The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

So we've had quite a few terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days around the Taff house lately. It started two weeks ago with my URI/strep throat/stomach bug issues. Then, I had put the wrong solution in my contact case...long story, but ended up getting the peroxide cleaner (sans neutralizer) in my eye. Let's just say I ended up sitting in the shower letting water run over my face for an hour, a blood red eye, eyes that watered like a fountain, and wearing my glasses for three days. I had to leave work early one day and kept the lights off in my classroom for two days.

THEN, the worst of the days started Thursday night. Eli came home from daycare very fussy and clingy. He had napped most of the day and even napped a couple of hours when we got home. Then, the vomiting and fever started. We were up several times throughout the night with him (sometimes for more than an hour at a time).

We decided Wesley would stay home with Eli. I'm still paying days back from my maternity leave and had missed a day and a half due to illness in the past two weeks. When we woke up Friday morning we noticed that Eli's left eye had turned a pink/purple color and begun to swell.

Here is little man at the doctor Friday morning. The doctor said the eye could have been allergies, early stages of pink eye, or the very early stages of cellulitis. She gave us an antibiotic and children's Claritin.

By the time I got home from work Friday afternoon his eye had gotten worse. The pink/purpleness had spread to the inside of his and down to his cheek. I called the doctor back and she sent us to the Medical Center. Seven months to the day, we were back at the Medical Center to be admitted to the children's ward.

I had to take Eli by myself back Wesley was coaching soccer. He had missed a lot of games/practices due to my illness, so he felt like he needed to be there. As soon as his game ended, he booked it to the hospital. I got Eli checked in, and Aunt Jan came to sit with us so I wouldn't be there alone. I went back with Eli and two nurses to get his iv started. They had a hard time finding good veins because he's so well nourished (their words not mine...although I do appreciate that they didn't call my baby fat like 85% of the rest of the world). Those twenty or so minutes that they worked on Eli were probably the worst thing I've experienced. Eli was SCREAMING (and he's VERY loud when he's mad) and crying, and so was I. They stuck my baby three or four times trying to get a good iv. At one point blood was squirting all over the table. I had to hold his head down while one of the nurses laid on top of his chest so that the second nurse could work on the veins. The nurses kept telling me to sing to him to calm him down, but I had lost it myself. I did NOT like seeing my baby hurt. I know it was for his good and to make him better, but he was scared and in pain and it was terrible to watch. All I could manage between my own tears was to kiss his head, tell him it would be ok, and that I loved him. After the longest twenty minutes ever, they finally got a good IV in. As soon as they were done working on my baby, I scooped him up, and he was immediately fine. The crying stopped and he just snuggled up to my chest. It was the best feeling.

Here's my little trooper sitting in the hospital crib. They had to tape and gauze his hand so that he wouldn't knock or pull it out (but that didn't stop him from chewing on his iv!).

Eli's blood work showed that his white blood cell count was nearly 29,000 (and this was after he'd had a day's worth of antibiotics). Dr. Y said that it should have been in the 6,000 count range. His little body sure was fighting hard. We also found out that in addition to the cellulitis, he had a pretty nasty double ear infection. Dr. Y also told us that we were lucky to catch the cellulitis so early. Had we waited even one more day, the whole left side of his face could have been swollen.

We are so thankful for the power of prayer, sweet and caring friends, and of course our family. Eli had so many people praying for him! He also had several visitors stop by to check on him. David and Mallory/Abigail came to see us and brought us supper to. It was so nice to have their company for awhile. It really kept our minds at peace and free from wandering. Aunt Jan, Grandmama (from PC), and Haleigh came by too. Also, my work friend, Sarah, came to check on Eli, and Nana & Puddin' drove up from Dothan. We also had multiple phone calls and texts.

Here's the hospital "crib". It's a little smaller than a twin size bed. Yes, I slept in that bed with Eli Friday night (tried to anyway)..complete with all the sides raised.

Puddin' brought Eli a cowboy hat back from Dallas.

We are home now, continuing the antibiotic, and will be following up with Dr, Y again this week. We've had rough nights (still up often throughout the night), but little man has started smiling again!