Our first real scare

Last night was the scariest night we've had since coming to the hospital. At about 3:00pm yesterday Katelyn spiked a fever, it wasn't incredibly high, but it rapidly approached 102.6 degrees. We drew blood to culture it and check for a bacterial infection. We immediately started her on broad spectrum antibiotics, as well as some tylenol to help break the fever. Katelyn felt great a few hours later, she ate popcorn, played with Mommy & Daddy and was a happy baby. I left her room at about 11:00pm to go get some sleep in our room at the Ronald McDonald House. Todd called me at 12:15am and said I needed to get up to her room. Katelyn's fever had dropped so drastically that her body went into shock. Her body stared flexing and tensing up so much that she was completely cramped into the fetal position. She stopped breathing for a bit (not sure how long), and then started shaking, convulsing is the term that was used. After awhile the shaking slowed down and by the time I got up to her room she was shivering uncontrollably. I laid with her and kept her warm. The doctors ran tests and kept a close eye on her. It was untimately decided that she should spend the night in the Pediatric ICU. We went there at about 3:00am. Her fever broke and she was happy and awake. She slept a few hours and woke with another fever, and wouldn't stop crying for Mommy. I came to her at 8:00am. The doctors had her on an NPO (nothing by mouth) until about 12:30pm. It was horrible for Katelyn, she was begging for food. Finally they approved clear liquids, and a few hours later she could have a shake. Her first meal was when we were finally sent back to our room on the HemOnc floor. She ate hot dog, pb&j, and a few french fries. She had tylenol at 7:20am and hasn't had any since then. She hasn't had a fever since this morning. We had a relatively good day. She was very happy, once she got to put something in her stomach. We played, walked, and read a lot of books. Some of the stool samples are coming back negative for bacterial infections, and her blood culture is negative so far. Blood cultures can take 3-5 days before anything shows up. Sometimes it will show up immediately, but until we are sure that she doesn't have a bacterial infection, she will stay on the antibiotics. During her sponge bath tonight I noticed a light rash, it covered her torso and shoulders. The resident that was here this afternoon came in and said it could be the aftermath of a viral infection. He said that often times when the body, or the antibiotics, fight off a viral infection the child will get a rash. It might get prominent and darker, but it should be relieved within 24 hours. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it, and she isn't itching, so we aren't giving her benadryl. She went to bed at 8:00pm and is out like a light. She slept through labs and vitals and all the other things poeple have come into our room for. I think she'll get a good nights sleep tonight. I figure I'll try to get one as well.

I'd like to write about a cute thing that Kate did today. During her sponge bath I gave her a washcloth to wash her baby while I washed her. She was wiping the baby with the washcloth and kept telling me that the baby was "dirty". She looked up at me and took the washcloth to my face. She started wiping my face saying "dirty". I was cracking up, it was adorable. Then she puts the washcloth down and says "clean!" and kisses my nose! It was incredibly precious!

Good night, thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers! Kate's website has been updated! I wrote a little something for the "About Kate" section, and the Events section has also been updated. Enjoy!