Sadly, this was sort of a waste of time. By the time we got in there for registration, his temperature had moved to 99, and he was exhibiting just normal fussy baby behavior. Not the terrifying cries I had witnessed at home. This probably made the nurses believe that I was crazy, and this was not an emergency - so I believe at this point we were moved to the back of the line. I could also sense that my loving husband was thinking I was nuts and overreacting.
By 3:30 am we were moved into an ER room to be examined, or so I thought. At this point LJ was sound asleep on my chest. LJ sound asleep, Mom not. Dad not, and Dad trying to hide anger at Mom for his lack of sleep. A nurse shows up, and tells us we are third in line. She goes on to say "We like to get the infants out as soon as possible to avoid the risk of them catching anything else while they are here." So, now I loose it. I have brought my probably-not-sick child to the ER, no one is getting sleep and now he is probably going to get sick from the swine flu.
By 5:00, yes, 5:00AM - the Doctor comes in. Looks in his ears, hears his lungs and then sends us on our merry way. That was it. Again, my loving husband bites his tongue, and I cry the whole way home.
But, I am not crazy I keep saying. The rest of the night LJ is so restless and goes back to screaming bloody murder each time I lay him down. The only way I can get him to sleep is if I sit upright on the couch, with him on my chest. At 9:30, a few screams into a diaper change, I decide to take his temp again. The under arm thermometer says 99.4, the rectal (I know, very unpleasant) says 101.4. After five minutes of arguing with husband about whether or not the rectal thermometer works, I insist we go in. Joel is probably thinking, another trip, another 5 hours for an ok baby who probably is just getting colic?
This time the pediatrician's office is open. We are ushered right into the office and they immediately take his temperature. I am not crazy, 101! The immediate sense of relief for me not being crazy is now crowded with the worry of what could be wrong with my normally happy baby.
The pediatrician takes one look in his ears, and ear infection it is. But before we can get the antibiotics, we find out LJ needs to go through a series of challenges. Not only do these challenges torture the poor child, but I was totally beside myself. At one point I uttered I rather give birth again than watch this. They put a catheter in him - which was horrifying. The poor little man. They took blood from his heel, and then told us they needed to take blood from a vein. Of course the little guy who is barely 6 weeks hardly has veins that are noticeable to the human eye. For this awful test they send us on a wild goose chase, where we end up in a closet somewhere in the bowels of the hospital. Three women take 45 minutes poking, prodding and cutting off his circulation before they declare "it cannot be done." We are sent back to the pediatrician's office, and she is clearly annoyed. She notes we "have to" have this test. She proceeds to poke and prod for another 20 minutes while another pediatrician is screaming on the phone in the background trying to find anyone, anyone at all, in the entire hospital who might find a vein on him.
At this point I am so hysterical that they are asking me if I am ok. No sleep and watching your baby writhe and squeal in pain for three hours straight will do that to you. I start to say that this test DOES NOT need to happen. The pediatrician says it does - and proceeds. So, I make a deal with God out loud, you make this test work and I will baptize him Cathlioc. Guess what, she finally got a vein and the test ended.
Two more pricks ahead for the medicine to be delivered, and the poor tortured boy was released. He has black and blues and broken blood vessels along his arms and hands. He is pooped beyond belief but wakes up screaming. I have yet to see his temp this evening, hopefully the antibiotics are doing the trick and it is going down.
We get the full results of the tests tomorrow, and Monday. I hope they are fine, I am thinking they are fine and am sure it is just the ear infection. Earlier in the week I had brought him in for what I thought was a slight cold and they found nothing. Now I am sure it was a cold, as that is the perfect set-up for an ear infection a few days later.
The moral of the story is, trust your instincts. The poor guy. I think about all of those families who watch their kids go through tests like this all the time for various illnesses, and I do not know how they do it. My one afternoon was heart-breaking. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys, and of course with my son who I hope gets better and does not need to do this again anytime soon.
Now I am off to call the Priest at St. Theresa's in Rye.
You poor thing! We had an awful Saturday night a couple of months ago with Cameron but it was just a cold, thank goodness. While I understand that the doctor wants to be careful they did diagnose an ear infection so I'm not sure I would have had the fortitude to do what you did and sit through all that pain! For LJ and you...Hope he is feeling better.
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