Praise God that we were able to bring Isabel home on Saturday afternoon! Dr. Williams said that they never send kids home 100% better, but they send them home safe enough to continue their recovery at home. When we were released, Isabel had been holding down breast milk for about 24 hours with no vomiting, and her fever had come down to a reasonable level of 99-100. The last fever she had was Saturday night before bed when it was 100.0. Since then, her temp has been in the 98s or even 97s.
Despite the fact that she has had no fever and no vomiting the past 48 hours, Isabel's recovery has not been as speedy as we would like. However, we are thankful that there have not been any real regressions or setbacks either. Other than the first night, when we tried to feed her "real food" for the first time (a 1/2 of a babyfood container of unsweetened applesauce) and it came back up. I think that we just overfilled her tummy a little bit, because we fed her that applesauce right after she drank a bottle of breast milk. So, we went back to the strictly liquid diet for another day, and then last night for dinner she had rice cereal and some dry toast and kept that down! Same thing this evening - she had rice cereal and some applesauce and so far has kept that down in addition to 12.5 ounces of breast milk (from bottles) and two nursings today.
The only real symptom that continues to concern her mommy and daddy a bit is that she is EXTREMELY tired. Out of the past 24 hours, she has slept for about 20 or 21 of them. We have had to wake her up all day when we want her to nurse, have a bottle, or have a little food. Sleep is important of course for her body to continue to fight off the virus, but it is equally as important for her to continue to get nutrition so that she doesn't get dehydrated again, so we have been waking her. When she is awake, she is pretty fussy and irritable, which could be a good sign, since she has the energy to fuss, but it is frustrating and disheartening for us, because we can't really do much to make her more comfortable. We have both been spending as much time with her as possible so that while she is awake (which hasn't been much today!), she can get the extra TLC that she needs - constantly being held and cuddled. She even fell asleep sitting with me earlier, which is still very out of character for her and a sign that she still doesn't feel all that well.
We have a follow-up appointment scheduled with Dr. Williams on Wednesday morning at 10:45. They wanted her to come in for an exam and a weight check to ensure she is gaining her weight back, and to make sure things are moving in the right direction.
Please continue to keep Isabel in your prayers, that she would feel more comfortable, and that we would be able to assess what she needs when she needs it, since she can't tell us of course!
Thanks for your care and concern for our little girl.
I added a photo album from before she was sick (fun Halloween photos!) as well as one from photos of her in the hospital, in case anyone would like to see them.
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