital that little Catie is cutting 2 bottom teeth (probably not helping all of her sickness).