All better now

Belle was sick last week. Really sick.

Belle was not herself Monday night after our fun afternoon at the book store story time. We took her to her pediatrician on Wednesday, as she'd been consistently spiking high fevers (according to my lips on her forehead, since I don't like to bother taking a temperature using a thermometer) and she had been vomiting. At the doctor's office, Belle's fever was over 104, which surprised the doctor, who was rather unimpressed by my temperature-taking tactics (he suggested we should be taking her temperature using a thermometer, and that we should have come to see him sooner since her fever was so high; lesson learned). Anyway, the doc examined Belle and took samples of her blood and urine. The urine collection was a funny experience, as he attached a plastic bag to Belle, then put her diaper on and had her go wait in the waiting room. Wait we did! She snuggled into us, then played once the Advil kicked in and her fever went down. And we waited and waited and waited for her to pee into the plastic bag. It took well over 90 minutes.

Anyway, we left the doctor's office and head home. I has just pulled into the garage and Belle was still asleep in her car seat when the pediatrician called. The doc didn't like what he saw in the samples he took from Belle- her white blood cell count was super high and her urine indicated she was dehydrated. Coupled with the high fever, he instructed us to go directly to the ER.

And so we did. We spent 6 hours at the ER last Wednesday night. I drove Belle there while Craig walked from work. The ped had called ahead so when we arrived, we quickly moved into a room in the pediatric ER. There, Belle had a chest X-ray, had urine draw via catheter, and had an IV put in her arm. Through the IV, her blood was drawn, and then she was given fluids. Before we went home, Belle received a broad-spectrum antibiotic intravenously.

Belle returned to the pediatrician on Thursday and Friday. By Friday, the cultures from the Wednesday night returned- all negative- and Belle's fever was down.

So, the mystery of what made Belle so sick was never solved. More importantly, Belle is now nearly four days fever free. She slept for 12 hours last night, too. Belle is all better now. And we hope that Wednesday was our last visit to the ER. Ever.