Zoe: The Most Popular Baby in the Hospital

Our life over the past couple of weeks has been up and down for all of us. Zoe made her first trip to the hospital. On Tuesday night, June 3, Zoe had a high fever. Our pediatrician told us to take her to a clinic. After waiting at the clinic for a while, we were sent to the hospital for tests. Now, I was already pretty scared and upset on the way to the hospital. We were told when we left the clinic that there would be a room waiting for us and we would be admitted. We would just have to talk to Erica. We went into the ER because admitting was closed. We handed the man at reception our papers and ask to speak with Erica about getting a room. The man goes over to Erica and talks to her and what I deciphered from their conversation was, "I don't know anything about these people, take it to the other ladies." The man from reception comes back out and tells us to take a seat. There is a good deal of sick adults there and so I ask how long is this going to take? I was promised a room. He is like well, all of these emergency cases are before you. He walks away and I say my child is 12 weeks old with a fever, IT IS AN EMERGENCY. Poor Nate should get a medal because the crazy was only starting at this point. I then decided that I was not going to wait for Zoe to catch anything else from the people around her so I went to talk to the admitting ladies.

This is the part of the story where I went pretty crazy. My middle school students would always tell me that their moms were crazy. They would say things like, "My mom said I won't be able to drive anywhere when I am sixteen." I would always tell them that there is a switch that flips when their moms had them that made them crazy and that I was sure that I would have it happen to me too. I. Was. Right. I was, Sally Field in Steel Magnolias, level of emotional at this point. It's one of those moments where you realize how crazy you sound and you don't care at all. I went over to admitting and said that I was promised a room and I needed one because my baby didn't need to be around all the germs. I was almost yelling. They directed us to an empty waiting room where one other couple with an infant joined us. After a WHILE, we were shown to a room. I thought everything took a long time that night, I have no idea if it actually did. We were finally taken to our room. The worst part of the whole night was next, Zoe started getting the chills. Nate had to hold her because I was so worried and upset, I thought I was going to throw up. I went out to the nurse and interrupted his phone conversation to get him to give her something. I was beside myself. I couldn't see her suffer like that. They gave her Tylenol and she calmed down. I kept asking when we would see a doctor. The name of the hospital we were at was Doctor's Hospital at Renaissance. I said to Nate, "Don't hospitals employ doctors? Why are we waiting for the doctor to come? The name of the hospital is 'Doctor's Hospital'." Again, Nate should get a medal.

The doctor came and ordered the tests to be run. The nurses took us to a place called the "Procedure Room". The “Procedure Room" sucks. I don't like to use the word sucks, but I will make an exception for this one time. They do any procedure that causes pain in this room. In Zoe's case, they took blood, catheterized her, and started an IV. Zoe hates this room, Mommy hates this room, I imagine all people on Earth hate this room. At one point, she had to have her IV redone. That was the worst part of our stay. I was crying because I couldn't bear the pain they were putting her through. Put the IV in me! If you poke her one more time, I am stealing all of the needles and holding them hostage. The "Procedure Room" sucks.

At about 1:30 am, they informed us she had a urinary tract infection. There was a relief that came over me at this point because I knew what she had and how it could be treated. Before that, she could have had anything. We must have been on the floor with pediatric oncology because the scale they weighed her on when we first got there said "pediatric oncology" and one of the nurses' ID cards said it too. In my mind I am not thinking, "Oh my goodness, they think she has cancer!" Yes, I was a crazy mess. Anyway, they started her on antibiotics right away. We had to wait two days for a urine culture to return to determine what kind of bacteria was creating the infection.

Zoe was also diagnosed with bladder reflux. It has a fancier name, but it is hard to say and spell. If you Google bladder reflux it will come up. It starts with the letter V. This basically means her urine is traveling back up to her kidneys and collecting bacteria and coming back down, creating infections. She has a severe case of this. The most common treatment is to keep her on antibiotics and see if she grows out of it. The other option is surgery. We have been referred to a see a pediatric urologist to determine the course of treatment. We may have to travel as far away as Houston to see the doctor because the Valley doesn't have a pediatric urologist. Please keep Zoe, Nate and I in your prayers as we wait to see the doctor. Waiting makes the mind wander.

Even though my little girl was put through so much, she kept smiling. I love her. She really is the best baby. The nurses kept saying how good of a baby she is. I naturally agree. Here are some pics of her in the hospital.


Look at my IV


Her smile that she flashed at all the nurses and doctors. She loves to make friends.


They put this diaper with warm water on her arm because her IV blew. She is ready to box. She watched all five Rocky movies in her first month of life.


Sitting by our window.


Baby Hospital Gown

Now when you are in undesirable situations, like being in the hospital, it is always good to look for a silver lining. My silver lining was the large window right next to the hospital bed I spent all of my time in during our s. Our apartment has no windows in the living room. I noticed when I started staying home with Zoe that I craved sunlight. There is no natural light in the room that I spend most of my time in. (I would go outside if I didn't live on the surface of the sun.) This window not only provided sunshine, it was a source of entertainment. Our room overlooked the parking lot closest to the ER. While Zoe was sleeping or while I held her, I would watch people in this parking lot. It was like the mall at Christmas time. People were constantly in a Wild West type show down over parking spots.

In our stay, we were blessed with good doctors and nurses. We were also blessed with friends who brought us food and other items. Our very good friend, Alan, even went to our apartment at 1 am that first night to get our phone chargers and Zoe's teddy bear. Alan is the man. God puts the right people in place at the right times. Thank you for all of your prayers for Zoe, Nate and I. We appreciate all of the love and support.

This week Nate is busy leading VBS. Zobug and I are taking pictures. I will post about that next time because this has turned into a novel.

That is all for now. God is good.


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