Ari’s Hospital Adventure // The Full Story + A HUGE Thank You

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For those who have followed along to a couple of sporadic updates on Facebook and Twitter, Ari was admitted to Akron Children’s Hospital on Tuesday morning.

Early Saturday morning Ari started to vomit — a lot. Chad had already been exposed to direct contact with Ari, so he took over full-time care duty while I tended to Remy Bea. We stayed away from the boys the entire day. I didn’t have any last minute shopping to do, but I decided to go out anyways just to get out of the house for a bit.

We made a decision late Saturday night to still celebrate Christmas on Sunday. Even though Ari was passed out on the floor of the living room, I still managed to get my Santa duties accomplished without waking him.

When he woke up Sunday morning, the poor kid had barely noticed that Santa had stopped by. The one and only thing he was excited about was his stocking. We trudged through gifts with lackluster enthusiasm. You could tell he wanted to be excited (especially about his Hatchimal), but he just couldn’t muster the energy.

So instead, he napped. And while everyone napped, I washed the carpets — which I hope and pray doesn’t turn into a Christmas tradition.

Monday we all relaxed at home and — surprise — cleaned even more. Ari napped a lot, but wasn’t throwing up anymore. That is, until about 6pm. And then he started throwing up all over again. He was so weak; so malnourished; and so dehydrated.

At this point I started to worry. He was still urinating semi-regularly so we weren’t overly concerned; but the amount of times he had vomited and the inability to hold any food down was a serious cause for concern. I consulted by phone with a couple of people I really trust and I decided to just wait until Tuesday morning to take him to the pediatrician.

Come Tuesday morning, we got in to see a doctor at our family practice that I don’t particularly care for. I was certain I’d have to convince him that something might be seriously wrong with my little man (we have a pretty serious family history of genetic pancreatitis), but, to my surprise, the doctor was incredibly concerned after taking one look at Ari.

He immediately ran a glucose test to check for Type 1 Diabetes because of the sudden (and quite significant) weight loss and dry mouth. It came back negative. But the doctor said that we needed to go to the hospital to get IV fluids.

So Chad immediately came home from work to go with us to the hospital. We were lucky to get out of the waiting room right away. The resident — the poor, poor, resident — was not at al prepared for the wrath of Mama. And? To be honest, I wasn’t bad. I just definitely didn’t have the energy or patience. The poor resident came in to ask us questions. I told her about his symptoms and our family history. I told her we wanted a blood test of his lipase and amylase. She responded with “Well, we don’t even know if he needs IV fluids, so I’ll check with my supervisor to see if that’s even an option.” To which I responded that we had been referred to the hospital for the sole purpose of IV fluids.

Sidenote: Her superior was 1000% on board with our blood test request after hearing our family history.

Good news: Not pancreatitis! Bad news: Pretty badly dehydrated. He got hours of IV fluids right there in the ER, but after not seeing any significant improvement, they decided to admit him to really get his dehydration under control.

When the attending physician came by to tell us this, I asked her how we would have possibly known that his dehydration was quite this bad. I mean, you hear “if a baby is wetting xx number of diapers, they are okay,” or “if a child is peeing 4 times every 24-hours, they are okay.” But he was urinating that frequently. So… how would we have known!?

Their answer? We wouldn’t have. We were lucky to have gone to the hospital. That mothers instinct is legit, ya’ll.

When we moved up to his room I swear Chad and I breathed a collective sigh of relief. He wasn’t better yet, but we knew he would be soon.

Oh – did I mention we still had Remy with us at this point?? Yeah. Fun times trying to keep a very curious baby in one spot.

So at this point I went home to meet my mother-in-law, get Remy settled in for a nap, and leave her in good hands, before heading back — unhatched Hatchimal in tow (per Ari’s request).

The hospitalist came in that night to just go over the treatment plan. Basically, the plan was just to administer more IV fluids and get him to keep drinking and try and get him to eat. They really just wanted to monitor his progress and make sure he was able to stay hydrated.

Thankfully, that evening Ari’s appetite came back! He straight up begged for pancakes! Luckily, he could order breakfast for dinner from room service. This kid was in heaven!

After dinner he even got his Hatchimal to hatch. We were finally able to see his eyes light up the way we hoped they would on Christmas morning!

I left for the evening (since Remy Bea is still yet to take a bottle or sippy cup) and Chad stayed overnight with Ari. But I was back up at the hospital before the boys even woke up in the morning. I found out that Ari had developed some pretty bad diarrhea overnight, but when they drew more blood Wednesday morning, his electrolyte levels were getting much better still.

He ate more and opened about 30 cards that friends and loved ones had sent to the hospital. And then we finally saw the hospitalist again. He did an exam of Ari and told us that he was going to let us all go home!

Official diagnosis: Dehydration from GI bug.

At-home instructions: Keep him hydrated by whatever means possible. Don’t worry about pushing solid foods. Get lots of rest. And basically stay away from all other humans for a week.

And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since. I will say in the 36 hours or so since we’ve been home, Ari has improved significantly. He has been drinking, eating popsicles, and a bit of food. But the most significant changes have been in his demeanor — he’s playing with Remy and he’s almost back to his little 4-year old attitude self!

Wow this is a long post! But mostly I just wanted to update all of you that sent positive vibes and long-distance hugs!

Now TGIF! Can’t wait to spend this whole weekend in the house, playing with my two kiddos!