Inpatient

We got to our room and spent the next few hours holding Kara, watching the monitors and talking with the various staff that came in. Kara really wasn't settled very well and her heart rate was still way too high. She was really irritable about her feet so the nurse checked her IV out thinking it might be infiltrating so she stopped it while we waited for the resident to come in. At that point we noticed that her right leg was even more swollen than her left (IV) leg. The resident said he didn't want them to pull the IV yet given her dehydration history and the fact that she still wouldn't take a bottle. He got some more information from us and told us he'd talk with the chief and be back in. At this point something dawned on me - she's having heart problems and now swelling in her legs. I panicked so bad, thought the worst. I was sure we were going to find out she has some sort of major heart problem. The resident came back in to talk about this and I was crying. I asked him what he thought - what this meant. He said they weren't sure but it didn't seem like it was anything TOO serious. I asked if they could run an EKG and he agreed that would be a good idea. We had been able to put Kara down for a little snooze in the crib. I had her on her tummy and her pulse was stable but still somewhat high - I think it was in the 160's but definitely an improvement. He wanted to roll her over to get a good listen to her so we carefully rolled her without waking her and in just that little movement she jumped up to 210 again. I was so glad he was in there to see that!

I hadn't talked to many people at this point, mostly for the fear of starting to bawl at trying to talk about it and the constant in and out of nurses, doctors, other staff. We were communicating with most everyone by quick text messages - "she's out of surgery, everything good", "going home soon, doing great", "having heart problems" "being admitted"...

I was assured by some family members in the medical field that we were in a great place, we had a good team working with us and the fact that she wasn't in ICU was a good sign. After these conversations I seemed to settle down. Kara seemed to perk up a little bit as well. In fact, we were finally able to put her down. Child Life had brought in a mobile for the crib and some toys so we set Kara in there and she played nice and content for a while. She was still in so much pain with the swelling in her legs so we sat her in there and didn't move, just played in one spot. Auntie Laura and Lily stopped by for a visit so that was really nice to have some distraction!

She had her EKG done and cried as we held her down to get all hooked up. I knew they were quick, but seriously, she hooked up the last lead and it was over, just like that. We would find results out from that after it was interpreted by the peds cardiologist. The resident came back in shortly after and let me know that the EKG looked normal, other than the tachycardia (fast heart rate) that we already knew she had going on. He said it all looked like it was beating regular, when it should be and from the right places. WHEW. Finally able to relax about that one! The swelling was still a concern. We went over everything again for what seemed like the 100th time that day. We couldn't pinpoint anything specific but at that point they were pretty sure she was having an allergic reaction to one of the drugs she was given in anesthesia which was causing the swelling, the flushing of her skin and the fast heart rate. He decided to give her some Motrin after I assured him she was fine with it, as well as benedryl after we remembered that she HAD had it before and could tolerate it.

We got Kara all tucked in for the night probably around nine or so and at that point, found out we were getting a roommate because they were so full. I really wondered how the heck that was going to work but realized there was nothing we could do about it. I've never felt so powerless in my life! My baby was STUCK in the hospital, not stable enough to even THINK about getting her out of there yet and I worried about how we were going to make it through the night, especially getting a roommate now. Brian and I squeezed in on the twin size cot that fit perfectly between the wall and the crib so at least we wouldn't have to worry about falling off! Kara slept so well. I on the other hand, barely slept. I had this horrible fear that because she was sleeping so well that something was wrong. I couldn't relax even with the monitors on her - what if THEY failed?! Her pulse was so good while she was sleeping through the night. It was in the low 100's, even down to the 90's. She slept through them checking on her and getting vitals every two hours. At four they came in with the scale to get her weight, (WTH!) but she had been stirring for a while. We gave her a bottle but as she drank that, up the pulse went, back up into the 170's. Damn. Maybe we aren't over this yet! Kara finished her bottle and went back to sleep, we all slept until shortly after 7:00!

We took Kara down to the toy room when she woke up so the girl next door and her family could get a little bit of rest. Once we got down there, Kara started walking around! Her feet were still pretty swollen but definitely an improvement! She got down and played for quite a while. She wasn't hooked up to her monitors so I was a little nervous but this was a major improvement from our sick little girl the night before! Things can only be getting better!!!