News from Hopkins...

Coulby will be spending the night at the hospital. I knew he was not feeling well from the second that he first woke up this morning just by looking at his face. On the way out the door to head to Hopkins, he was in decent spirits despite a temp. of 101. Coulby was still chatty and walking around and being his cute little self. But the fact that he had a fever again, after just coming off of an illness, bothered me enough to think he needed to have blood drawn and his ammonia checked.

Coulby arrived at the hospital with daddy, waited around for someone to finally draw his blood, and then had to wait some more to get the ammonia results. (Same old Hopkins routine every time.) In the meantime, his temp. had reached 103, so the Motrin clearly was not doing the trick to bring the fever down. They gave him some Tylenol (which, by the way, we NEVER give him because of the potential liver damage it can cause...he does not need anything else going on with his liver!), and that brought his temp. back down to normal after a little while.

While waiting for results of Coulby's ammonia, my nerves started to get the best of me, so when the phone rang and it was my husband calling, my heart started pounding a mile a minute! His ammonia: a grand 45!! I was relieved, to say the least. The doctors were going to let Coulby come home after about 6 hours of being hooked up to IV fluids (to hydrate him and get some calories into his body), and as long as he could eat something and drink his medicated formula. He downed a bag of Fritos, drank his drink, and then proceeded to throw up! A set back for sure.

I know that Coulby had been complaining about his stomach hurting since this morning, although he did not seem sick to his stomach at all. But he is the kind of kid who does not want to eat a thing when he is really not feeling well, and I think the Fritos and formula were just a little too much for his tummy. It was too late, though, because the docs agreed that Coulby should stay for at least the next 24 hours to continue to receive fluids and calories. They worried that we would not be able to get anything into him if he came home. It was a bummer for us, but I know it is what Coulby needs right now.

I will stay home with Caroline tonight while Coulby has his daddy by his side for comfort, and then (Heaven forbid) if he is there for another night, we will switch. It is always a balancing act. And these times can be very stressful, so please say some prayers for everyone, but especially Coulby.

I will be spending my night in a state of partial sleep, waiting for the Hopkins updates from my hubby. And I will be kneeling and praying for my brave boy. The house is definitely way too quiet without him!