No More Drama!

We've had some drama here the last couple days. Thursday at lunch, Abbey didn't want to eat a bite of her food. Right after she got to her seat at the table, she asked if she could go in her bed and lay down. I immediately knew that she wasn't feeling well. After lunch, I took her temp and sure enough she was over 99. A low grade fever. Ugh!! We don't have to call our doctor until it reaches 100.4 so at that point I just monitored her.

My doctor appointment was Thursday late afternoon so when Jim got home I was out the door for my appointment. I was holding back tears as I drove to my appointment as I just knew Abbey was coming down with a fever. A fever in a healthy kid is not much to be concerned about, but with Abbey at best it is only a few days of spending lots of time in the hospital. At worst, well there are lots of "bad" things it could be and my mind wanders much when she isn't feeling well.

We have been sooo careful this past month. The only place that Abbey has been over this past month is the clinic for two visits. And at those visits we have been ridiculous about her wearing her mask and trying so hard to keep her from picking anything up. And we all have been healthy here at home. No colds, coughs, runny noses or anything.

With the new baby due to come any day (I'm 2 cm dilated and the doctor told me any day... He said he'd be surprised if I make it to my next apt. which is next Thursday) and all the yuckiness that's going around right now, we have been diligent to do all we can to keep her from getting sick.

Thursday after my apt. sure enough her temp was at 100.3. At that point I called her nurse and since we had a scheduled appointment the following morning, we were told that we could watch her and if it hit 101, we'd have to take her to the ER, otherwise we could wait until Friday morning to take her to the clinic. Thursday night was rough as I was so uneasy with her having a fever and putting her to bed. Although it didn't hit 101 while she was awake, I knew that in the past, whenever she'd gotten a low grade fever, it eventually goes up and we end up at the hospital. And it was nerve racking, not knowing if it would go up while she was sleeping. We so did not want to go the ER though. She woke up at 6a.m. with a fever of 101.8 and at that point we got up, ready and were out the door for the clinic. We didn't have to go through the ER Thursday night so for that we were sooo thankful!

Friday at clinic her numbers were nice and high!! Huge relief because we knew that if she was still neutrapenic (under 750) we would be admitted again. A blood culture was taken and she was given an antibiotic. We were there for about 3 hours.

This morning, once again she woke up with a fever. This time even higher.. it was 102.8. We called the doc and again had to take her to the hospital. Today (since it's Saturday and clinic is closed) we had to go through the ER.

You would have not believed the mobs of people there with sick kids. Jim and Abbey stayed outside while I went in to check her in. They always get us back quickly... within a few minutes. We were told by our nurse that people were waiting for about 5 hours to be seen in the ER since all the swine flu craziness has been going on. The three of us wore masks and got to our room. She again was given an antibiotic and a blood culture was taken. Today was over a 4 hour visit. Everything takes super long when we go through the ER.

So far, as of tonight, her blood cultures have been negative. She is not presenting any other signs of illness besides for her fever. When it's just a fever, it makes it hard to know where it's coming from. She has no cold symptoms or flu symptoms so we are just praying that this fever goes away and nothing else shows up. As of right now, her temp is over 101 so if it doesn't go down by tomorrow by itself (no tylenol) then we again will be spending about 4 hours at the hospital tomorrow.

Overall Abbey has been acting o.k. through it all. She is a little more tired then normal and not eating too good, but she has been playing and pretty happy.

So far I am feeling like the baby isn't coming at any second. I said that Friday, after Abbey's appointment I would be completely ready, but now with all this going on with her, it would be really great if she could be completely fever free before he comes. Again, I know this is out of our control so all we can do is relax and trust. God's timing is perfect in all things, even though right now it is hard to accept the fact that we are dealing with fever right now, but we are hanging in there and focusing on getting her better. We so want this baby's arrival to be special and as stress free as possible so please pray for her to get better!! Thanks :)!

Abbey after her bath tonight. She's a trooper and has been smiling through this most recent setback...