Monday, August 23, 2010

Playing catch up.....

Man, I can't believe that It has once again been two weeks since I have updated my blog.  It seems like August has completely flown by.  I have a ton to update you all on, like sick kiddos (again), our NICU reunion, the girls first hair cuts etc....but doing it all in one post would be a little over kill.  So look for several posts in the upcoming days.  I promise to do better in the future with updates.

Let's start with sick kiddos....  Last Monday (the 16th) morning, I got up with the girls, like any regular weekday morning.  Addison felt warm to me when I picked her up and was in general just acting a little crabby.  I know that she is getting some top molars so I kind of just chalked it up to teething.  {Which brings me to an official tooth count update:  Addison=10 teeth & Alexis=8 teeth}  I changed the girls, fed them breakfast and just went along with our normal morning routine.  It seemed as if Addison was just getting more crabby by the minute.  I took her temperature and it was around 99ish (I don't remember exactly), but it wasn't extremely high.  I warned Terry of the situation and just asked him to keep an eye on her throughout the day.

On this particular day I had a doctors appointment for myself scheduled with my OB for an annual physical.  I've been putting it off for way too long and decided to just suck it up and do it.  It is extremely hard for me to walk the halls of that hospital that we spent over three months of our lives at.  I physically get nauseous just pulling into the parking lot.  I went to my appointment at 3:30, was examined and then I spent a little over an hour talking to my OB about the events of the day that the girls were born.  I had never really been ready to know all of the details, and I'm not sure that before now I would have been ready to hear them.  A lot of the details are very graphic and of personal nature so I'm not going to share, but it felt good to have some closure on the situation and to know what really happen in the delivery room that day.  It was a rough ride home with a lot of emotions going through my head.

When I got home around 5:30ish, I found Addison laying in Terry's arms just white as a ghost.  She was burning up and very lethargic.  Alexis also felt warm to the touch and her nose was running like a faucet.  Terry had been trying to reach me, but since I was at the doctor, my phone was on silent mode.  I immediately grabbed the thermometer and took Addison's temperature.  The (digital) thermometer turned bright red, started beeping loudly as it popped out a temperature of 103 something.  I could just tell by Addison's demeanor that Tylenol wasn't going to fix this fever.  Terry and I decided that we should take the girls to the immediate care.   There happens to be an immediate care facility attached to the girls pediatrician's office, so we went there.  We walked in the door and signed in, exactly at 6:00.  I asked the receptionist how long she thought the wait would be and her response was "there are four people ahead of you, so it shouldn't be long". 

Addison who normally is a "nosey rosey" and up in every one's business, layed in my arms, completely motionless.  I could feel the heat just radiating off of her as she layed on me.  A half an hour went by and another father of an infant started pacing the lobby.  Apparently, he had picked his daughter up from daycare and she had a massive fever and he came directly to the immediate care.  I asked him how long he had been waiting.  He told me had been there for an hour.  He explained to me that he came unprepared, didn't have a diaper bag, cheerios, toys or anything.  I gave him a diaper, wipes, and some cheerios to help soothe his daughter.  At this point, we were all feeling helpless together. 

Now, it's 7:00.  I'm starting to get angry as I realize that patients are not being seen in the order of severity, but instead in order of their arrival.  Maybe this is common knowledge for an urgent care facility, but I was not aware of it.  Addison is still limp in my arms, as Terry is walking around outside with Alexis.  Terry's exact words describing Addison were, "I'm pretty sure you could fry an egg on her head".

At 8:00, I'm pretty fired up, but at this point we are too invested to leave and go elsewhere.  I knew that the father of the afore mentioned infant was in front of us and they had just been taken back.  Terry and I are both feeling so helpless and scared for our little girls.  I'm not kidding, Addison layed limp in my arms without barely moving for over two hours.  That is not her!!

Finally, around 8:15 we are called back by a nurse.  She weighed the girls and took their vital signs.  Addison at this point had a 104.5 temperature and Alexis 102.8.  A doctor finally came in around 8:40ish, shoved some things in the girls ears, looked at their throats, and listened to their chests.  She was in and out in less than 5 minutes.  I was really disappointed, but it also made me very grateful that we have such an amazing pediatrician for the girls.  We will never go back to that immediate care facility!!  It was not a pleasant experience for us at all!!

The long and the short of it is, Alexis has a viral infection.  As of today, a week later, Alexis is doing much better.  She still has a lingering cough and a runny nose, but we are told that just has to run it's course.  Addison was put on antibiotics for an ear infection and we are pretty sure that she is well on her way to getting tubes put in sometime in the near future.  I'm pretty sure that Addison also caught the viral infection because she also has a lingering runny nose.

Sadly, on Wednesday of last week, I came down with a high fever and the same symptoms that both the girls had.  We are all feeling better now, but not yet 100%.  We will all be glad when our house is back to being germ free.  But I have to tell you, that's one of the scariest nights that we've had with the girls in awhile. 

By the way, thanks to everyone for their texts, emails, Facebook messages and well wishes while we were pacing the floor of the immediate care facility.  A big thanks to my friend Sherri for offering to bring us dinner during our evening spent at immediate care.  We truly appreciate you bringing us dinner the following day, when all of us were feeling under the weather.  It's so nice to know that we have so many people out there praying for us. 

Stay tuned for updates regarding first haircuts, the NICU reunion and the girls first pony rides!!!

1 comment:

Lisa said...

That sounds so scary! I'm so glad you all are getting to feeling better.