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Poor Little Thing
By bbrown | August 17, 2005
Yesterday, the best doctor ever called to check on Madeline. He was reviewing her X-ray and chart and thought that it looked like RSV. He wanted us to bring her in again so he could check her out.
He was almost certain that it was RSV. Because of her dehydration—I apologize to all my girls for passing on that particular genetic idiosyncrasy—he recommended that we take Madeline to the emergency room for further analysis. We did and she had blood work and the RSV test performed. She definitely has RSV, but the good news is that her blood oxygenation level is pretty constant at 100%. This means that she’s not in any danger. They gave her an IV, which thankfully went in on the first try.
I last saw them at 11:00 pm last night when I dropped off a few essentials. Little Madeline was sleeping, but still had goopy coughing jags occasionally. I hope Sandi was able to sleep but I doubt it because the nurse seemed like the type to interrupt sleep at her will. I hate that. I’ll be going up to see her in a bit and I’ll post an update when I get back.
[UPDATE: I spent about two hours with them today. Madeline's IV slipped out overnight, drenching Sandi while they slept. In futzing with it the next morning, the nurse accidentally removed it. They left it out, hoping that the lack of fluid might give her a hunger. It didn't: she fed once at 9:30 am for four minutes.
They put the IV back in this morning. After several tries in the arms, they decided to put it in her foot. Sandi said it was very scary, even the nurse was getting frazzled as Madeline's cries escalated. Luckily, it was a bit easier to maneuver her around with the cord coming off her heel.
Since she isn't really eating and has had maybe one wet diaper the whole time she was there, the hospital is recommending that Sandi stay over another night. It's really tough because my new job doesn't allow sick time until you've been there six months—I've been there three—and so another day off is out of the question.
I've taken off two already and am going to work four 10-hour days including Saturday to meet my obligations. Unfortunately, the project is a little behind schedule so I'm also going to need to work from home past the 10-hour days. You certainly can't pick the rough times, can you?
I've said this enough that it probably sounds trite, but this experience has deepened my abiding respect and admiration for Sandi. When I first saw little Madeline in the emergency room, I definitely wasn't doing well. She's such a little baby to have to go through all of this. Sandi, however, recognized the need to buck up and get done what was needed. She patiently held Madeline through the night so she could sleep and comforted her when nurses probed, sucked, and prodded parts that normally receive little attention. When things got complicated, she arranged things so that there were no gaps in supervision. She's an amazing woman.]
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