Johnny Boy

Unfortunately, Saturday gave us another trip for one of my boys to the ER. This time, it was the little guy. Poor little Dylan!

Saturday late morning, I headed off to a yoga class and left the boys to play. When I got home, I fed Dylan and he fell asleep in my arms. Now, he only seems to nap well when we're holding him (wakes up when we put him down) and generally just seems to take cat naps throughout the day. Up to this point, the only odd thing about his behavior was that he had a decent length nap on Dad and then had a nice long nap with me after his feeding. Decent nap lengths happen on occasion so there was no major concern. However, only moments after waking up in my arms, he started projectile vomiting. That's a pretty scary sight coming from an infant. We called the doctor who ordered a wait and see. Dylan and I both got changed and the event occurred again shortly thereafter. And again. The doctor ordered we give him some water to prevent dehydration. The poor baby wouldn't drink anything nor nurse and he was moaning as I held him. It was so sad and pathetic. My gut told me this was no regular spit up after a feeding...something was really wrong. So, another call to the pediatrician and we were ordered to the ER.

Why is it Murphy's Law that baby's must get sick outside of the pediatrician's office hours? We chose our pediatrician, in part, because of their extended office hours and availability of doctors after hours. The doctor on call on Saturday after our pediatrician's office hours was a second office they use for after hours assistance. Even so, there was no where to go except to the ER for help.

Of course, once there, we had to go through the gamut of tests. First, he got hooked up so his pulse could be monitored and got changed into a johnny. The pediatrician in the emergency room came and did an exam. Ears clear, belly fine to the touch. Then they wanted urine and blood samples. That meant he got an IV (arm splinted to keep it in) and a catheter. Needless to say, Dylan did not enjoy these events and neither did we enjoy watching and listening to him scream in discomfort and unhappiness. Those results came back fine. Next up, an x-ray to make sure there was no intestinal blockage. In the meantime, they started him on fluids in his IV. The pictures came back mostly fine but had one questionable thing that they wanted to get checked out further on an ultrasound.

By this time, Dylan was calm after all the poking and prodding he'd experienced and was even acting like himself again. He was also nursing again and smiling and laughing. Whatever was ailing him was not bothering him anymore. However, we had to get through this last test. Dylan and I were wheeled on a stretcher down a floor for an ultrasound. The boy loves to move and he enjoyed the ride. At least the ultrasound wasn't unhappy for him to experience, as all the other tests were.

The results came back fine. Whatever they saw on the x-ray was something that can also happen with a stomach bug. So, that's what it was, a stomach bug. Gone as quickly as it came on. 6 hours in the ER. Ugh! On the one hand, I really beat myself up that my poor little baby had to go through all that torture for "no reason." At the time we took him in, though, I truly believed something was very wrong with him and it was good to have confirmation that he was okay. Definitely a rough day for us both.

The upside to all of this? Well, first and foremost, Dylan is healthy and we got the professional help we needed to confirm that. Today, he seems to be back to his happy self, which is just wonderful to see. Also, I'm not sure anyone ever looked as cute in a johnny (and splint and ET toe pulse monitor)!

Cute Baby in a Johnny (Obviously Taken During the Happy Evening)