What Happened to the Guppy...

This week has been a very overwhelming, and many times, very scary week for us.

Lately I had been posting about how both the Mermaid and the Guppy had some sort of stomach bug last week. However, by Friday they were perfectly fine, and through the weekend and Monday they were fine as well.

On Tuesday morning, the Guppy woke up around 7:30 and she was extremely fussy. She wouldn't nurse, eat, or drink. I thought it was just that she stayed up late last night, so I didn't worry about it too much. But then, at 8 am, she vomited.

Then she vomited again. And again. And again. In between 8 and 9:30, she vomited nine times. And she had very runny stools.

After about the third time she got sick I called the Knight at his work and told him to leave and come pick us up (we are a one family car) so that we could take her to urgent care. I did this because she was extremely pale and because she wasn't nursing, which is completely unlike her because she was nursing the week before when she was sick.

In between the time that the Knight left his work and got to our house (a fifteen minute drive), the Guppy vomited once more, then started to pass out. She is a very picky girl and hates to be dirty. In fact, the week before when she was sick, she would practically demand that I clean her up immediately after each time she got sick. Not this time. She was so lethargic that she would just lay her head down in her own vomit and fall asleep. I went to change her diaper and that's when I saw blood in her stool. She vomited again and passed out on the changing table.

This time, I couldn't wake her up.

The Knight arrived and I left my sister in charge of the Mermaid while we rushed her to the hospital. They took one look at her and rushed her in, putting in an IV and trying to get her to wake up (she didn't even wake up when they put in the needle). They quickly pumped 200ml of saline into her and then slowed the saline down slightly. She woke up after that, but was still extremely lethargic. They took blood tests, x-rays, etc. Then they saw the blood in her stool and that was when they told me they were going to transfer her to a larger hospital that is better equipped to handle pediatric emergencies.

She looked so incredibly small and fragile on the ambulance stretcher, I couldn't help but cry. When they put her in the ambulance, she was awake and more aware of her surroundings (she was responding to my voice and the EMT's questions of "where's mommy?"). However, about half way to the hospital she stopped responding and once again they couldn't get her to wake up, so they hit the sirens and floored it to the ER of the bigger hospital. They checked us in, asked the usual questions (symptoms? vomiting and runny stools with blood. Allergies? None. Is she up to date with her shots? We don't vaccinate.).

They gave her a special saline mixture with sugar in it and once again she woke up, but was still extremely lethargic. They explained to us that if it had been a simple stomach virus and dehydration, that she would have responded to the saline mixture. But because she wasn't responding, and because of the blood in her stool, and because her white blood count was too high, then they were going to admit her for overnight. All the x-rays and blood tests that they had done came back negative, and they were concerned because they couldn't figure out what she has and why she has blood in her stool. They sent in a stool test but told me it would take a couple of days to get the tests results back.

So, we had the IL's take the Mermaid overnight (my MIL was kind enough to call in for work on Wednesday so she could stay with the Mermaid the next day as well) and they got us situated in the room on the pediatric floor. Because they didn't know what she had, they put us in an isolated room and everyone who came in to examine her had to put on gloves and a gown. They put her back on saline and a monitor to monitor her heart, and I spent the night curled up in the hospital crib with her.

In the morning she slept and slept. She finally woke up around 10 and sat up and started acting like her usual self. She laughed and clapped and asked me to read her a book and she asked to nurse! She ate a little bit of toast and drank a lot of water. MIL brought the Mermaid up to visit around noon time and when the Mermaid walked in she said to the Guppy, "Are you okay? Did the doctors make you feel better?" The Guppy responded by getting down on all fours and pretending to be a dog (this is their favorite game to play together) and soon we had two happy, playing dogs children.

The doctors came and and told us that we could go home that afternoon if she kept responding the way she was. They also explained that they still did not know what she had that caused the bloody stools, etc. but that the stool test might reveal something in a few days.

Then it began. The "you don't vaccinate?!" lecture. Only we got it three times. From three different doctors. One doctor told us that "This really could have been prevented if she had been vaccinated." to which the Knight responded with "Oh, so you do know what she has?"

"Well, no...but my guess would be that it could have been prevented."

When the first doctor had come and he asked us why we didn't vaccinate I was foolish enough to try to explain. He really didn't care and the Knight did try to argue with him. When he left I told that Knight not to argue with them because it's a waste of time. So, when the other two doctors came in and asked why not I just said "for personal reasons" and the Knight and I just smiled and nodded as they lectured us poor, ignorant parents who have no idea how dangerous it is not to vaccinate and thank goodness they were there to tell us how wrong we are and make us see the light!!!

Anyways, other than that I must say both the doctors and nurses were very kind to us and very respectful of the fact that both of us wanted to stay (they normally only allow one parent to stay) and they more than encouraged me to try to nurse her. In fact, they were great about the nursing and I didn't get one single "You're still nursing?" comment.

More importantly, the Guppy is in perfect health now. We took her home Wednesday afternoon and she slept most of the day and into the night. We woke her up twice just to get some fluids in her and to check her diaper but other than that we let her sleep. Friday I took her to another pediatrician for a follow up visit and he said that she is in perfect health. He knew that we do not vaccinate, but he didn't say a word. He mentioned that it might have been rotavirus, and because she was sick the week before her immune system was probably a little weaker and that is why it hit her so strongly. However, he isn't sure as the stool tests came back clear, so they still aren't sure what she had.

So she is fine now, very much clingy, but fine. And I don't mind the clinginess and the constant nursing, I just like to look at her open and aware eyes and tickle her and kiss her squishy cheeks and watch her play with the Mermaid.

We're all healthy again, and life is good.

What Happened to the Guppy...