Let's not make a habit of this, 'kay?

Remember how I mentioned that Tuesday night D had a really hard time going to sleep?

Well... Wednesday afternoon I started noticing that he felt a bit warm. Also, his urine had a smell- a much stronger smell than normal. As in, I could smell right away when he'd went just from holding him, which is not the norm. I took his temp just to be safe, figuring it'd be nothing.

The first reading came out at about 99.5F. I took several more to be safe, using the 2 thermometers we have, and wound up with readings ranging anywhere from 99.4 to 100.3. Ugh. I called the pediatrician, they said to keep an eye on him and if his temp doesn't go down in half an hour to go to the hospital (a temp of 100.4 or higher would've been immediate trip to hosp, since he's under 3 months). Fevers in young babies like him can be a sign of serious infection, and things that can get bad fast. Anyway I continued to check his temp and continued to get mixed results, though I got one reading of 100.6 and that nailed it so off we went for D's second hospital stay in his first 2 months of life.

Based on his temp and stinky pee they thought it might be a UTI, they took a sample and did a preliminary test that indicated that this might be so but to be sure they needed to do a bacteria culture... which takes 2 days. So they started him on antibiotics just to be safe (again, need to be very proactive with little ones this young) through an IV. You should see his arm, he has this HUGE cast-like thing to keep the IV in place. It's almost humorous, esp watching how he wields that thing when he moves his arm. I've gotten whacked a couple times already.

Usually they let parents take the kid home and administer the meds at home even with an IV, but for newborns they have to keep them in the hospital. Today the culture results came back and sure enough he has e.coli in his urine, so they changed to a more specific antibiotic and told me the treatment will last SEVEN TO TEN DAYS. For which we have to stay in the hospital. Le suck. I also don't know if there will be further testing needed after finishing the treatment before letting us go home.

The silver lining is they have a great staff of nurses, and he has one assigned to him at all times. They really encourage parents to get some rest and eat well, and tonight I'm getting to sleep here at home since I left pumped milk that they'll feed him overnight. I'll be able to take time to go on a walk or just have some time away from the hospital for even an hour or 2 and leave him under their care. As much as it sucks having him there and him being sick, in a way I'm also getting a break here.

I need to find a way to call people internationally from the hospital, other than from my cell phone (which does charge the same amt to call the US as to call here in Switzerland), since I've been wanting to call people and at least get to talk to my mom but haven't had the chance yet.

Anyway, I spotted one internet cafe near the hospital when Zach and I went to get dinner last night, so I should be able to duck out every once in a while and write updates. For now the kid seems to be doing well, yesterday he was so zonked out from all the poking and prodding that he slept most of the day away, today was more difficult as he was having a much harder time going to sleep (could the caffeine in the half bottle of Coke I had at lunch be the culprit? crap).

Did I mention Zach leaves for his 5 day business trip on Sunday? Oh, and his parents also got here today.

Ok, gotta go so I can get to bed and get the most of this baby-free night deal. I don't know if I'll be able to do this again soon...