Hospital Stay

What a week? I don't even have the sanity to figure out where to begin! Sunday and Monday Eli was SO much better. He was eating and drinking and playing like his old self again. Brandon even went to work on Monday morning. Around 10:30 though, he started complaining that his stomach hurt again. Cora had a fever and wasn't feeling well and was only happy being held and rocked, so I had Eli call Brandon and tell him to come home to help out. After Brandon came home, Eli was just laying on the couch crying saying, "Tummy ache" over and over again. His stomach swelled up and got hard as a rock. We decided to head to our doctor's office and possibly the ER. He threw up and had diarrhea on the way out the door. He was so lethargic and miserable and I think his body went into shock because at the doctor's office he just laid asleep on the examining table and didn't move the whole time. He threw up again there. Our doctor was very concerned that he could possibly have Intussusception, which is a very serious intestinal blockage that requires surgery. I had a slight meltdown when she said she he needed to be admitted, but she made me feel a lot better when she said, "You did everything right and everything you could of." I just kept remembering that all day! We spent eight hours in a room in the ER before he was admitted for the night. He was so sick he was actually relieved and kept saying, "Eli hospital" after I told him that they were going to make him feel better. I have never been so proud of Eli in my life. Throughout the whole ordeal he listened to what the doctors or nurses told him to do and answered their questions. The worst part of it all was the IV. It took FIVE tries to get it. I'm guessing it was about an hour of poking and prodding before it was in. I kept it together the entire time we were in the hospital, but when I came home to spend the night with Cora I definitely had my freak out. Eli looked like death for the first couple of hours, but after getting some IV fluids and some pain meds he already was starting to look a lot better. The ER doctor was also concerned about Intussusception. I had to worry for hours before they did a sonogram that showed NO blockage, but a huge gas build up and a lot of bile. It appeared that his stomach virus caused his intestines to act up and shut down a bit. He was passing the most explosive gas all that day and night. They did two x-rays throughout our stay that showed the same thing. Everything was fine besides a gas build up. It was crazy to see our active boy just laying in bed not moving for 8 hours. My dad rushed down to help us with Cora and my brother joined us in the ER. We could not have survived without family. Brandon's mom rushed up from Texas and helped with Eli and Cora too. Eli spent the night in the hospital with Brandon. Leaving him to come home with Cora was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It practially killed me, but both our kids needed us and I had to do it. The next day we spent the entire day in the hospital trying to keep Eli occupied. He was feeling better and didn't want to be there anymore. The hospital provided him with popsicles and other snacks to keep him busy and we took turns wheeling him around the halls in a wagon and dragging his IV behind. It was slightly hilarious. Finally around five they let us go home! Two days in the hospital was TWO TOO MANY! We are still exhausted, but I feel like I've gotten a lot done. All the housework is caught up and the entire house is sanitized and de-germed. It definitely has probably been the worst week of my life. It has been horrible watching Eli be sick, and I was SO scared throughout the hospital stay. Cora was sick too, so it made everything complicated. Double worry! I'm just glad it's all over now and we can move on!