Summer's week, from a trip to the ER to her 18 month check up...

This last Monday Summer ended up in the ER at Children's....here's what happened.

Last Friday, while I was loading the kids in the car to go to a family birthday party (of course, kids have the most impeccable timing!), Summer started throwing up. She first threw up something that looked like she had eaten a pound of sand or maybe some purple play dough. Since I know either of those were impossible, I was a little worried about what it could be. It had just been one week since her G tube surgery, so I thought it might be some kind of side affect...it was. I called the GI nurse and she said it sounded like "old" blood....like scabs. Apparently that can happen after stomach surgery....phew, it only happened once. Until.....

We got to my sis-in-law's house for the party and Summer started throwing up again. 2 more times included the old blood, then she continued to throw up at least 10 more times. My in laws live 45 minutes away, so though I was tempted to throw the kids in the car and go home, I didn't want Summer to have problems while I was driving home without another adult. So, we stuck it out....went through several sets of clothes and my sis-in-law's towel/blankets. I called the GI doc on call to find out what to do. She told me to turn off Summer's formula for at least an hour, then start feeding her Pedialyte. If the vomiting continued to be uncontrollable, they wanted her to come into the ER. The hospital was on divert (they were over full and sending patients to other hospitals...this has never happened before), so if she needed to be admitted, they would have to "squeeze" her in.

The Pedialyte seemed to calm her tummy down and she slept all night. We started her formula back up at a very diluted concentration and she did okay for most of Saturday. On Sunday morning we were woken up at 7:30 by Summer projectile vomiting. She was coughing, sputtering, gagging, and crying. I rushed into her room to check on her.....she was drenched. Her bedroom floor was even soaked next to her bed....poor miserable baby. Summer looked terrible too....she was pale and had dark circles under her eyes. I cleaned her up and gave her a bath...so nice we have this option now :)

We stopped her food again and started up the Pedialyte. After a bit, we gave her formula again. She threw up 3 or 4 times during the day, but was looking a bit better as the day went on. She was fine when she went to bed, but at 4 AM I was woken up by the projectile vomiting again. I turned her food off for an hour, cleaned her up and started the Pedialyte again around 5:30 AM. We went back to sleep for a couple of hours, then I had to get the boys off to school. As soon as the boys were gone, I called the GI nurse to see what she wanted me to do...she called me back a few hours later and said the doc wanted her to come in to be observed over night, possibly two.

Though it was still afternoon, we had to go through the ER...the specialist clinics can't just make appts. like a standard doctor's office can. So, I finished getting packed and off we went. We got to the ER around 2 PM and waited almost 2 hours to get in.

They checked her out...no bowel obstruction, like they had feared, no G tube problem. Summer has a nasty ear infection! Something so simple, yet it was causing such a bad reaction. She is currently running 105 ML's (amost 4 ounces!) of formula per hour constantly, so the dizziness caused by the ear infection was making her nauseous, causing the projectile vomiting! Phew! Thankfully this is something routine...10 days of antibiotics and she'll be good as new! :) By this time, it was 6:30 PM....but, we got to go home after we picked up her prescription :)

We ran the Pedialyte through the night and into the next morning. Then we ran half formula, half Pedialyte until Tues. evening, then back to full feeds. Summer was feeling so much better by then. She had had 3 doses of Amoxicillin and was obviously improving...no more vomiting!

Time is flying by, Summer was 18 months on Jan. 14th, and I forgot to schedule a check up appt....too many other appts. keeping me occupied! So, Thurs. we went to her 18 month check up...

Summer has gained back a little of the weight she lost while sick....she's now up to 20 lbs. 13 ounces :) According to the typical 18 month old growth chart, she is in the 7% for weight, and 20% for height...she sounds very long and skinny, but she does have some impressive thigh rolls ;) Her growth chart looks great, despite her recent weight fluctuations. The doc also checked out her ears...they both still looked very red and inflamed, so he had us discontinue the Amoxicillin and start Omnicef instead. She is still doing great and has no more vomiting episodes. Though she does have a light cough sometimes, her lungs are clear. While the doc was peaking in her throat, he discovered 3 more teeth that just popped in. So, in addition to the new tooth that came through on the bottom a couple of weeks ago, she now has a total of 8.... Yay Summer, all the better to chomp with my dear!

Next week she has a post-op appt. with the surgeon Monday, her first feeding therapy appt. and opthomology follow up on Tues., then Gi clinic on Thurs. Life certainly doesn't have time to get dull around here!