Our Riley bear got sick =(

Riley's first month in this world has been filled with so many emotions...it has literally been a rollercoaster for us as a family!

To start, Riley's arrival was a complete surprise to all of us! Ryan's parents were still on their European vacation so needless to say, they missed her birth. However, it was still a memorable birth day for her as both of our families were ever present that day and on her homecoming two days later at our house. Ryan and I were on such a happy high over this little girl of ours, but the next morning brought about bad news from overseas...

We found out that Ryan's mom became sick while on their cruise. They were only a few days away from being back home to us, but my mom in law ended up being hospitalized for 10 days in Italy due to unexpected health issues. My sister in law flew there to be at her side and to aid her while she was in the hospital. The three of us spent the next week and half at my in laws house, while Ryan and his brother took to hosting nightly rosaries with the rest of the clan and texting/talking/emailing with the family overseas and doing the best that they could to help with anything here in the U.S. (i.e. coordinating with doctors, insurance, work, flights, etc). It became emotional for all of us, especially for Ryan. To think he was at his most happiest just a few days before and now he was at his most saddest. To make matters worse, a little over a week after the news of his mom Riley was admitted to the hospital at  just 12 days old (at this time, my mom in law was still in the hospital in Italy, but she arrived back here a few days into Riley's hospital stay) due to a blood infection and she required long term antibiotic treatment. Being a NICU nurse only made it worse...I was an emotional wreck and was now on the other side of my job: a mother. To think that the kinds of procedures that I personally did on other babies was now being done to my own child. I knew exactly what was going on in the treatment rooms they took her to have her blood drawn, start an IV, and get a spinal tap. It made me feel helpless and it made me sad that my baby was going through this =(

We were initially admitted to Kaiser Panorama City, but the pediatrician had us transferred to the PICU at Kaiser Sunset for "a higher level of care." Riley was a hard stick, meaning the nurses had difficulty placing an IV in her (they finally got one after an hour) and so the doctor felt it was best to take her to a hospital that had the equipment, staff, and the higher acuity of care to treat Riley if anything bad was to occur. We found out the next day that Riley was septic...turns out her blood culture was positive which required her to get treated with antibiotics. Doctors were unable to obtain any spinal fluid, which would have given us an idea as to how long her treatment would be (10 days for a blood infection or 14 days for meningitis). Since no one was able to get the fluid, the doctors felt it was best to treat her for a full 14 days as if she had meningitis.

Our stay in Kaiser was from August 20th to September 3rd (days 12 to 26 for Riley and coincidentally my due date!). It was the longest two weeks of our lives. Ryan and I literally lived there; we couldn't bear to be away from Riley, but our family came to visit and my mom was wonderful to come to the hospital on some days to watch Riley and relieve us so we could get out of the hospital. Ryan and I were constantly praying for Riley and halfway through our stay I came to realize that while being in this situation was probably one of the worse experiences to have to go through with our baby, the good thing that came out of it of it is that the three of us were together 24/7. We were able to be a family unit and we were able to constantly be with Riley in which we got to know her personality, her likes/dislikes, what kind of cries she has, etc. This was truly a test and a struggle for us as parents, but we got through it with God's grace. I also could not have done it without Ryan by my side; he has shown me how strong he is as a person and as my husband, but most importantly he showed me how wonderful and amazing he is as a father. I couldn't ask for anything more <3

We have been home since Tuesday afternoon; it has been so much better of course and we can tell that Riley is much more relaxed and happier to be at home. We are adjusting to being at home finally and we get to enjoy having daddy around for another week.


Here are some pictures that we took during Riley's hospital stay:

 

 

Picture of the three of us before finally going home:

 

Finally home with our sweet little love bug <3

 



love,

Riley <3

 

P.S. Thank you to all of our family and friends for your prayers and thoughts during Riley's stay in the hospital. Also, thank you for keeping Ryan and I fed and not letting us eat the hospital food lol!