What a week!!!

Clark and I went to the ER on Tuesday night at the pediatrician's command. At home he had an axial temp of 99.9. At the hospital he had a rectal temp of 101.4. They took blood and urine samples, he had a spinal tap & chest x-ray. He had a urinary tract infection, so they also did a kidney ultrasound.

They admitted him to the hospital because he was so young and a fever in an infant can be really dangerous. They cultured the urine, blood and spinal samples to see if the infection had spread, which it can do really fast in a little one.We had our own room for the first 24 hours, and then got a roommate. The roommate was another young mother with her 3 week old baby. Her baby had a UTI as well. She was really nice to visit with. Tom and her husband got along quite well. She was a nice roommate to have. It was also nice to have another baby with a UTI. All of the doctors said that a UTI is a common thing in an infant, and having another baby with one made us both feel better - like they weren't making it up.

We also had visits from Tom's sister, Andrea, and Aunt Mary and Sean. Their visits were encouraging and wonderful. We were thankful that they came by to hang out and encourage us.

Tom and I spent our evenings cuddling with each other and Clark, watching movies, playing Scrabble, and talking with our roommates.

A few days later, the samples were still clear, so it was just a urinary tract infection. They had to culture the bacteria to figure out which bacteria it was, and which antibiotics the bacteria would respond to. He just had regular old E. Coli. He was on IV antibiotics, he got 5 days in the hospital. On Sunday morning, they told me that we could go home! He is now on oral antibiotics for 10 more days to kill the infection. Then he will take another antibiotic for another 2 weeks to prevent a recurrent infection.
He will have to get another test to rule out structural problems that could have caused the infection, the test is called VUCG. They squirt some dye in the bladder and kidney. The VUCG will test to make sure his pee flows out and not in.
We both slept well last night and are resting at home today.

In developmental news, Clark discovered his hands on Monday/Tuesday. He was quite frustrated at the hospital when they wrapped his hand up. He kept trying to put it in his mouth, like it was a giant cotton candy. After our release from the hosptial, we came home and slept, then we went to mass, and then to Rock Bottom Brewery to have a burger and beer and nachos. Clark gripped some silverware, it was the first thing he ever actually held that we put in his hands. =)
He is holding his head up with more control, but we are still wary of whiplash. The top picture shows him pushing up while on his tummy and holding his head. Unfortunately the flash was too bright for him, so its not great, but its PROOF!
He weighs 11 lbs 12 oz. What a huge baby, huh?
He also laughed, for real. it was super cute. He smiles all of the time. It's great.

In conclusion: it sucked to have to go to the hospital, but we are glad we did. We are happy it was something simple like a UTI, and that it can be treated with oral antibiotics. We are happy to be home, and resting. Clark is feeling fine, and so is everyone else. We are just pretty tired, but doing quite well.

Love, V