Our ER Visit With a 3 Day Old

Our daughter, Ruby, was born on July 4, 2019.  She came into the world like a firecracker, 6 days after her due date and she was perfect.  Everything with my pregnancy and delivery was uneventful and healthy.  On the second morning home with Ruby, I noticed she was incredibly warm when she woke up to nurse.  I figured she was just warm from being in her pj’s and swaddle all night.  I undressed her and let her nurse to see if she would cool off a bit. After nursing her she still seemed way too warm.  Ironically, before leaving the hospital after delivery the pediatrician specifically told me, any fever over 100.4 warrants a trip to the ER until she is at least a month old.  I had Matt grab a thermometer and took her temp while changing her diaper, it almost immediately jumped to 101 degrees.  I didn’t even let it finish taking her temp.  Thankfully, my in-laws were still in town from her being born, so we were able to brush our teeth, load her up and run out the door before the other kids even woke up. 

I really wanted to share this story in the hopes that it would provide comfort to a new mom who maybe had a similar experience or prepare a mom who might go thru the same scenario.  I knew that a fever in a newborn was serious and still was shocked at the process of tests and being admitted to the hospital.  I am not a medical professional, just a mom sharing her experience.  If you are concerned about the well-being of your newborn I encourage you to reach out to your pediatrician or go directly to the hospital if you feel their condition is serious.  Obviously, this was before the Corona Virus Pandemic, so some protocol may look different now. Should you find yourself in this position, here are a few things you can expect:

Things Are Going to Happen Quick.

We drove right back to the hospital we had just left with our third daughter, our very first trip to the hospital for anything other than welcoming a new baby.  Matt dropped Ruby and me off at the door, and I walked to the desk with her in the infant carrier to tell them my daughter had a fever.  The gentleman at the desk seemed un-phased.  He slowly started the check-in questions, when he got to date of birth, I told him July 4^th, this was the morning of the 7^th, he immediately stopped and said, lets go.  Completely stopped the check-in and brought us directly to a room.  The nurses swarmed in immediately to start asking questions and bringing in needles to start IVs.  Matt hadn’t even parked the car.  I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but at this point I started to get overwhelmed.  The nurse assured me that this all is normal protocol for a newborn with fever under a certain age. 

Your Baby is Going to Get a Spinal tap, Catheter, Blood Draws and IV Antibiotics.

The doctor then came in and gave me the run down of tests they would be doing which included urine samples and a spinal tap.  I looked at Matt and said, I need you to call my mom and tell her to get here now.  My mom is a nurse, and I knew she would know the questions to ask and be there to stand up for us to make sure we were getting the proper care for our daughter.  A spinal tap in my 3 day old newborn sounded terrifying.   I delivered all 3 of my girls without an epidural mostly because the thought of a needle going into my spin scared me more than childbirth.  It is just my thing.  My mom was there in what felt like 5 minutes.  She asked the doctor about 20 questions I wouldn’t have thought to ask including how many spinal taps he had done on a newborn.  He said 3, 1 in residency and 2 since.  He appeared to be in his mid to late 50s, so this was not assuring.  He explained to us, that because she was so young and does not have the ability to fight off infections on her own, we do not have the time to start a mild course of treatment, see if it works, do more tests, etc.  We must immediately assume the worst, i.e.: meningitis, and start that treatment until the tests prove us wrong.  These cultures take approx. 72 hours to grow.  The nurses were able to get her blood draws and IV started on the first attempts, which is no easy task.  The catheter was a disaster, they tried multiple times and could not get it in and retrieve a urine sample.  They eventually decided it was best to wait a while and let the peds nurses do it once we were admitted.  The doctor eventually came back in and performed the spinal tap… his hands were shaking as he was preparing to insert a needle into 3 day old baby’s spine. I was in tears holding her tiny hands praying that she would be okay.  My poor girl was so out of it she slept thru the entire thing.  I am so thankful, she laid there peacefully and let him do what he needed to do.  The doctor got what he needed on the first try, thank you God.

Your Baby is Going to be Admitted.

After hearing that the cultures from the spinal tap take 72 hours to go, I realized we were being admitted and would not be leaving for at least 3 days.  The nurse must have seen the look on my face in this moment as she quickly walked over to comfort me.  She assured me this was all normal protocol, that Ruby looked healthy and she was sure she would be just fine.  At this point Ruby was still nursing, had good color, was producing wet diapers and was somewhat alert.  These were all good signs.  Matt was holding it together very well.  Its amazing to me how a partnership works some times.  Their have been other moments in our parenting journey where I felt like he was panicked about something and I remained very calm.  Today was the opposite, I was panicking and he was very calm. 

Peds Nurses are Really, Really Special People.

The ER nurses were fantastic and caring, but you’ve never met anyone more comforting than a hospital peds nurse.  Like I mentioned, my mom is a nurse, I think it is a special calling to be a nurse, you have a set of God given traits that the rest of us just don’t have.  Peds nurses are even more special.  They all made me feel so comforted and made me feel like they loved Ruby as their own the minute we arrived.  They were able to get the catheter in on the first try and get her urine sample without issue, rewrapped her IV so that she could put on some clothes and be swaddled and started to give us the rundown of what was going to happen over the next few days.  Ruby’s temp would be monitored every 4 hours, they would be collecting and weighing every wet/dirty diaper, I was to keep track of every time she nursed and for how long, and we would remain there until all tests came back negative, she was eating well and fever free without meds for at least 24 hours.  She was not to be left alone at all, an adult had to be in the room with her 24/7.  They also mentioned how important it would be for me to leave at least once a day, go outside for fresh air or just go downstairs and get a cup of coffee.  Yeah right. 

You Are Going to Need Your Village

Once we were all settled, I sent Matt home to get me some clothes and toiletries and check on the older girls.  Thankfully, I had yet to unpack my hospital bag from having Ruby, so he was able to just throw in a couple more pairs of pjs and come back.  My mom was still with me and we got a game plan together of who could help with the other 2 girls while I was staying with Ruby around the clock and Matt was attempting to get back to work since being off for over a week waiting on Ruby’s arrival.  When they say “it takes a village” to raise babies, they ain’t lying.  That week we leaned on my in-laws, my mom and step dad, my dad and step mom and our regular sitter. And the older girls were in summer camp during the day! Matt also spent every night at the hospital with us, I had sent him home the first night and called him before he made it out of the parking lot and told him I needed him with me.

Feeding Your Baby Will Probably Look Different Than You Planned.

That evening Ruby would not latch on to nurse, I could tell she was hungry and wanted to eat, but just seemed like it was too much effort for her to latch on and nurse.  For anyone who has nursed a baby, you know it takes a fair amount of effort for the baby to get the milk and she just did not have the energy.  After going about 6 hours without eating, the nurse suggested I pump and see if we could get her to take a bottle.  They had small 4 ounce bottles with fast flow nipples, that required very little effort from baby.  She immediately guzzled down 6 ounces of breast milk.  For a 3-day old baby, 6 ounces is a ton.  I had Matt bring me my pump just in case, but the hospital had everything I could’ve needed to pump if I hadn’t had my own.  Of course they also have formula if needed as well.  I didn’t give up on nursing and tried to get her to latch at every feeding before giving a bottle.  Thankfully, we were able to reestablish our nursing routine before we left the hospital, the pumping and bottle feeding only lasted us about 48 hours.

It’s Probably Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Better.

Our second day in the hospital was definitely the worst day.  Ruby was just miserable and whiney the entire day.  They were checking her and taking vitals every 4 hours, I was trying to feed her every 2 hours and you could just tell she was hurting.  She didn’t even like to be held, just swaddled in the bassinet to sleep.  It was awful.  Her fever was consistent for another 36 hours. We then went about 18 hours without fever until it spiked again.  But I could tell at this point she was feeling better and resting better.

Test Results Can Take 3-5 Days, and You Are Not Going to be Able to Leave Until They All Come Back.

We were finally cleared to go home on the afternoon of the 5^th day, when the final test we had to wait on came back negative and she had gone longer than 24 hours fever free!  So after 4 very long nights and 5 stressful days we were finally cleared to go home.  We had strict orders to follow up with our pediatrician the next day and closely monitor her for any signs of fever or illness. 

Looking back, it really wasn’t that bad and could have been SO much worse.  I am thankful she was never in any grave danger and I was able to be with her and hold her as much as I wanted to.  But it was still a stressful time and uncharted territory for me as a mom. 

Ruby is a now a happy and healthy 2 year old who has never had another issue after this brief stint in the hospital.  We are thankful for the health of all 3 of our girls and especially thankful to the nurses and doctors that took such good care of our baby when she needed it most.