The latest

Let me just start by saying at least our life isn't boring!! More craziness for us.... here's the story...



Yesterday Justin took the day off and we went to the zoo. We met his parents and brothers' families there and had a great time together. While we were there, I noticed that Emma's face had gotten really blotchy and red, but chalked it up to baby acne. Other than that, she had been acting totally normal. We were all exhausted after the long day, so we decided to go to bed early. Claire was in bed by 6:30 and Justin and I went to bed at 7:30. Extra sleep is always good, right?! Well, we ended up getting zero sleep last night. Emma became super fussy and cried every time we put her down - whether it was in the pack and play, crib, swing, car seat, etc.. After many attempts to put her down, we finally gave up and decided to take turns holding her, since that was the only way to make her stop crying. One of us would hold her for an hour while the other person slept, and then we would trade places. We did this all night long. She refused to nurse or take a bottle all night, too. She would cry out in pain every time we even tried to reposition her... it was horrible. She also felt really warm to me, so I took her temperature several times during the night. It was never higher than 99.5, so I wasn't too worried, since our doctor had just reminded us at her 2 week check up that a fever in a baby is when it is 100.4 or higher.

The fussiness/refusal to nurse/screaming got worse through out the night. I took her temp again around 730 this morning. It got up to 100.4 so I decided it was time to call the doctor. They told us to bring her in to be seen. By the time we got there, her fever was up to 101.3. Because a fever that high is really serious in a baby less than 2 months old, they decided she would have to be admitted into the hospital for some tests to find out what was wrong. Luckily, my super, amazing mother left right away in the middle of a breakfast date with friends to come and pick Claire up so we could get Emma to the hospital.

Once we got here they did some blood work and also put a catheter in to collect some urine. They noticed right away that she had a yeast infection, probably because I've been taking antibiotics for mastitis, so they began to treat that. They also noticed the red blotches on her face and said that was a result of the fever and sickness. The doctor decided they would also need to do a spinal tap to be sure they checked everything.

The urine came back with bacteria in it, which means she has a UTI. They began treating her with antibiotics for this. At first we thought this was the cause of the fever, and although we felt bad, we were glad it wasn't anything more serious. Shortly after we learned of the UTI, the doctor called with the results of the spinal tap and said that it showed that Emma has viral meningitis! WHOA!! That explains the fever, severe fussiness, refusal to nurse, etc... They said this is extremely painful in a newborn. Because it's a virus, there's not much they can do for her, besides give her Tylenol for the pain.

So, here we sit, in the hospital, with our sick little girl. It is just heartbreaking and I wish there was something I could do to take the pain away. We'll be here at least 48 hours, in order to get the antibiotics and make sure she seems to be getting better.

To make matters worse, my mom called about an hour again to tell me that now Claire is sick, too! She's throwing up. I feel terrible that my parents have to be taking care of her while she's sick too.

So... I guess this means we'll be on house arrest for the next several weeks. I can't handle my babies being so sick. Especially my littlest one - sick enough to have to stay in the hospital. :( Where in the world did she get meningitis?!

Despite it all, there's lots to be thankful for and we know that the Lord has his hand on us - the timing of it all was perfect. So glad it happened on a weekend so Justin can be here with us and doesn't have to take more time off of work. We also know that although this was shocking, scary, and surprising to us, we know that God knew all along we would be here tonight. He isn't surprised by any of it. That brings me lots of comfort.

Thank you for your prayers for healing for our family. We are so lucky to have such amazing family and friends in our life.