Story of Little D an a bug called the Rota Virus

I finally have five minutes to sit down and write what happened this past week. Actually truth is I had the time sitting here in the hospital but I was a zombie. This all started last week (Friday night) when we went to a business meeting and Deklan got exposed to a normal cold. The next day he had cold symptoms (runny nose, congested, and icky) we were AT Disneyland when this happened and I was FURIOUS at the mom who had invited us over when her child was sick. In all reality I'm pretty sure this was from Disneyland though. We left early from the trip and the day after we got home Deklan started projectile vomiting...like A LOT! He couldn't even keep pedialyte down and was pretty out of it so I took him to Urgent care. These were taken right before we left. He was pretty lethargic that day.




Urgent care was a 2 hour wait- I called in to MAKE SURE he could get IV fluids. I knew he needed them. They reassured me they could...then after 2 hours they told me the kid up front had no clue what he was talking about. Awesome.



We got sent home with zofran which made the vomit stop. He was able to keep all liquids down but then it started on the other end. The diarrhea was constant. It was like fluids were flowing straight through his body and had a very distinct FOUL smell. I changed his diaper at least 30 times. No exaggeration  My house was DISGUSTING. It was all I did all day. After a full day of constant crying and him starting to look real skinny I told Jonny I wanted to take him in. Jonny said I was being seriously paranoid and to just give him fluids and let him sleep. (Momma bear ALWAYS knows best!)

I called my Pediatricians office who said it was normal and to wait it out at home. I should have trusted my gut. Instead I gave him a bath and put him to bed. I was exhausted by the end of the day. Not to mention the two nights before that he was up every few hours thirsty and crying. When Jonny got home from his meeting we sat down to eat dinner and watch a tv show. Here is where it got real scary...:(

We would hear little wimpers, pause the show to listen and then hear nothing- so we kept watching the show. This was like 9 pm or so After maybe 15 minutes I got nervous told Jonny we needed to check in on him, so we did. Jonny was standing over his crib when I came in and looked terrified. He just looked at him and said, "what's wrong...is it the shadows or does he look different to you." I looked in the crib and seriously saw a different baby.  I grabbed him so fast and noticed his WHOLE crib was covered in water. His diaper was so extremely full and Deklan was limp as could be. I immediately was crying and so frantic. (I don't handle stressful situations very well) His car seat was taken completely apart from me trying to clean it earlier from the vomit but I didn't care. We got him out of his wet clothes, jumped into the car with him on my lap and drove straight over to the er. I was BALLING. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head, and I could feel his bones over his whole body. This story may sound dramatic but I WAS SO SCARED. He was pure white, his cheeks were sunken in, his tummy was sunken in, and his eyes were beedy and black.




This was a short clip I took- I was a mess...I couldn't even hold him I was so scared of breaking him. I will never forget those wimpers I heard.

 I basically yelled at the guy at the er to take him back now so he did. Mamma bear came out full force that night. I was SO annoyed with the Dr asking me questions while WATCHING my child pretty much going in and out of consciousness. He was so dehydrated they couldn't find his veins and it had busted  leaving him now bruised. They tried over and over and FINALLY got an IV drip on him. At that point they gave him pedialyte 2 ounce bottles and he drank down 8 OF THEM in like 15 minutes time. He was dying of thirst and it broke my heart. They took xrays, blood, gave him a cathedar and took him in an ambulance to Cardons ICU for babies.



He went from chunky cheeks to skin and bones within days.











Guys, if you would have seen me...we looked like homeless people walking in there. I had mascara everywhere, was in pjs with strange shoes on I grabbed at the door, my child wasn't clothed...it was bad. And I didn't go home till the next night. I just didn't care. All I could think about was my baby. I kept thinking in my head on the way over that I KNEW it was too good to be true to have this perfect little boy, and I was SO scared for him to be taken away from me. I'm sure I was paranoid, and over dramatic, but when it's your baby, it's your whole world. I can't imagine loosing a child. It would be the hardest thing you could possibly go through. My heart goes out to anyone who has gone through anything like this or has lost a child. I can't even imagine.

D has been in the icu now since Friday night, and will be here a few more days. Good news is that he has officially been released as a PICU patient and doesn't need AS much monitoring as he did previously. He is still in the same room, just less monitoring (or so they say) 

After testing his stool he came bak positive for the Rota Virus. A very bad case of it. Probably at Disney land. Stupid Disney. Apparently it can only caught through fecal matter. In other words some sick child didn't wash their hands after they went potty and then wiped it all over disney land...awesome. It caused extreme dehydration to the point he could have died it was coming out of him THAT fast. He was down to 14 pounds. For him...at 10 months put him at loosing 3 pounds in a few days. That like us looking 30 pounds in A DAY. The goal is keep him on IV fluids, keeping his electrolytes up, and try to get him eating more. He is finally back on formula. He still won't eat solids at all. He still has diarrhea  but as of today he is MUCH better. Still weak, but spurts of Deklan comes out for a few minutes at a time. It's a huge improvement and makes me SO SO HAPPY. They won't let us come home till he has less than 6 stools a day. So far we have failed that test. Just this morning he has had three....we'll see though!

He had lots of amazing visitors- my mother in law was amazing and even spent the night so I could go home and sleep one of the nights! (HUGE HELP!)

Aunt Kelly

Aunt Sara

And here are some of the pics of our stay...He was still in good spirits despite being SO SO SICK!

Spending the night there was somewhat miserable. One tiny couch for two adults is not ideal. I couldn't stand the thought of him waking up scared and alone though. :(

Okay so a few things about the rota virus so you can stay informed. There IS a vaccine for the rota virus. It was introduced in 1996 and recalled a few times for causing issues to the child's intestines. It's a liquid that you give a child from 2 months to I think 4 years old is the oldest they can receive it. It's a LIVE stream of the virus so it can cause diarrhea  After lots of research Jonny and I had chosen NOT to give Deklan vaccinations when he was born. I can't help but feel somewhat guilty that he caught this. Now before you judge, please know that I did research and made a decision on what I felt was right for my child. The Dr. assured me that the vaccination doesn't work 100 percent of the time and now that he has gotten it, he shouldn't get it again. You CAN get it again but the likelihood is that it will be super mild. At this point it's not suggested to give him the vaccination. It's so hard to make decisions as a parent. You want THE best for your child obviously, and hate seeing your child in pain. The rotavirus attacks the intestines and causes pain. :( Each year half a million children worldwide die from the rota virus. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I HADN'T checked on him that night. So scary. Not gonna lie- I probably WILL be giving my next kids this vaccination. I am now researching the others to make decision based on each and every different one available.

Not sure why he still loves Mickey after this...but he does! Haha! Our Dr. also said that once he is back to himself it's SAFE to take him back to Disney land! I might wait a bit on this and I'm sure I will be paranoid being there, but I also don't want to create a bubble for the poor little dude. 

His wizard suit...hahaha!

I seriously have only taken like one picture with him the whole time because I looked so nasty the whole time (No sleep plus stress equals feeling really gross all day)

I had to get a naked bum shot...I just had to.

Hopefully we will be coming home soon!