Today was a CRAZY day!
It started with me waking up to hearing Grace coughing and coughing over the monitor at 7:00 am. She didn't easily stop, which is weird, so I went into her room and realized she had thrown up in several places in her crib. Not a good way to start the day with a kid with a shunt. My initial thought was she had coughed so much she threw up. That thought quickly changed when she threw up in the bath tub with no coughing. I started to worry a little.
I gave her a bottle of milk (only because that's all she will drink out of her bottles - the best way to keep her hydrated). She of course threw up the only ounce she took. Then she proceeded to throw up a few minutes later. It was pitiful.
My mother in law went to get some pedialyte while I took a quick shower. Grace threw up while I was in the shower. After that, she played for a little while, then I tried to get her to take some juice with pedialyte in her cup. She took a few sips, ate a few goldfish and took a few bites of applesauce. She played then she threw up again.
Thankfully, I had already talked with our GREAT pediatrician, who said that within the hour if Grace wasn't better it would be a good idea to take her in to rule out her shunt. I had a good cry, started planning how I would fix her hair with half of it shaved, and hurried to the ER.
There was only one kid in the waiting room, so we got back quickly. The ER staff was amazing, and although by this point Grace hadn't thrown up in about an hour, she still was looking dehydrated and they were concerned it could be her shunt.
We had a shuntogram which Grace hated. She hated having to lay down for the images and cried huge tears (but I was thankful to see tears). They gave her Zofran and we tested her by giving her some clear liquids. Then it was off to MRI. Grace was very pitiful at this point. The nice man got her snug on the MRI table and the loud and scary scan started. I could hear Grace crying but there was nothing I could do. She was so brave. I finally got to scoop her up and she was snubbing. Pitiful.
We headed back to the ER to wait for the test results. In the meantime, Grace had not thrown up any more and we were so thankful. We tried some more pedialyte and she drank it down pretty amazingly. Normally, the only thing she will drink out of her bottle is milk, and the bottle is still the best way for us to keep Grace hydrated. I was so thankful she was drinking something better for her than milk at this point.
She was such a good girl as we waited. Finally about eight hours after it all started, we got the results that her tests were negative, and she probably has the stomach virus.
I've never been more thankful for the stomach virus!
Grace was the bravest girl throughout it all and I am so proud of her! We are so thankful that she is doing better and hasn't thrown up since before our ER trip.
She continues to teach me so much about perspective and trusting God. He listens to us and answers our prayers and cares about every detail of our lives. He is with us always and gives us strength and peace just when we need it. I am praising Him tonight for His continued amazing work in our lives. He is so good!
