In case there are readers out there that I don't know that follow this blog, it has been a terrifying week in our household! We have been noticing how fussy Emmitt has been, particularly after a bottle. We chalked it up to colic or gas. I took him in the Wednesday before Christmas and the doctor put him on some meds. It didn't seem like they were helping. So, we just kind of kept trying to work with him through it. Friday it got to the point where neither Stephen or I were sleeping because he was screaming SO much. I noticed that day that when I would pick him up he would scream as if in pain. So, I made another appointment to take him in. That afternoon, I took him to our family doctor. After blood work and a chest x-ray, he chalked it up to more gas. He said he thought that one of his levels was a little high, but nothing to indicate anything but a possible virus. So we went home. Friday night he just got worse and worse to the point he wasn't eating well and was crying seemingly for no reason. Anytime he was moved even just slightly, he would let loose with some terrible screams! We again, just tried to work through it based on what the doctor had told us the day before. At about 2, I noticed that he had a red spot on his neck/shoulder area while he was asleep on the couch. About 2 hours later, he woke up screaming and Stephen brought him up for a bottle. He noticed that Emmitt was really warm. So we took his temp. My heart sank as I watched the number climb from 101 to 103 with little time in between! I also knew that when taking the temp under the arm, you are supposed to add a degree. So he really had a 104 fever! I wasted no time. I melted down right away...then called Sandra to watch Jesstine. Called my mom to tell her we were headed to the ER. Packed Emmitt's diaper bag. As soon as Sandra was here, we were off to the closest ER about 5 minutes a way. On the way, I called the doctor to fill him in. He said that he probably wouldn't have taken him in, but to go with my intuition (I had failed to mention the red spot because I didn't realize it could be a sign of what was going on). When we got to the ER, they got us in VERY quickly. We had given him tylenol before we left and they measured his temp rectally at 101. He was SO fussy! To the point I could barely calm him down. When the doctor came to look at him, I remembered to show him the red area. That is when they started to act really fast. They took bloodwork right away. I had the results from the test the previous day (my doctor gave to me when I called) so they could compare. The quick results didn't show anything unusual, but because of how high the fever was and the suspicious red area, we were admitted to the hospital. The ER we went to is associated with a local hospital, but doesn't do more than emergency services. This was beyond their scope, so they sent us to the big hospital via ambulance. Once there they acted fast in starting some IV antibiotics and let us know we would be there for a few days. My mom and dad went to the house and picked some things up for us. We spent New Year's Eve in the hospital with a very sick boy. They kept hitting him hard with two big broad spectrum antibiotics while culturing the blood work that was taken in the ER. We also fought the fever until the next afternoon. The next evening the preliminary results showed that he had some kind of strep infection. They then had to narrow down what kind it was so they knew which drug to treat it with. The following day they had determined that he indeed had step all through is blood stream. They even determined what kind it was. It was Type A: pyogenes strep infection. This is the most common type that you or I would refer to as strep throat. It is EXTREMELY rare in infants and babies under 1 year of age and even more rare as a skin infection! We have NO clue as to where he picked it up. After they determined what it was, we had him off of one antibiotic and kept up with the other. They then took more blood and cultured it. After 24 hours, no strep grew so they knew the antibiotic was working. They wanted to watch the culture one more day to make sure it was gone. So FINALLY after almost 5 days in the hospital, we got to go home today. The doctor also even helped us to get out in time to surprise Jesstine at school when she was done with school today! Here are a few photos of our journey. So far he has been doing well at home. Please continue to pray for him. I am still a bit leary. I guess because he was just SO sick, I am apprehensive about him REALLY being well again. I am paranoid about every little skin issue, cough, gag, or cry!
At the ER. I finally got him calmed down after the rectal temp check, weight check, and placement of the IV.
Because his condition was serious enough, they decided to admit him. They transported us free of charge by ambulance. I rode with him while Stephen drove behind us. He went over a bump and was a little concerned.
This shows you a little of how bright red his skin was.
Resting mostly peacefully.
It started to spread quite a bit. It initally was just on his shoulder/neck area on the left side. It eventually spread all the way across the front and back of his neck and down his left shoulder onto his back partially (not down to the shoulder blade but about half way down).
Poor guy! Had to have the IV placed three times for one reason or another.
Here he is wearing a shirt that Uncle Seth and Aunt Jenni got him!
They traced around the rash with a pen to see if it was spreading. I kept telling people that it was his tattoo tracing!
This was after the third IV. He really protested that one more than the others. The first day we were there though, a boy brought him a stuffed owl (we named him Wesley after the hospital he was at). The owl was a good companion for Emmitt.
He started to smile, laugh and play by later Monday afternoon. Here he is yesterday in his "kickie play."
Today he took a late morning snooze with Daddy!
And just before we left, he was giving even more smiles!
Again, thank you for the thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming! I pray that he stays healthy and the antibiotics so their job. It is so sad to see such a little baby have to go through this! He wasn't even 50 days old when this all started. Tomorrow he will be 8 weeks old. Just wish that some of his personality didn't have to make his first appearance in such a tough environment. His personality did start to show and he had a LOT of smiles and laughs for us as soon as he was feeling better! He even started to roll over onto his left side for the first time! Hopefully he will be healthy and strong and we don't have to repeat this for a LONG time....or EVER!
In Him,
The Hutchins Family
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