Swollen lymph nodes, an IV, and a hospital admission.

So, I finally couldn't take it anymore. The swelling seemed to increase overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, so we loaded up Thursday afternoon and brought him to the Children's hospital ER for a second opinion. At first, they thought it was the mumps. Then they did blood work and an ultrasound on the swelling. It turns out that Michael has what's called a micro bacterial infection. Apparently, it's a pretty common infection and children, and one way they can pinpoint it is that kids with it don't typically seem "sick", which he hasn't.

The game plan is to keep him on IV antibiotics, which he receives every 6 hours (and another antibiotic once a day) and to monitor the swelling (they drew a circle around the swelling to track it). If they're not happy with the improvement the antibiotics bring, we will be consulting an ENT for surgery to remove the infected node. Call me crazy, but even if it takes surgery, I'll just be happy that it's gone and not hurting him anymore. So far, the swelling that came up underneath his chin over the last two days is almost completely gone, and the swelling around the node (on the lower bottom part of his face) has definitely reduced, but the node hasn't. So I'm anxiously waiting until the pediatrician makes his rounds in the morning.

I have to say, though, as nervous as I've been for the last week (Best diet ever, I've lost 7 lbs in one week. Ha!) about whether or not he's "okay" has GOT to be an understatement for some of the parents up here. I've seen the scariest things since I've been here...and it's only been a little over 24 hours. A few hours ago, a child a few rooms down from us coded. It was scary. My heart breaks for those parents. Another little boy on our floor celebrated his birthday today. All of the nurses signed a big poster and hung it on his door.

The best thing is that the hospital staff has been great. They've been amazing with Michael, and with Dayton and I. They've been so thorough and helpful. It's almost like a hotel here...anything you need, they've got. Even rooms for families to spend the night in (for free) on the first floor. It's amazing. My only regret is that I didn't bring him here last Friday when this first started. For some reason, it didn't even dawn on me. This is the same hospital that we brought ZoeJane to when she had RSV at 2 months. I guess I've always seen it as a hospital you're referred to, instead of one that you go to for emergencies (This was clearly my blonde roots doing their thing, because Children's DOES have an emergency room. Doh!).

So, until we get some news...here's a photo bomb of the little man...enjoy!