Our first hospital stay

July 29, 2011.  It was a Friday and the first time my baby was admitted to the hospital.  We went to the doctor that morning because the puking and the diarrhea had not been getting any better and Keean was looking pretty sick.  We had lab work done and some tests run and our pediatrician told me that he was pretty dehydrated.  She allowed me to go home and pack a bag before coming back to be admitted.  We were admitted to Rice Hospital in Willmar on the peds floor.  The immediately hooked him up to IV fluids and started asking questions about his feeding schedule.  This made me kind of chuckle.....

A feeding schedule???? HAHAHAHAHAHA.  What's that? 

This is foreign to me.  Yes, I have heard of other moms saying their baby eats every 4 hours on the nose or know when their baby is hungry or just tired, but me? Nope. This had been awhile.  My first born was an awesome eater, but this had been 11 years ago.  Keean had no schedule.  We fed him when he acted hungry and when he didn't. We fed him what seemed to be all the time because we were desperate.  We wanted him to gain weight and we wanted him healthy. 

Keean was not only malnourished, he had low muscle tone so it was hard for him to lift his head or even grab on to my hand like most babies.  He kind of just laid there breathing, and lifeless.  His eyes were sunken in and dark and his ribs stuck out like he hadn't eaten since the day he was born. 

Our pediatrician came up to the hospital to make a plan.  She knew we had tried feeding every 3-4 hours and we had exhausted all of the other "plans" the GI doctor from St.Paul had come up with to this point.  She had knowledge of another formula that I had mentioned before.  It has the proteins completely broken down so Keean's GI tract didn't have to break them down at all.  It's a hypoallergenic formula.  She said we should try it.  If it didn't work, we would worry about that then, but she wanted him on it soon.

Well, if you are familiar with Rice Hospital, you know it isn't a big hospital and it's in the small town of Willmar, MN.  When our pediatrician told them the formula she wanted him on, they had to actually call around to see if there was any near by to get it.  Children's hospitals and other big hospitals typically have it on hand, but not our small town hospital.  We had to track some down.  I almost felt like we were doing something illegal.  Calling for hook-ups!  It was interesting.

Well we finally found the jack pot.  We located a case of Elecare.  The only problem was........it was 2 hours away :)  SUPER! 

Well, as luck should have it, our nurse's husband worked in the cities and was willing to pick it up for us and deliver.  AWESOME!!!!  Praise the Lord! We don't have to drive 2 hours to find food for my baby!!!! Thank you nurses husband!

We got the formula delivery and we started right away.  At this point we were up to giving Keean 26 calories/ounce of formula.  The normal concentration is 20 calories an ounce.  We were trying to come up with any way possible to get more calories in him. 

The formula seemed to be doing something good.  Keean was interested in eating again.  He had gained a little weight (if I remember right it was an ounce in 2 days) and he wasn't projectile vomiting or crying when he pooped. 

We were going home.  It was Sunday.  We had only spent the weekend in the hospital and we had high hopes.  Keean was tolerating his feeds and was happy and hydrated.  Our pediatrician was excited she "fixed the baby" and things were good!  But just like before.......they weren't good for long!