The terrible. Horrible. No good. Very bad day (& ER visit). Make that WEEK...

I try not to moan and groan too much.  Especially at times like this when people like Christian are BACK in the ICU, my Dad and Stepmom just sent their baby girl off to college, and my Mom just boarded my little brother on a plane to Germany for 4 months.  But brace yourselves, because all of the times I've ever refrained from complaining in my life is about to all come pouring out in this post.  I had a CRAPPY week.  So did Dax.  (Ada's was just fine, LOL!)

It started when we returned to school- and the technology is all screwy, the text book situation is all screwy, and the entire Texas education system is all screwy.  I'm so exhausted, overwhelmed, and don't even know where to begin to tackle it all.  There is LITERALLY not enough time in the day.  I've been eating my lunch on the drive home everyday (I pump on my lunch break). Well, some days I eat it during my conference- at 9am.  RIDICULOUS!

I usually don't have many issues just plowing through difficult times and situations, but I'm really struggling with this one (in addition to having more responsibility at home with an extra kid, it's just kind of sending me over the edge.  Not that I'd change that fact, ha!)  So, on top of a pretty much terrible transition back into school- it rained on Thursday (which I should rejoice about), and I'd forgotten my umbrella- so the kids and I got SOAKED getting into daycare, and then school.

Dax had a GNARLY rash on his throat that was getting worse by the second (it looked so painful and disgusting.  We FINALLY got some prescription steroid cream that cured it- the cream he'd been prescribed just wasn't working.)  This picture doesn't even do the goriness justice:



THEN, I get a call from daycare on Thursday that Dax is running a 101.5 temperature.  I leave 6th and 7th periods in the dust, pick him up, and take him to the doctor.  It's a sub for our regular doc (whom we love) who stared at my boobs the entire time he was being a total jerk to me (pick one, dude.  You can't do both).  Doctor Jerk calls it "just a cold" and sends us home with our tails between our legs.

Dax gets more and more uncomfortable, and his fever gets higher and higher.  By Friday night, after a full dose of Tylenol, his temperature is almost 104 still.  I'm freaking out- but the on-call nurse says 101-104 is normal.  Don't take him to the ER until it's 105.  He's fine.  It's just a virus.  If he's had a fever for 72+ hours, then call her back.

So I wait.  And wait.  And wait.  And take his temperature.  And give him Tylenol. And give him luke warm sponge baths.  And wait.  And at 72 hours on the dot give the on-call nurse a call back.  When I answer "yes" to the question "has he been inconsolable for 2+ hours at anytime" she treats me like an IMBECILE for not rushing him to the ER then.  (I wanted to tell her she basically gave the OPPOSITE ADVICE just 36 hours prior, but bit my tongue.)

So we head on up to Texas Children's Hospital (they just built one in Katy- it was incredibly convenient.  And nice, too!  There's your perkiness for the post.)

In the waiting room at TCH.  His fever had actually had cooled down a bit, and flirted with the nurses like crazy!  Made me feel like the "crazy mom" that rushes her kid to the ER for everything, but I was just glad to see a glimpse of my little man!

The ER pediatrician checks his ears, nose, and throat, and nothing is infected.  Still no reason why he's been running such high fevers for so long.  So she orders more tests: 

Bloodwork. they couldn't find a vein because he's got such adorable chub.  So that SUCKED.  They poked and prodded my baby for probably 30 minutes.  And never got enough blood.   He was beligerent and in pain the entire time.

Heel prick: since the nurses couldn't collect enough blood from his IV, they went to the primitive heel prick, which also sucked.

Urine check: wanna know how they did it?  A catheter.  Up my baby's you-know-what.  All the way up to his bladder so they could collect a little pee-pee.  ALL FOR NOTHING because he did NOT have a Urinary Tract Infection.  Ugh.

Results: White blood cell count is VERY elevated (21,000 when normal is 5-10,000).  So they ordered more tests:

XRay: to check for pneumonia.  He's congested with very elevated WBC, so why not?  I consented.  Then declined (freaked out about the radiation).  Then consented again.  Then declined again.  Then finally consented after I talked to Casey.  They were so annoyed with me.

Results: no pneumonia.  Again, all for nothing.  At least I made them double shield his genitals to reduce radiation exposure a little more, and put my mind at ease.

So we still don't know where this bacterial infection is.  (I DID make the doctor swear to me that it was NOT bacterial meningitis.  She said he'd be hysterically crying OR almost unresponsive, so I think we're in the clear.  I'm still keeping a close eye on it, though...just because I'm in one pessimistic mood.)

They gave him an uber strong antibiotic. (again, was supposed to be IV, but couldn't find a vein.  UGH.  So he got it in a shot form.  Poor baby.)  And we are supposed to get back in to OUR doctor tomorrow.  Which normally I'd complain because this entire fiasco is going to be expensive enough... but I just want to talk to the man we know, love, and trust with our kids to get some closure and information.

Dax is actually comfortably sleeping now (I think the meds are kicking in.  Plus we caved and gave him a bottle because he wasn't nursing well... which SURPRISE!  I'm starting to get mastitis because of his decreased appetite!  So I pumped while Casey fed him.  And he ate better than he has in days.  Must be uncomfortable in the nursing position)...here are some adorable pictures of my sweetest sweet pea boy in our room after all of the tests and shots and x-rays and pokes and prods- we are just waiting on our discharge papers.  I think he could tell we were about to get the hell outta dodge- after a loooong 6 hours in the ER!

Here's to this week being a LITTLE better????

 He took a HUGE poop while we were sitting in here waiting.  I imagined that was him saying "TAKE THAT, BUTTHEADS!"