A hosptial stay and it is not even fall yet!

Jerry came down with a virus this past Thursday and got worse up until Monday when we finally went to the ER at CDH. The diagnosis was kind of inconclusive between walking pneumonia or a less specific unknown virus. His fevers were up to almost 104 and he became increasingly sleepy and hardly walked even today. He wasn't drinking much at all so dehydration was a major concern. It was heart wrenching seeing our baby go through this. "Mommy, I am sick. I tired and need to sleep in my bed. Please can we go to my house now?" He was grabbing his chest in pain a few times and of course that is one of the scariest things for us. My confidence grows each time he is sick that his heart at least can handle it but I also have a little fear that our "luck" could run out and I should keep my guard up and error on the side of caution. We are proud of our brave, strong boy, especially how he did his "breathing" to get through starting the IV.

So, tonight we think we are out of the woods. His heart echo was the same as his last echo so we know that it has not suffered any damage from this illness. His fevers stopped last night and he started drinking a little more today. He broke out in a rash today which could mean the end of a virus. He walked a few steps and was a little playful so we will hope he just improves a little more and we can go home in the morning.

A special thanks to Dr. Kalish who kept checking on us while Jerry was sick, the excellent staff here at CDH (especially the ER girls), and to my mom for once again somehow planning her visit around our illnesses and catastrophes!! Every time she comes (and usually when we visit her in Cleveland) we go to the hospital or the doctors. Last time she came we were all about leg x-rays and casting for Jerry. We had so many fun things planned so we really hope for a better visit next time.

The first picture above is right before Jerry started getting sick. Playing puppets with brother and friend Matthew. There are so many other updates I have been wanting to write. I guess it takes time in the hospital to update the blog these days. Until I do get to put in some other details, I can just say that eating and weight gain has gotten better. We just pray for as few illnesses as possible this fall and winter so that we can keep any weight gained.