Sick Again... Can you believe it?

Dutch was sick again. I know what you are all thinking... "holy cow, they are one sick family." And I would like to say that we aren't, but the way things have been going, no one, not even me would believe that. It all started on Wednesday. Dutch wasn't feeling good all day and that night he started throwing up. On Thursday he was still throwing up and he had really bad diarrhea. He slept all day, the only time he would wake up was to either go to the bathroom or throw up. He literally was only awake for a total of 3 or 4 hours on Thursday. That had me pretty concerned because he doesn't usually sleep like that, even when he was sick before he never slept all day. He had spiked a pretty high fever on Thursday and I started rotating Tylenol and Ibuprofen. When that kicked in and his fever dropped, he seemed to be feeling a little better. And he woke up and was awake for about an hour and half, so I started thinking he was on the mend and things were going to be fine. So I even left the kids with David so I could get out of the house for a little while. Tara was in town and she was going shopping so I went and spent a couple hours with her shopping and I had a great time. It was great to get away from the sick for a couple of hours and to relax. When I got home David had the kids in bed and Dutch didn't throw up at all while I was gone. Things seemed great. Dutch slept all night, no vomiting or diarrhea. But then Friday morning it started all over again. If he took one tiny sip of water he would puke and puke. One teaspoon of water in his system would cause him to puke like 2 cups. It was just awful. So I called his pediatrician just to see what I needed to watch for dehydration wise. Well they told me that they had a few openings and to just bring him in. I was a little reluctant just because I know there is nothing they can do for vomiting and diarrhea but I thought it can't hurt to take him in. And I am so grateful that I did. Like I said he slept all day Thursday and he'd been sleeping all Friday, he was just so lethargic. He couldn't even hold up his head. He was worst off then a rag doll. When I got to his doctor I had to carry him in and then while I was sitting in the waiting room he started puking, luckily he had nothing in his system so I made it to the bathroom before he got any on the floor. So they took me back right after that. The nurse wanted me to undress him so we could get him weighed. Now he is old enough that they usually weigh him on the big scale where he stands on it. Nope, he couldn't even stand up, he couldn't even sit up, so we laid him on the baby scale. He had lost two pounds. So I took him back in the room and laid him on the table and the nurse leaves to go get the doctor and I could hear her telling the doctor that he is in bad shape. So they send in another nurse to see what his blood oxygen levels are. He took them and they were low. So he went to report that to the doctor, she came in and looked at him and once she saw him, she immediately said, I am going to go call 911 and then I'll be right back. While she went to call 911, she had the nurses prick his toe to see what his blood sugar levels were at. Normal is between 80-100, his were at 30. So within the next 3 minutes the paramedics arrive. They looked him over and were assessing him and asking me questions while he is laying on the table. Then they wanted me to pick him up. So I picked him up and when I did his head was just rolling from front to back and side to side, he had no control. So they loaded him up on the gurney and took him out to the ambulance. Now I just have to say that I was an emotional wreck. I was not handling it very well, it scared me so bad and I couldn't quit crying. I guess I am not as brave as some moms are. So anyways they get him in the ambulance and try to start an IV but they are having no luck because he is so dehydrated. So they take off and I am following behind in my car because I had Maylee with me. Which was just awful for them to take him and not to be able to go with him. I followed them to the hospital but obviously they beat me since they had there lights and sirens on. Once I got to the hospital I ran in and told someone in the ER that my son was just brought in by ambulance and I needed to find him. Well they couldn't find him. He wasn't put into the computer yet so we had to walk around for like 8 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) until we finally found him. When I got to him they were trying to put in another IV, they finally got one in, in the ambulance but he pulled it out. Once they got an IV in him they just started putting fluids in him and he fell asleep. I figured they would just keep him there for a few hours and put fluids in him and then send him home. Nope, they told me that they were going to get him admitted and then sent up to a room. Once they got him to a room then it was just a matter of waiting for his body to get enough fluids in him so that he could finally start going to the bathroom again and they could get labs done. On Saturday they got the lab work back and the doctor informed us that he had Rotavirus. For those of you who don't know what that is (I had never heard of it) it is the second leading virus for children being put in the hospital. RSV is first and then Rotavirus. The virus is passed through the stool of the infected person and then not having good hand washing or putting hands in mouth and touching toys. Usually they say its most common in childcare. They told us that pretty much all children are infected with this virus before the age of 5, however most kids don't show any symptoms of it. So we have no idea how he got it, he very easily could have gotten it in nursery or at a friends house. We have no idea how he got it and not that it really matters, we just wanted him to be better. He had to get poked so much in his toes to test blood sugar levels that it didn't take him long at all to hate nurses. Any time a nurse would walk into his room he would start to cry and scream no. It was so heartbreaking. When we got the results back Saturday morning, the Doctor told us that they wanted to keep him for another day to keep fluids in him and for observation. So he had to stay until Sunday. Lucky for us we have family that lives close by and that are so willing to help out. When I was driving to the hospital I called my mom to have her come meet me there. David was at work and he really couldn't leave. So my mom met me there so she could help with Maylee. Then she took Maylee Friday afternoon to her house and kept her pretty much until Sunday. I went and spent Saturday morning with Maylee while David stayed at the hospital and then I was back at the hospital Saturday evening. Then David got to spend the night with him Saturday night while I went back to my parents to stay with Maylee. It is really hard to try and divide you time between two kids. I never wanted to leave Dutch but I had another baby, a nursing one at that, who needed me too. So it was a very draining weekend to say the least. But Dutch was able to be released this morning and we are all back home together. However they did tell us the the diarrhea could last for another week. Just as long as he doesn't have diarrhea and vomiting at the same time, we should be able to keep him hydrated. We were just given strict instruction to try and keep a lot of fluids in him. Easier said then done. Since we have been home he has already had six diaper fulls of diarrhea, with several of them being blowouts. I am so ready to be done cleaning up diarrhea and throw up, its pretty much all I have done since Wednesday. But I am very grateful that he is feeling better and starting to get back to normal. When my mom was at the hospital she had her camera with her (because she is a photographer, thats what she does) so she snapped a few pictures. The first picture is of Dutch laying there in his bed. They had to really wrap his hand so he wouldn't pull out his IV. The second picture I am rocking him, trying to calm him down, he was really upset from the nurses messing with him so much.