I am starting to feel like the hospital is my 2nd home. Yesterday I had to take Zack to the ER because I noticed that his soft spot on his head was buldging. He had a pretty high fever the night and day before, so I did not want to take any chances. Checking on the internet advised going to the ER because these are signs of Meningitis. So, off to the ER at 3am. By 7:30am, Zack had had a catscan (he slept through it), was admitted to the hospital, and then had a spinal tap done (he was such a brave little soldier...this was the first time in his life I really heard him cry). The doctors let us know that the test had all come back normal. However, they were stumped by the bulge and did not want to let him go until they ran some more tests. I was so tired, but the visits from Tim's parents and my Mom kept me distracted. Thanks, Moms and Dad! Zack also had some blood drawn. They ran tests to check for toxins and some rare forms of things that could be affecting him. Those also came back normal. All 4 pediatricians that had seen Zack at this point, still had no answer, but felt it was something we should keep checking on because there was no change. His fever did break finally.
At about 3:30pm my Mom showed up, with food, and held Zack for awhile. That is when I noticed the buldge start to change. While he slept it was almost back to normal. Then, while awake, it would buldge out again. I must mention that during this whole ordeal, Zack continued to be his happy, very content self. The nurses and doctors kept commenting on what a happy little boy he is. This was one of the factor's that was giving the doctors a hard time finding out what was going on. Zack just did not have any symptoms that showed he was suffering from any of the things that would go along with the buldging. The pediatric nuerologist was the next in line to poke and prod at our little boy. Zack found him interesting, because this doctor encouraged Zack to play, sit up, and show off his 'baby tricks'. He wanted to make sure Zack was meeting his milestones for his age(he just turned 6 months today). He was impressed that Zack was sitting up. The doctor said he was going to order an MRI and that this would require general anesthesia. Well, as you can imagine, I was now really perplexed. I have read how risky it is to have to put an infant under. I prayed to have the wisdom of what God would want me to do. As He always answers prayer. Our awesome pediatrician of over 7 years calls us up and says, "Veronica, I know you. I know what kind of mom you are and I know you want to avoid putting Zack under more stress if it is not needed. Since he seems to be getting better, how do you feel about being discharged and just seeing me tomorrow? We will keep up on it, but since he seems to be doing so well, let's not subject him to putting him under. It can be risky for his age." I wanted to cry and hug the doctor over the phone. It had been what I was praying for. He had to get the nuerologist's ok, but he sounded confident it would be alright. I need to mention that our pediatrician is a Christian, so this gave me added comfort. We were discharged and Tim and I took our littlest guy home.
This morning when Zack woke up he was back to 100% himself. No buldge. Thank you, Jesus! I am so grateful. We will keep an eye on his softspot, but did not feel the need for an MRI and subjecting our baby to such risk was worth it at this point. Tim, our pediatrician, and I agreed that if it were to happen again, an MRI would be the next step. However, for now he is our happy little Zack. The baby that NEVER cries...well, except for yesterday. (The nuerologist could not believe that I hadn't really heard Zack cry until that day. I admitted we are a family that are constantly tending to him, so he is always content and happy, and has no reason to cry.) Thanks to all the family and friends that prayed for us YET AGAIN. You are so faithful to us. We love you.
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