We are co-sleepers around this household for many reasons. The main one is that I breast feed and it is much easier to roll over and nurse a child then it is to get out of bed and walk to his room, pick him up, sit in a chair, feed him, put him back, walk back to my room and attempt to fall back asleep. That was exhausting just typing.. Anyway, since we are co-sleepers, I am able to monitor him very closely at night. I have heard of many stories that this is what is so beneficial of co-sleeping, being extremely in-tune with your baby! I noticed he was pretty hot all night, but also knew that temps rise at night, so I was alert to this, but not yet concerned. That was until I woke up with an oven right next to my chest. I was worried, so I checked his temp. It was elevated so I checked it rectally and it was 100.4, which is the cut-off for a fever. My first thought was GBS positive and the lack of antibiotic treatment due to me getting to the hospital late. Mommy guilt set in. The next thought was that this was all my fault, I had been selfish in wanting to labor at home, I took the advice of my midwife that as long as my membranes were intact I could do that and now because I chose that, Burke has a fever, which could indicate a serious illness because I did not have the 4 hours at the hospital that it takes to administer the antibiotics... sigh..
So, I called the pediatrician and she advised that we come in right away. (Much nicer than going straight to the ED.) We got there and his temp came in at 100.5. She gave the most thorough assessment I could ever ask for hoping to find some indication as to what was going on in hopes to rule out meningitis or any other serious problem and there was NOTHING. We were both sad and knew what this meant, to the hospital we go!
I called Sam at work, luckily Bristol was still in daycare, and he met me at the hospital. I was a mess, stressed out and emotionally drained. We were admitted right away and within 1 hour Burke was whisked away for a multitude of testing. I didn't want to leave his side, but they advised that we go get something to eat and try to relax, the procedures would be sterile and no one could be in there. I hated that! But, we did as we were told. The nurse offered to call me as soon as they were done and I was very pleased with that. Burke had to get a lumbar puncture to get spinal fluid in order to test for meningitis. They told us that since he is so little, it might take more than 1 try, however, they would not try more than 3 times. He had to have 2 attempts, but they got it. He then had to get blood drawn and an IV started.
Once we all got back to his room, the nurses swarmed our room to start some meds. He was put on 3 different drugs, 2 antibiotics for the meningitis and 1 antiviral to treat any viral infection. He was also put on a heart monitor to watch all of his rhythms. They came into the room with each administration of the meds, which seems like every hour and then would check him every few hours as well. Everything seemed to be moving in fast-forward and we were just so overwhelmed. All I can say is that I am grateful that I know the silence buttons on all of the machines because they were going off like crazy every time we would move him and it drove us nuts! He also had about 3 different sites for blood draws because the nurses that were working on him had a difficult time, I completely understand this, getting his vein. They even woke us up at 3 am to get a lab draw for a level. I couldn't believe that.. but, sometimes the drs order things in the middle of the night and it really makes NO SENSE!!
Bristol was able to come visit us each evening and she was so concerned for Burke. It was a sweet moment that I will never forget. She kept pointing to his arm and asking why he had all those holes in him. She is such a sweet little girl.
I realized, again, why I cannot work in peds. Seeing our little guy hooked up to so many different tubes, to be poked and prodded until it exhausted him and to have the frustration of the parent when trying to nurse an infant with all of this and the stress... yikes! Overload!!
In the end, after 72 hours of monitoring, everything came back negative (thank goodness!!) and it looks like he had a viral infection. They treated him for all the serious infections just as a precaution, which I was very grateful for. It was a terrifying moment for us, but we are extremely blessed to have a healthy, happy boy!
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