One hell of a fever. Just shy of three weeks old, the unthinkable happens to our daughter. Her temperature soars beyond 102º, and she is brought to the emergency room at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for a battery of tests that include a spinal tap. Mom made sure the specimen was received in the first try. Otherwise, she would've given them heck. Unfortunately, the urine specimen got botched. After 5 tries, one was finally obtained after Iris had been on antibiotics for nearly 24 hours. So she gets pinned with inconclusive results on a possible bladder infection. We are grateful that she doesn't have something like meningitis, but at the same time spending 72 hours in the hospital for a mystery diagnosis is somewhat disappointing.To appease Isaac, only his favorite cousin would do. But who was going to appease her with all of Isaac's perpetual advances being flung in her direction? The boy wouldn't leave her alone. He was bossing her around with choreography one minute, trying to catch a ride on her back the next. And what was with all the kisses?Due to over-crowding in the hospital, Iris (and mom) ended up sharing a room in the ICU. It had all the fine accommodations of an insane asylum. Glass walls... a missing shower. And to top it off, a mummy-sheathed man wandered into the room on the second day. He pushed around an iv pole, with a pink soppy-wet boppy slip-cover hanging off the side. He referred to it as a peace flag.
Nothing gets past Isaac. Guess Daddy will just have to look outside this ICU experience for potential Halloween costume ideas for next month.I was forced to keep my eyes open. I stood guard over my daughter. When I wasn’t watching her every involuntary movement of the iv-casted arm, I indulged in fine reading material provided by Jen, Ashlie, and Patti. And yes, Scary Skinny was delicious. (Thank you.)
So on Friday we fled the scene. I could show you pictures of the nurse removing Iris' iv, or we could just move on to more pleasant things. Yes, Julie (Miller), it would be nice to say eventually that this was like a small (or giant) hiccup in the whole scheme of Iris' life of good health.