Gastroenteritis

Last night K gave us a scare. We had just gotten home from the grocery store. I managed to get sleeping L from her car seat into bed, with no trouble. I changed K into jammies, nursed her, and was just thinking about a snack for C and I when K threw up. At first I thought it was just a very big spit up, since she had just eaten. I cleaned her up, cleaned me up, and the carpet too. She seemed fine, so I laid her on the floor by C and went into the kitchen. It happened again! And again! We were starting to worry, this was definitely not spit up, she was throwing up. A lot!

We had a bit of a dilemma. We wanted to take K to the hospital, but L was already sleeping. I didn't want to take her on my own, in case she started getting sick along the way. So, I crept into L's room, put her back into her jacket, wrapped her in a blanket, and loaded her back into the car. Then C drove us all over, and he and L waited in the car.

Little K was so good, she didn't give any trouble when the nurse stuck the little monitor on her toe, or when she took her temperature. The nurse was quite taken with her, and said "You make me want to have babies!". We waited a while longer for the doctor to come in. He checked her over, checked her ears, her tonsils, checked for dehydration. He told me that they had probably seen 25-30 cases of vomiting and diarrhea that day, and that K was lucky she didn't have diarrhea too, but that of course she still may have to deal with it. He said it was viral, and should be gone in 3 days. He said that they would give her a gravol suppository, and send us home with some pedialyte. Mom, if you're reading, here is where you should stop....The doctor then told me not to nurse her for 6 hours, only water and pedialyte. I did not listen. Well, I gave a half-hearted attempt at listening. She would not take the pedialyte, so I nursed her. It had been three hours since I nursed her last, and she wanted to eat! And she wanted comfort too. If she is going to retain any fluids, I would rather it be fluids filled with nutrients and other good stuff to help fight this virus, not water and citric acid.

She has not thrown up since a little bit before 10 pm. I am hoping that none of the rest of us get sick too. But, just in case, I think I will go give the toilet a good scrubbing this morning!

The doctor also mentioned that K has a heart murmur. He said that sometimes they hear that when an infant is sick, and sometimes there is a problem with a valve, or a small hole. I am to mention it to her Doctor at her 6 month checkup next week. He may want to send us to Edmonton for an ECG, done through an ultrasound. I will keep you updated on that.

Oh, I almost forgot. Poor L - I managed to transfer her back out of the car, and into her bed, and get her jacket off for the second time last night, without her waking. She had no idea we had gone anywhere!