Sickies, Shots & Stitches

I feel like the past few months have been so difficult for our little girls.  Scarlett's teacher passed away, Skye got bronchiolitis from RSV, Skye ended up in the ER with a UTI, Siena broke her foot, Skye ended up in the ER again when I thought she had another UTI, and even Jaide had "popcorn" in her ear.  We've been to the doctor so many times that my phone asked me if I wanted to set the pediatrician's office as my place of work.  haha!

Well the past few weeks we were hit with a nasty virus.  All 4 girls were sick.  Fevers and runny noses.  Lots of naps (that part I didn't mind).

Scarlett got better but the twirls still had lingering symptoms.  Then on St. Patrick's Day Skye woke up with green gunk in her eyes.  (I think she was afraid her sisters were going to pinch her, it was her natural defense to make sure she was wearing green!)  I called the dr and they got her right in.  She had a double eye and double ear infection!!!!!  Poor thing.  That night her fever climbed up to 102.5 and she threw up 3 times.  We started her on Augmentin (amoxicillin based antibiotic).

The next evening I was nursing her and she coughed.  I was so panicked that she was going to throw up like the previous night that I jumped at her cough and grabbed a burp cloth.  Well she thought that was funny so she would nurse then fake cough, then look up and smile at me!  She did this several times!  What a little stinker!

A few days later she started biting me while nursing.  Hard.  And a lot.  I was scared of her little piranha teeth (3/20 her second top middle tooth (right) came in).  The next day she still had the high fever so the dr saw us again.  Her ears were still "bulging" and infected.  Poor thing!  She was biting me because her ears hurt so bad!!!  The dr switched her antibiotic to Azithromycin which is in a different family.

Luckily I had Siena and Jaide with me that day.  I was concerned that their noses were making green gunk and their lips were bright red (it happens when they are sick).  Plus Jaide told me that morning "I feel like my head is going to crack open"!  The dr looked at all their ears.  Every single ear was red and swollen!  SIX infected ears!!!!  The twirls started amoxicillin (no eye infections for them).  They got popsicles and their medicine tasted good, so they didn't seem to mind.

Skye's fever continued to stay over 102 for the next 3 days.  Finally the nurses agreed she needed to be seen again.  She was so sick.  Poor thing!  Here she just fell asleep in her high chair.  The whole time she was moaning and restless.  When I gave her a bath the night before she just slumped forward and I had to hold her up.  

When I got to the dr office they checked me in without asking my name then a nurse came to get a different patient, but she saw us and said "hi Skye!"  Yes, we are on a first name basis.  The dr decided to switch Skye to a third antibiotic, Roceferin, that is given in 2 different shots in her thighs.  Then we would have to go back for shots the next 2 days.

The next morning as I was getting ready to go to the dr I noticed she had a little red rash on her chin.  By the time I was dressed she had several more red hives.  I decided to head over to the dr right away since it was a Saturday and I wanted to make sure we got seen by the doctor (we were scheduled to only have a nurse visit).  It was a long appointment.  Skye's ears were still bulging and infected.  The dr wasn't sure what to do so she called the UofM ENT people.  They decided to put her on a fourth antibiotic in another drug family.  It's not usually given to babies (we had to drive to a different CVS to pick it up).  If she fails 3 antibiotics she has to be seen by a specialist, but she didn't technically "fail" the shot so we decided to give Clindamycin a try.

The hives just got progressively worse during the visit.  The dr put her on benadryl for the next few days to get on top of it.  We think it was the Roceferin shot but because she's had so many different antibiotics close together they aren't 100% certain which one she's allergic to.  So we'll have to be careful in the future.

Luckily for us this antibiotic did the trick!  The medicine smelled like vegetables (which she didn't seem to mind) for 10 days, but she got better within 24 hours.  The next day was a Sunday and my parents and siblings fasted for little Skye baby.  The dr said that the meds could take 3-4 days to show improvement, so to see her be so playful, giggling, playing peek-a-boo, eating a TON, etc so quickly after the new medicine - I know it was an answer to our fasting and prayers.  A small miracle for our little Skye.

I haven't slept through the night in weeks with all these sick kiddos...  I hate when people are mowing their lawns in the morning when I'm finally getting some sleep... It's 11am people - have some consideration!  ;-)

So that was sickies and shots, now on to stitches....

Last night after Jake got home from work, I went up to the laundry room to switch the clothes around before dinner.  Skye, Jake and the twirls were in the toy room and Scarlett said she was going to go jump on the trampoline.  A few minutes later I heard Jake yelling "Jen!"  I could tell something was wrong.  He was coming up the stairs holding Scarlett, her face covered in blood.  She was reeeeally crying.  I knew the first thing we had to do was get the bleeding to slow down so we put a towel on with some pressure while I got her to calm down.  She was having a hard time breathing.  She told me after "I couldn't breathe for like 3 breaths!"  We took deep breaths together then she started saying things like: "Can you see my brain now?"  "Is this what happened to Mrs. Roy?"  "I wish I never went in the basement."  My heart broke for her just thinking about how much fear she had in that moment.  We talked about how Heavenly Father protected our brain with a skull and all sorts of special skin and muscles.  Bleeding is the way the body pushed all the germ out so blood is very helpful.  And what happened to Mrs. Roy was very very very sad, but it is something that is rare and she doesn't ever need to worry about that happening to her.  (I'll admit that question brought me to tears.  I'm so grateful that she said it out loud so we could talk about it instead of keeping those fears in.)

I asked her how she got hurt in the basement.  She said "I tripped on the top triangle stair and hurt my face on the stroller, but my eyes were closed so I don't know what part I hit."  The twirls like to push each other around in the stroller in the basement and had left it by the stairs.  Jake said she came up the stairs crying and holding her head and he thought "she split her eyebrow open and is going to need stitches" so he brought her right to me.  She wasn't even bloody when thought that, he just knew.  Father's instinct.

*DRAMATIC REENACTMENT*

After the bleeding stopped I could tell we needed stitches.  So I took her over to the urgent care while Jake put everyone else to bed.  I'm so glad that I brought snacks and stuff to do cause we were waiting for two hours.  We were second in line but three people came in with chest pains and got in ahead of us.  THREE!  They said that's so unusual.  So we had to wait for all those folks to go in the ambulance and clear out the rooms before we could go back.  They have other rooms, but those are for minor illnesses and Scarlett's wound didn't qualify.  She was such a trooper.  She told me that her pain was "only a level 3 now, but when I blink hard it's 100!"

After they cleaned up her laceration I took some pictures.  It was too big for super glue.  The problem with glue on a wound this size is that it doesn't hold it together really tight.  Then as the sides separate the wound heals sucken down the center and makes a scar.  He said with stitches, where it was located, and her age that she probably won't have a scar.  He said in six months you'll probably not even be able to know that this happened.  I asked if we should get a plastic surgeon because it was on her face and he said that this cut was going to sew up and heal really nicely.  Which is good, cause I don't think we could call her "Scar" for SCARlett if she has a huge scar on her face.

The nurse came in and put topical anesthetic on before the stitches.  While we waited for the medicine to work Scarlett got to watch a movie and have a history lesson - all about VHS!  haha!

The dr came in and said she needed more numbing.  So the nurse sat next to Scarlett this time and used her "paint brush" (q-tip) to paint on her eyebrows and turn them pink.  She was such an awesome nurse!  At first Scarlett told us it felt like "getting my blood drawn!"  But at the end she said "ah, it feels like clouds!"  haha!

When the dr came in to do the stitches Scarlett started panicking and yelling that she had to go potty!  So we made a quick trip to the restroom for her nervous bladder.  When we came back to the room the nurse told us that her puppy (Marshall) was being so naughty and jumping on the hospital bed.  Then he fell off and got hurt over his right eye.  Sure enough Marshall was tucked in the blanket with a bandage over his right eye.  So cute!

During the stitches the nurse sat and held Scarlett's head still.  Scarlett was amazing.  There were a few spots that still hurt and even when she was crying and scared, she stayed very still.  They all commented on what a good job she did (that made her feel good.)   After the first poke the dr asked for the spotlight to be moved so he could see better.  The nurse was all tucked in and holding Scarlett's head.  I was just sitting by her legs and holding her hands.  So I jumped up and moved the light around.  I got q-tips and gauze for the nurse earlier.  haha!  I'm getting way too comfortable in these environments.  Scarlett ended up with 4 stitches.

After the dr and nurse left Scarlett talked about the doctor: "He's so handsome, he even talks handsome, I feel like I'm going to marry him when I grow up."  Oh my!  haha!  Love this little girl!

Scarlett with Marshall (and his "wound") and her hospital doll (the nurse gave to her for being brave, she picked it out cause the little hospital gown on the doll had dalmatian puppies!)  I let her pick a special treat on the way home.  She picked donuts (Jake approved).

She was really attentive when they explained how to care for the stitches and how she needs to wait 2 days to shower and play hard.  This morning I woke up and she had made this reminder note "I will rest and I will not even move.  Even I will wait."  Cutie.

She seems excited to have stitches "Now I have stitches like Aunt Jami did!"  Sure, Aunt Jami gets all the glory.  Not to mention all the times I've been sliced open and stitched back together having babies... no... it's all about Aunt Jami.  haha!  ;-)  Well, at least she'll have a cool story to tell at school on Monday when she gets back from spring break!