Last Thursday was sprinkler day at Summer Camp. It took me a week or more to find just the right swimsuit for Caitie to wear. One of Caitie's teachers, Ms. Tammy, and I were both concerned about keeping Caitie from getting sunburned, so I knew she needed more coverage than a regular swimsuit would give. I did some research on Google and found what is called a rash guard suit. It's a style of swimwear surfers wear to keep their skin from chafing on the surfboard while surfing. It gives more coverage and is kind of cute too.The morning had a rough start. When Caitie was brushing her teeth she threw up her chocolate milk she had for breakfast. It was the first time she had ever thrown up. It was startling, to say the least. I asked if it was due to the toothbrush going in too far and making her gag a bit which brought about her vomiting, she said she thought that was it, so we didn't give it anymore thought and finished getting ready for the day. We were a bit late that morning, but she didn't miss much; when I dropped her off at school, Ms. Renae came and got her to take her to where all the kids were playing in the sprinklers, which was mostly in the shade. Caitie was covered with sunscreen, the rash guard swimsuit, a regular swimsuit underneath the rash guard, and a floppy hat, so she was all set for sun, but they were mostly in the shade.
It took many trips to quite a few stores to finally find the rash guard swimwear she's wearing in the pic below. We also got her some flip flops, a hat and beach towel, which were on the list of things to bring along.
Around 4pm that afternoon I received a call from Ms. Tammy; she told me that I should come right away to pick Caitie up due to her having hit her head on the gym floor while spinning around. She thought the hit was serious enough to give me a call instead of waiting for me to pick her up, which I was getting ready to do anyway. I usually try to pick Caitie up by 4pm, it was around 4:10pm when I got the call; I was running late that day. This was the first time I ran late. I was wishing I had been on time. When I got there, Caitie was sitting in a chair between Ms. Tammy and Ms. Renae. They proceeded to tell me what happened. The kids were in line getting ready to head to their room after snack time, while in line, Caitie and some of her friends began to dance and spin around, and when doing so Caitie fell on her butt then flung back and hit her head on the hard gym floor. They said it was loud, which made it all the more worrisome. They said she didn't cry, and she told them and then me that her head didn't hurt. I could tell both Tammy and Renae were pretty concerned, so I made sure to keep an eye on Caitie. When we got home, Caitie became sleepy and wanted to lay on the couch, of which she did, and went right to sleep. I decided to check on her and when trying to wake her, she didn't respond much. I became quite concerned and thought it best to get her checked out. Since the doctor's office was closed, we thought it best to call BC/BS (our health insurance) and talk to a nurse; it was decided that Caitie should go to the ER. We took her to Mendy's Place at John C. Lincoln Hospital. While waiting to be seen, Michael held Caitie up to a salt water aquarium in the waiting area, we were all standing there looking and talking about the fish, when all of a sudden Caitie's head fell back, her eyes rolled up and back and her body jerked as her arms flew up to her chest and became rigid, she then began to shake... both Michael and I called out for someone to come quickly and help her... we ran to where the doctors and nurses were and they rushed Caitie to the first room available, which was right nearby. There were lots of people surrounding her... asking questions, hooking her up to machines to get her vitals, poking her to draw blood, etc. Caitie had come to and was screaming by then. It was decided a CT Scan was needed, which they did as well. All tests came back normal, but they still wanted to observe her overnight, so they took her to a private room on the Children's floor. We all stayed the whole time with Caitie, with the exception of Michael running home to get what was needed for an overnight stay and to pick up some food since the hospital cafeteria was closed by the time we were settled into her private room. She was watched through the night and all was well. We thought she would be checked out sometime the next morning, Friday morning, but we didn't end up getting to leave until late afternoon. It was decided that Caitie needed IV fluids; she was dehydrated. She hadn't gone potty for 24 hours, and everyone started to think the reason Caitie fell to begin with was due to becoming dizzy due to being dehydrated. She had two bags of IV fluid. She finally went potty, but they weren't satisfied with the amount or color, but after the second bag of IV fluid, and drinking apple juice and other drinks, and eating a popsicle, she finally had enough pee and of the right color, so we were allowed to leave. When we got home, Caitie said she was tired and was falling asleep while sitting up; she finally laid on the couch and fell asleep. She doesn't take naps, and her still being tired enough to fall asleep at that hour concerned me, but all had checked out okay before leaving the hospital, so I tried not to worry... not long after she fell asleep she threw up, and upon standing, she threw up again... a lot came up! Just like the morning before, she threw up chocolate milk, as well as what she had for lunch. I began to panic again. What we finally figured out is that she's had a stomach virus, which she most likely got from her friend Alina at Summer Camp. Alina had some of the same symptoms, her tummy hurt, etc., and she missed a couple of days of Summer Camp. I had Caitie rest most of the weekend; her stomach hurt on and off the whole time. We took her to the doctor's office this morning, and all was well. She is to stay on a bland diet until the virus passes, then she can start back on her normal diet, which consists mostly of chocolate milk. The milk was upsetting her stomach and that's why she threw up; at least, that's what we all decided was the reason for her throwing up. I'm going to take her back to Summer Camp tomorrow since there's a special guest that Caitie is looking forward to, but I'll probably pick her up after that; I want to keep an eye on her the next few days, so she won't be staying at Summer Camp as long as she usually does each day, but hopefully be the end of the week, or by next week, she'll be going full-time again.
Caitie's hospital room board info.
Friday morning. We checked out the playroom. It's pretty cool. Caitie played with some toys, and we all played a game. They had the Disney channel on. She made a Mr. Potato Head. The lighting wasn't all that great for taking pics.
Second visit to the playroom. She had to leave the first time in order to get hooked up to the IV. She picked out three free homemade stuffed animals to take home.
I took this pic from Caitie's hospital room door; the playroom was just across the way.
This was the bed Michael and I slept on in Caitie's room. It's across from her hospital bed. Bailey enjoyed playing on it. She slept in her stroller next to us; she was laid out in it.
Bailey's on the move these days; she's crawling all over the place. She goes between the military crawl and crawling.
Bailey reaching for a blue butterfly that was on the ceiling just to the left and above Caitie's bed.
Caitie loves her Nintendo game console; it kept her occupied at times during her hospital stay. She also played in the playroom and watched a Disney movie, the Aristocats, and watched some cartoons, one of her favorites, Little Bear, and Chuggington.
Finally leaving the hospital.
I took this pic after her doctor's appointment today; she picked out a chocolate lollipop when checking out. She doesn't like going to the doctor's office, but she does look forward to getting a lollipop. She deserves a truckload of 'em, she's been through quite a bit the last few days.
