December 23rd was my moms birthday. The morning started out like many others. Heath and I needed to clean out the backyard from tree cuttings so we got the boys to help. We loaded up my moms truck with branches and leaves and the boys helped the whole time. We went in to feed the kids lunch. As I made lunch, the boys sat down to watch a tv show. At one point I glanced over at Owen and immediately saw it. I asked Heath to take his temperature. He just didn't look right to me. I told Heath something was wrong (I can just tell when he has an infection, it's a look he gets in his eye I think.) his temp was normal but he still looked horrible. Heath decided to hold him. A few minutes later Heath said, "oh man, honey he's burning up. Bring the thermometer." Sure enough, fever of 103. It only took a matter of minutes. So, I rushed him to the ER as Heath packed a suitcase for me.
The ER was the usual - temp checks, chest X-ray, urine sample, peripheral and central line blood cultures, and waiting. Lots of waiting.
Below is Owen watching some netflix while a cold wash cloth attempts to lower his fever. Meds and cold wash cloths weren't getting it down.
The doctor in the ER happened to be the same doctor from when we were there on Black Friday. Black Friday I was sure it wasn't an infection. This time I was sure it was. I was intense and trying to get them to rush things. I told him we would need to go to Oakland for sure (where as last time I was considering going home against doctors wishes.) he asked me, "what's different about this time compared to last time?" I said, "I know him. He has a line infection this time." Although no tests were positive and white count was normal, I knew. The way he responded to Tylenol/Motrin, the way he looked at home, it was a line infection. Since his temp was unstable and he was getting antibiotics, they thought it would be best to take him by ambulance.
Here he is. . . He perked up in the ambulance since it was about 20minutes after his antibiotics were given through his line (which is another sign that it's a line infection.)
We got to Oakland ER and they had to place a peripheral IV because they didn't want to use his central line for TPN if it was an infection, that would be feeding the bacteria. Owen was not happy since he already got a poke at the other hospital.
After 12 hours the blood culture turned positive. Owen's fever was still present which was a sign that his infection was still there, despite the antibiotics. Owen had fevers until mid-day the 24th.
By that night, he was acting like himself again! We were able to watch christmas movies together and had a good time.
On Christmas Eve night, some volunteers brought over a toy, a joy jar, and a stocking full of small toys. It was so sweet to see Owen get excited about all these gifts. It was nice to have so many surprises since we had to spend this time in the hospital.
And with Owen's dinner, came this cute card
Christmas morning came and we woke up to a wrapped present and a tiny stocking with a gift card in it. Owen was excited to open the present. It was actually a toy he really wanted for Christmas! He immediately wanted to open it and play with it. When his GI doctor came to see him, she brought a wrapped present for Owen and Isaiah. It was so sweet of her! She felt so bad that we were spending another holiday in the hospital.
Later that day, we got visitors! Mimi, Daddy, and Isaiah came to spend Christmas with us. Since our boys are still young, we decided to not tell them it was Christmas Day. We figured we could give them a special day and hold off on all the presents and Santa until we were back home. The boys had a great day!
Owen sure was missing everyone and was so happy to have everyone visit him!
Owen was doing pretty good so we decided to take the boys down to the cafeteria for lunch. These two cars just happened to be parked outside of our room :) the pink one even came with a pole so we didn't have to push a pole behind Owen! Yay!
After lunch in the cafeteria, we came back up to the room to let the boys open a few presents that Dasdy brought from home. We just picked a few we thought would be good for Owen to play with while he was in the hospital. They sure had fun opening their presents.
Our family Christmas Day picture :) tried to get hospital stuff out of the background :) luckily enough, we didn't have a roommate.
Once everyone left, Owen and I spent the rest of the day playing with all his new toys. Mostly play dough. So thankful for play dough in the hospital, although little pieces get everywhere!
Owen was in the hospital from December 23rd to December 30th. We got home late that night. Heath and I decided, since Heath was off for New Year's Day, it would make sense to make New Year's Day our Christmas Day. So, New Year's Eve came around and we were gearing up for Santa to come! The boys were so excited! We spent the night in Christmas pjs drinking hot (or warm) chocolate and watching christmas movies like The Polar Express!
After making Santa cookies, we just had to try a few to make sure they would be good enough for Santa!
Earlier in the day we decorated our own plates for Santa!
After we got the boys to sleep, Heath and I set up for christmas morning as we watched Elf! Below is a picture of the filled stockings and the Santa presents under the tree.
When all was done, it was just before midnight. We turned on the TV to watch the ball drop! Thankfully missing the Miley Cyrus show - YUCK!
Happy New Year!
We took a picture at midnight :)
The kids slept in until 8 on our Christmas morning. When they got up, I went out into the living room to video their first reactions to Santa coming! They were so cute! We let them play with their Santa presents for a while before tackling stockings and all the presents they got from us as well. Here are just a few pictures from the morning.
Here is another Christmas family picture!
We had a great day playing with all their new toys! At the end of the day I was able to read a few stories with the boys in their room before they went to bed. It was a great way to end such a fun family day.
Sadly,the next day, Owen once again had a fever. He was on antibiotics from his infection from the last hospitalization so his elevated white blood count and low oxygen saturation level was concerning. The doctors thought he could have a fungal infection in his line because of the antibiotics. They took him by ambulance to Oakland Chikdren's once again. He gave us quite a scare that day and night. However, by the next day he was perking up and acting like himself again. We soon found by the viral panel they did that he had rhino virus (a type of cold). Once his oxygen saturation levels were stable, he was able to go back home.
We sure had an eventful holiday season :)
