Trip to the ER

Before you scroll down, no, there is no picture today. Why? Because it would seem quite heartless to take any pictures in the ER...even if they weren't so bad. That was what I thought yesterday. Today, day after the incident, I wish that I had taken pictures...sigh.

All 3 of the kids got the flu on Sunday morning...about 1 am. The boys were home with us, but Twerp #2 went on a special overnight with her grandparents to Fresno. She was really excited about the trip until she started to puke at 2 am. Gross.

Si denote: I am NOT a throw up mom. Before I became a mom, I seriously thought about not having children simply because they would at one point hurl. I think it's disgusting and I usually get nauseous myself and it's not pretty. But, like any anal girl, I went over the pros and cons and decided that vomit didn't warrant not having children.

Anyways, the kids were done being sick on Sunday morning and we put the kids on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) all day. They ate and drank and watched TV all day. It was a good Sunday. Sunday night, about 11:30, Twerp #2 came home and fell asleep. The next day, the boys were great! They ran around and played and were active and it made me tired. However, Twerp #2 wasn't doing so well. I thought that maybe she was just being cautious so I didn't force her to eat too much. I gave her a solid white water bottle filled halfway with water and she ate two bites of rice and 5 saltine crackers. This isn't too varied from her diet...she likes anything that is white. But each time she'd eat something, her tummy started to hurt. And, being scared of vomit (see side note above), I didn't force her to eat.

Tuesday morning she slept in until 9:00 and then curled up into a ball on the couch. At 9:45 I fed her "breakfast" which included 2 bites of rice and 1/4" of water in a kids cup. It was then that I called the doctor. I brought her to her doctor and on the way, I asked her if she'd gone to the bathroom that morning. Nope. I asked how many times she went to the bathroom the day before. Nope again. I said very calmly, "when was the last time you went potty?" Her response..."at lunchtime when I was with Grandma and Papa." Whoops. How could I have missed that? Are parents supposed to check how often their 5 year old goes potty?

Needless to say, we saw the doctor, I told him what I'd learned about her bathroom habit as of late and he did some tests. "Mrs. Margala, Twerp #2's eyes are kinda sunken in and since she hasn't gone to the bathroom in a while and since her heart rate isn't where is should be and since the nail test isn't good either, I'm gonna send you to the emergency room. I'll fast track you through there and call ahead for you (did I tell you that I LOVE my pediatrician?!!? He's awesome!)." Apparently she was dehydrated. Duh.

To make a long story short, she has numbing cream put on her right hand and left inside elbow. She just thought it was lotion. The doctor that saw us checked her urine (which I squeezed out of her in the bathroom) and said that if it was his son, he would have had Twerp #2 in the hospital yesterday. She had already started to metabolize other proteins and was severely dehydrated. It took two nurses to hold her down and wrap her like a mummy with two sheets so they could get the IV in. It was sad. There was a LOT of screaming and the nurse laying on top of her so she wouldn't move said that he'd have to file for Workman's Comp...she was screaming that loud. They let over 1/2 a bag of saline drip into her little body. 600 ml. After the first 200 ml was in, she was ready to go home. A HUGE difference a little water makes to the body. After we got home, she was a new girl. She had a special teddy bear that she got at the hospital and a horrifying story to tell her friends! She got to watch 2 1/2 hours of cartoons and talk about how the "boys" weren't able to watch TV all day. She called it a "mother-daughter date." I guess she has low expectations.

Score another point for the loser mom. But it's only for this kid! She takes pain well. She doesn't complain when she should and does complain when she shouldn't! She's the girl who cried wolf. But at least it wasn't four days this time (see post when she broke her arm), only 1 1/2. I should have taken a picture of her IV stuck in her arm...something to scrapbook.

When we got home she wanted to earn extra money. She cleaned out and organized our cup drawer by size and color. She reorganized the silverware drawer and cleaned up the art section of the cabinet. She went to work...ate a big meal and is the little girl that I saw on Saturday afternoon.

Praise the Lord for good doctors. For doctors that know exactly what my girl needs and calls ahead to make sure we don't wait all day. If you're ever in the South Orange County area and are looking for a great pediatrician, I'll hook you up! Dr. Christopher Lin is awesome!

Happy New Years from the Margala Family