None of my older girls were ever hospitalized other than their births. I guess because I read a lot, I'm not the type to panic right away when they get sick. I've also always relied on my gut instinct and call the doctor only when I feel it's needed already.
So when I noticed that Cerise's umbilical cord stump was a little reddish around it at 5 days old, I felt something was amiss and immediately called her pediatrician about it. The doctor asked me if there's a foul smell emanating from it and since there was none, she said to just observe first and continue cleaning it with alcohol.
The next day, after her afternoon nap, I noticed that Cerise was a little warm to the touch. A temperature check showed a 37.9 fever. I texted her pedia again and she said to sponge bath and give medicine once it reaches higher than 38 degrees. I was also to bring her in for check up the following day.
Cerise didn't have fever anymore the next day but we still proceeded to bring
her to see the doctor. A CBC check showed that she had a high WBC count and her platelet count was below 200 (195 exactly but her pedia preferred higher than 200). Prognosis was
Sepsis, a blood infection, and she needed antibiotics. Since she was still a newborn (she was only 7 days old at that time), they needed to administer the medicines via
heplock. She also needed to be hospitalized for the duration of the antibiotics which is a week. There was nothing we could do but proceed to be admitted. The doc also said that she wanted a
blood culture done.
My heart broke to see her squirming and screaming in the ER room while her heplock was being placed. Mier saw me crying already and told me to step out while he handled her during the blood extraction for the blood culture. Subsequently, her heplock would dislodge three times during the week's duration and each time they would put it back was a stab to my heart. Finally, the doc suggested an IV drip instead for the medications and this was successful until the end of our stay.
On the second day of our stay, the pedia noticed a heart murmur on her chest. She referred a pedia cardio to come see Cerise and the cardio confirmed the murmur and asked for an X-ray and 2D Echo. The tests showed two 2mm
VSDs and a valve that did not close (
PDA, i think). This is usually symptomless at birth and usually manifests a few weeks after birth.The doc says the sizes are very small and that she is confident they will close in 3 months time. She didn't give any medications and said that we will just reassess after 3 months.
Only two weeks old and my little baby has gone through so much already. She was a real trooper all throughout the experience and I have a feeling she will turn out to be the toughest among my girls.
We are home now and enjoying our little angel. She has been breastfeeding well and loves being cuddled in a sling. We pray that things go on smoothly from here and that she grows to be a strong and confident person.
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