This is a post I have tried to post many times. It has been erased a few times and I hope I can finally get it down. Life at the Flitton home doesn't seem to slow down. Just when I think we might start floating again and we might be able to build our savings back up or we might be able to have medical bills all paid, something else happens! The last couple of weeks are no different.
Two weeks ago tomorrow (September 28th), Madison woke up at 1:00 in the morning screaming. She never does that. I went in to get her and I tried to feed her. When she wakes up that is all she seems to want, food! She wouldn't take her milk and she kept crying. I finally calmed her down after what seemed like hours later. I decided I was going to take her to the spare bedroom and lay down with her. She was struggling to breathe and I didn't want to put her in her crib where I couldn't hear her well! I walked into the spare bedroom and had an overwhelming feeling that we needed to take her to the ER. I went and woke Colt up and told him. We both threw on some clothes and headed to Primary Children's. We arrived at the ER around 1:30. They called Madison back and put her on monitors. They decided to do a urine sample, blood work, and give her an IV.
Side note: I wanted to die when the EMT working in the ER tried to give Madison her IV. He dug and dug and dug. Madison screamed and screamed and screamed. It was gut wrenching!! He tried for about 5 minutes or so and finally decided that he couldn't get it. (She still has a bruise on that hand today!) They called the IV team in and they put an IV in her hand in about 2 seconds. She didn't even cry. Why didn't they have them do it in the first place???? (There is no bruise on that hand!!) Madison is so forgiving too. After the IV team gave her the IV, she looked up at the guy and gave him the biggest smile! She acted like nothing ever happened to her. I wish I was more like her.
Colt and I had been up since 1:00! We were wondering what they were doing. They couldn't do much until the doctors were in around 7. We were working with a great resident in the ER who was very informative and very good at making sure we were as comfortable as we could be. (The ER was FREEZING!!!!!) At about 8:30 they finally admitted her to the infant unit.
We went to the infant unit and they gave her a really strong antibiotic because they found that she had a horrible UTI. (Urinary Tract Infection for those that don't know what a UTI is.) Thirty minutes after she had the antibiotic I noticed that she wasn't herself. Her hands started to turn blue, her face turned white, and her body turned grey. She acted like she couldn't breathe. I went and got the nurse and told her something wasn't right. She sent me down the hall to get breakfast. While I was getting something to eat, her saturation level dropped. They had put her on oxygen. I was a mess at that point. I started to cry because there was nothing I could do to help my little girl and I knew that she was in a lot of pain!! The nurse called cardiology and they immediately came to her bedside. They ordered an echocardiogram right then. The nurse decided to give her some saline as well. After 5 minutes of the saline going into her body she started to respond and acting like herself again. The nurse told me that a lot of times the toxins from the infection go into the baby's body and they can't get rid of them so the saline flushes them out of their system.
They finally decided that they needed to move her to a unit where they could better monitor her heart. We ended up on the surgical floor where all of her doctors came to visit her. I love Primary's and how the doctors that have been working with Madison came to see her once they knew she was there, which was almost immediately. We spent three days at the hospital and Colt and I were able to spend the night with her. It wasn't ideal but at least I didn't have to leave my baby there! Friday my mom went down and stayed with her so that I could go to work! I am so glad that I have such an amazing mom who is willing to do anything for her kids and grandkids! Love you mom!
We returned home on Friday afternoon. Sometime that weekend, I don't really remember when, our house seemed to be a little cold. We fiddled with the thermostat to find that it wasn't heating up! We called my dad to come look at it and he couldn't find the problem either. So, we called a HVAC guy to come look at it..sure enough, we needed a new furnace! At this point I began to wonder what on earth I need to learn from all of this! We just have one thing after another! So, yesterday they came to finish putting in the carpet for our basement because of the flood (vandalism) and the furance guy replaced the furnace. What's next??
I have pictures of Madison in the hospital but they are on my phone so I will have to post them later! They show how happy she is even when she is in pain or struggling! I love my sweet girl and I am so glad that I have an amazing husband, Colt, to help me through these hard times.
I found a quote at my house the other day that so applies to us. I will put it on here as soon as I get it the exact quote!
