I go to change her diaper before feeding her again and find an icky diarrhea diaper (I think I forgot to mention that Rach had been having some diarrhea Thursday and Friday while she was refusing to drink so not only were we worried that her ears were still infected but we were also worried about her getting dehydrated.) I was initially figuring this was still just related to that and a side effect of being on antibiotics. It turns out that this was not the case, instead Rach was having a horrific reaction to the 2nd/new antibiotic!
Saturday morning was filled with diarrhea and vomiting! Rach vomited up the second dose of the antibiotic. We gave her tummy some time & she was definitely hungry so we gave her some milk. She vomited. We tried water. She vomited. We tried Pedialyte. She vomited. We tried Cheerios. She vomited. We could not get her to keep anything down. It was heartbreaking to watch! Poor Rachel who had spent the last 2 days practically not eating was now definitely hungry and wanting to eat and now we can't get her to keep anything down. The diarrhea was also continuing this entire time and definitely seemed grosser than before.
Luckily our pediatrician has Saturday hours and we were able to get her back in. We saw a different dr than Friday, one that we liked better. She told us to stop the 2nd/new antibiotic and this time gave Rach the antibiotic shot to hopefully take care of her ears. She had us schedule a follow up appointment for first thing Monday morning to see if the shot had worked or if Rach would need a second shot. She did show some concern about the vomiting and diarrhea and asked that we bring in a stool sample to Monday's appointment just to check it.
Saturday afternoon after Rach had taken a good long nap she looked a little better and was hungry again. It had been many hours since the evil antibiotic and a few since she had last thrown up. Here is our sweet Little Bear happily devouring her bottle late Saturday afternoon:
Unfortunately about 90 seconds after I took this picture she vomited, again. Seriously, my poor baby! Matt was at work, but luckily for me Grandma and Grandpa are saints and were on their way over to help. My hope was that they could entertain Rach (or vice versa) and I could tend to the enormous pile of laundry covered in vomit. Oh yeah, Rach must have gone through about 6 pairs of pajamas that day, not to mention the towels and burp cloths we grabbed in a pinch to clean up, one of her puppies, and multiple outfits of Mommy's. Fun times.
Grandma and Grandpa got there just as I was finishing cleaning up and changing Rach's jammies again. And Rach, well poor Rach just looked sick and beat. She was tired and clingy/cuddly. We spent the rest of the night Saturday working on gradually introducing fluids (Pedialyte) back into Rach's system in tiny amounts at 10-15 minute intervals. What an ordeal! Luckily she kept the Pedialyte down this time and by the time I put her to bed it had been multiple hours of her being hydrated and not having vomited.
Sunday 3/6 we spent a quiet day at home and I worked on gradually getting Rach to drink her milk again. She definitely had an appetite and did fine with her milk. She was also able to eat some small meals like yogurt and Cheerios. She napped well, played, and was a bit more animated. The only remaining issue was that the icky diarrhea continued all day in practically every diaper. But all in all it was a good day and I was hopeful that Monday's ear recheck would go well.
Monday 3/7 Rach woke up after a better night's sleep and looked pretty good. She was still acting a bit tired and clingy/cuddly. She was in good spirits despite still having the icky diarrhea. We get to the doctor's and get some good news: Rach does not have a fever and she has gained 2 ounces since Saturday! (I think I forgot to mention that in the course of a week with the not eating, not drinking, vomiting, & diarrhea Rach had lost a little over a pound. This might not seem like a lot but when you are talking about a 14 month old that is only 23 pounds to begin with this is a lot! As a frame of reference, it took Rach a whole month to go up from 22 to 23 pounds but only a week being sick to lose more than that.) So you can imagine that the good news was music to my ears!
Next, the doctor checks Rach's ears. More good news: the infection is much better in both ears and there is just some lingering clear fluid that we just need to wait for nature to take its course and clear up, nothing that is enough that it should bother her much. No second shot is needed! Hooray!!!
The doctor asked about Rach's eating, drinking, sleeping, and diapers. I let her know that we are making progress in 3 out of the 4 areas except that we are still dealing with the icky diarrhea. I had brought in a stool sample per the doctor's request on Saturday. The doctor was concerned about the icky diapers and wanted to run a quick test on the stool to make sure that there was no blood in it. Just upon looking at it she stated that it didn't look too bad and she didn't anticipate any issues. However, after running the test we found out that it came back as testing positive for having blood in it. One step forward, two steps back, this has been how our month has gone. The doctor informs me that they need to now send the sample out for further testing and that we will not get the results back until Tuesday or Wednesday. I am told that the blood is due to one of two causes: either 1)a fluke, her bum is so irritated from the lingering rash and diarrhea that there is a bit of bleeding, or 2)she has a stomach infection now that could have been caused from the antibiotics and will need to be treated. Great!
The doctor stays pretty calm and doesn't give me too much info other than that they will let me know when they have the results and we will go from there. I drop Rach off at home and head to work after explaining everything to Matt. Luckily it is Monday so that means Rach will be with Matt in the morning and then Grandma and Grandpa the rest of the day.
Of course I am a little concerned that we are still not out of the woods and decide that its best for me to be as educated about what we might be dealing with as possible. Bad idea! If I have learned anything from this last month it needs to be this: Dr. Google is NOT your friend!! Stay away from the internet!!
After a quick search I learn just how super serious this stomach infection is. In an irony of ironies it is caused by antibiotics but is antibiotic resistant. There are only 2 or 3 meds that are used to treat it, expensive meds at that. Even with the meds there is no guarantee of it being cured. It could be cured but take months (like 9 - 10 months) to do so with multiple treatments and the person is considered contagious, ie cannot go to daycare, for the entire time. Oh yeah, its highly contagious, even to your pets. Even if it is "cured" the person is still highly at risk for it to come back in the future, especially if they are ever on antibiotics again. Or it could and has been fatal. Oh yeah, people have died from complications of it. Seriously?!? I'm sure you can imagine what this little Google search did to me. It made me ILL. (My hands are actually shaking a bit now just having to type about it and think about it again.)
Of course my mommy mind goes to the worst places and I begin to freak out. I am devastated that my angel could have this. I am terrified that we could have to go through this and she could/will suffer. I am heartbroken at the thought of heaven forbid losing her. I do not want to exist in a world that does not have Rachel. End. of. story.
I'm not going to lie, Monday I was a shit employee. I know that really sucks coming from an HR person but I was a mess. My head was so cluttered. My heart was so broken. My stomach was so upset. I cried at my desk. I tried to pull it together when Matt called and asked about what I had read, but no such luck, I crumbled again. Luckily for me, Matt and my amazing parents were strong and had words of wisdom. By the time I got home Monday night I had gathered myself and knew that no matter what I had to keep it together and be strong for Rachel.
I don't know if I can accurately put into words what Monday and Tuesday were like, as a parent, waiting for potentially devastating news. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. It was a hell of a time trying to concentrate at work.
Finally, Tuesday afternoon around 2 PM the doctor's office called. The moment of truth was here. The test came back NEGATIVE!!! Rach didn't have the stomach infection! Thank you God!!!
I did ask about the likelihood of a false negative and was told that they would do a recheck stool sample next month at Rach's 15 month appointment (so keep your fingers crossed). The doctor mentioned that the diarrhea could still be a lingering effect of all the antibiotics Rach was on or it could be a simple stomach virus, a flu bug. Little did I know we would shortly learn the answer.
The next day, Wednesday 3/9, I started to not feel so good while at work. I took a half day and came home and proceeded to feel like crap! I stayed home from work Thursday too since I was still sick. Over the course of the next 4 days (Thursday through Sunday) myself, Matt, Grandma, and Grandpa all dealt with the stomach virus. I have never in my life been so happy to have the flu!! We finally had our answer. Poor little Rach just had gotten hammered in that on top of still fighting off her ear infections she had also caught the stomach flu.
Thankfully during the days that I was home sick Rach started feeling much better. She was eating, drinking, and playing normally. She was back to being a happy ball of energy and babbling up a storm. Here is a pic from Wednesday of her shooting some hoops with her Daddy. She is really good now and so funny to watch! She cheers and claps each time she makes a basket and looks to make sure we are clapping, but she doesn't clap when she doesn't make it.
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