William in the hospital

Well, we had a very big scare a few weeks back, when William was 7 weeks old.  I was home with him that day, and so excited that he had slept through the night the night before.  I also was giving him bigger feeding at a time that day, and he slept most of the day, which I had attributed the larger feedings.   When Patrick got home, he though he was warm, so he took his temperature, and it was 101.1.   I was heading to the Gopher Football game with Dad, so Patrick took him in to Urgent Care while I went to the game.  You see, Benjamin has had temps his entire life, so we weren't too concerned.  Well, apparently when infants have temps over 100.4, they need to go to the ER immediately,  which we didn't know!  I left the game and met them there, and it had gone up to 101.7.  Newborns cannot keep an infection localized in one area, and it often spreads to other parts of the body, most dangerously, the spinal and brain fluid.  So they took a lot of blood from William, put in a catheter for a urine sample, and most frightening, did a spinal tap.  Then they admitted him for 2 nights to the hospital to monitor while giving him fluids and antibiotics through an IV.

They determined by the end of his stay that he did not have a bacterial infection (good!) but did have a viral infection of the entero virus, and it was in his spinal and brain fluid, so he did have viral meningitis.   As I understand it, viral meningitis is the worst of viral infections, but it is better than having any bacterial infection.  The long-term risks are low, but still there.  Thankfully, he was on the mend, eating great, and we were certain the virus was making its way out.  We monitored him for the next few weeks, and although he had diarrhea for a few weeks, he has been so much better.

Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts, prayers, and love!  It was pretty scary to have him in the hospital, and both Patrick and I are SO THANKFUL to my mom and dad, who took turns staying overnight with Ben while we both looked after William during the nights.  Thank you, Mom and Dad --- we love you, and Ben loved having you with him!!

Take a look at my sweet baby ... they gave him hospital pjs that worked with his IV, and they put a diaper over his IV so he couldn't put it in his mouth.  Little sweet guy.