Medical Emergencies: Gavin

We arrived home from our vacation on a Wednesday. The Friday after wards, Gavin had a really bad, smelly blow out. The same thing happened on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. One blow out each day, that was it. Gavin wasn't eating or drinking his bottles as well either, but Gavin is a finicky eater, so not having a good appetite doesn't raise any alarms for us. That week Gavin had been around his birthmom and half sister who at the end of our vacation became sick. He had also eaten yogurt and a chicken and broccoli casserole for the first time in our quest to get him to eat table food. Our other concern was that he was teething. Any of these could cause some bad diapers, so we really weren't sure what was going on and weren't too worried.

By Monday night though, I decided it was time to call the nurses at the doctors to ask them what they thought we should do. (I'm always hesitant about calling the nurses because they always seem to say come in and if we are dealing with a virus, I knew there was nothing they could do.) Gavin was crankier Monday, more lethargic, and he was drinking very little. During the night though, Gavin woke up to drink a bottle and then took a 4 oz bottle Tuesday morning. We knew he still wasn't getting enough milk, but at least he was drinking again. Gavin took a great nap Tuesday morning, so I forgot about calling the nurses. When he woke up though, he was still acting so tired and lethargic, that I finally called the nurses and left a message. We also started pushing water more and more, but Gavin is very stubborn and if he doesn't want to drink, he will not. The nurses returned my call at 5 p.m. and asked the all important question, "How many wet diapers has he had?" I felt like the dumbest mom then because I wasn't even counting diapers or worried about them. When I thought about it, I realized he had one on Monday and one on Tuesday. After talking to the doctor, I was told to get to the emergency room because Gavin was dehydrated.

The Emergency Room:
The first step the doctor took was to give Gavin a popsicle to get some quick fluids in him. This was Gavin's first and well I had to force him to eat the very little that he ate. (We didn't have our camera so we had to use Zane's camera on his phone. Sorry these pictures are so unclear.)

Checking out the Popsicle

Showing his disgust

Then we tried pedialyte in a bottle; he refused. Next we tried Gatorade through a straw; refused again. Last we tried pouring Gatorade down his throat using a syringe. This worked because we could pry his mouth open and pour the Gatorade down. It was a slow process amongst a lot of crying and fighting. We finally got 4 ounces down Gavin and then he threw it all up. We tried again and got 4 more ounces down him when he threw up again, even more than the first time. It was everywhere including all over me.

We got a short break from the force feeding when they did an Xray on Gavin's stomach. They couldn't see anything so we were told to continue the force feeding. After the first time he threw up, I was starting to get annoyed. We were tired of listening to Gavin cry while we forced fluids down him. When he threw up again, I really was done. We had been at the hospital three and a half hours with no progress. Luckily the doctor was with me and told us Gavin had just earned an IV. I hated seeing the IV in him and Gavin hated it, but he was hydrated quickly. Once we were able to feed him 2 more ounces of liquid (again by forcing it down) and Gavin kept it down, then we were allowed to leave.

It was a good thing the nurse wrapped the IV up completely because he couldn't leave his arm alone. We spent a good 30 minutes trying to distract him.

I spent the next two days feeding Gavin pedialyte from a syringe to make sure he stayed hydrated. We got a little system going and I made sure Gavin wasn't exhausted when I was trying to feed him, so it went much better at home. He still doesn't like popsicles and I had to force and trick him to eat jello (he was on an all liquid diet). By Thursday night, Gavin was back to drinking his bottles again and acting like his normal, cheerful self.

I learned a very important lesson though about Gavin. When he refuses to eat or drink, I need to force him instead of allowing him to push all liquids away assuming he will start drinking when he needs it. I'm just glad everything turned out ok in the end.