It's Like De Ja Vu All Over Again

It was last Thursday night when it all started. The writhing in pain, the screaming and crying, the not being able to sleep, the "what-on-earth-is-going-on-here" thought; the "Do I call my dad and wake him up in the middle of the night?"; the "what if it's nothing?" then, the "this can't be nothing, something is seriously wrong."

And it was, this time with Howie.

Howie has night terrors. He was running around Thursday night, like he usually does laughing, goofing, just plain being silly. He ran into me in the bedroom (I was back early from school, another post for another time) to give me a kiss goodnight. Off to bed he went.

Around 9:30 was the first scream. I went in to soothe him back to sleep and sure enough, he fell right back to sleep. At 10:15 came the second scream, 11:45 was the third; 12:30 was the fourth (I lost count after that). After the third scream I became suspicious that this night was going to be something more than just the usual night terror night. Usually if it is a case of the night terrors, he'll scream out the first time around 11:30, the second time around 2:30 and the third time around 5:30. I just had a "hunch" that this was different and there wasn't something quite right.

On the fourth scream, I told Adam to bring Howie into our bed - I didn't want to have to keep getting up to soothe him every 45 minutes or so the entire night. This turned out to be one of the WORST nights of sleep I have ever gotten in my life. No pregnancy, no final trimester, no recovering from a c-section, no newborn was ever as bad as this night. Howie continued to thrash, writhe in pain, scream, cry, and take up an entire king size bed (I slept on less than 8" of the bed ALL NIGHT LONG). As if I needed an alarm clock, I got up around 630 to call my dad and ask him the signs of a kidney infection, urinary tract infection, appendicitis, etc. He told me the signs to look for and suggested that if it continues that I needed to get Howie into see the doctor. Howie then proceeded to throw up in bed around 715 (great, huh?) I got up and showered, just on the off chance that I needed to take him into the doctor.

Still the nagging thought of something just wasn't right, didn't and wouldn't leave me alone. At 8 o'clock on the dot I called the pediatricians office. The only thing they had with his regular doctor was a 945, 1045 or 1115. None of those times would work. I had an appointment with my doctor at 950, I had to pick up preschoolers at 11. I asked for a different doctor and got in at 830.

When we arrived, Howie was acting his usually cute self and looking at the "fooshies" (fish) in the tank. We got called back and that's when things proceeded to go south, if you will. I explained the symptoms and concerns to the doctor. She examined him and said definitely not a kidney, urinary tract or other infection. Fabulous! Not so fast. Instead, she looked at me and said, "I'm highly suspicious of an intussusception."

ARE YOU FOR REAL?! Tell me you're kidding, right? No siree, not at all. She did a rectal exam on the poor guy and determined that there was in fact blood in Howie's stool and then we proceeded to have the following conversation:


Dr. C: "I am pretty sure Howie has an intussusception. That is when the - "
Me: "Dr. C. we are all too aware of what that is. You see my husband had this happen to him almost 2 years ago, when Howie was just 3 1/2 months old."
Dr.C: "Really?!"
Me: "Yep, really."
Dr.C.: "Well, you need to go immediately to Carden Children's Hospital. I will call them now and tell them you are coming. By the time you get there they will be expecting you."
Me: "Okay. Thank you."

Fearing the worst and dreading that Howie was going to have to go through what Adam went through, I whisked Howie out of the office, called Adam on the way home to tell him the news, called my dad to update him, and began calling friends and neighbors to see if they could take the remaining two kids whilst we figured out what was wrong with Howie. I got home and Adam took Howie to the hospital. I got Caroline situated and then proceeded to go to my own appointment, which was in desperate need for me.

I met Adam and Howie at the hospital where Howie hadn't once writhed in pain or even flinched. I thought it was going to be a false alarm and we'd be sent home that day. When the ER doctor came into the room, Howie was bouncing on his knees while holding onto the rail of the bed. As I was talking to the ER doctor, Adam was telling Howie to not do that anymore because he was going to get hurt. Howie was turning around to look at Adam, lost his balance and then proceeded to knock his mouth against the rail, gave a good bump to his tooth to knock it loose and scrape his chin. Well, at least we were in the right place for that to happen!

The ER doctor talked to us and we explained our history of this possible diagnosis with him and told him that we wanted an ultrasound as well. He was more than happy to oblige us and ordered both tests to be done. The xray didn't show a whole lot, other than some big gas bubbles that were trapped. The ultrasound on the other hand, well that showed that Howie did indeed have an intussusception. I couldn't believe it. It's not common for adults to get it, but Adam did. And although it is fairly common in little boys between the ages of 10-24 months, what was the chance that our son, after Adam had his episode, would experience the EXACT SAME THING. C'mon really? It's like it's de ja vu all over again.

The radiologist did a gastrograph on Howie (a Barium enema with contrast die), to make sure that she was getting the intussusception reduced. She used 5 12 oz. bottles on the poor tyke. The pressure and fluid that was used was enough to reduce the problem and enough so that the entire 2nd flood could hear poor Howie screaming with this procedure being done. All in all it was a success, which meant no surgery. On the other hand, the chance of it happening again within the first 24hrs of reducing it was great. Which meant, Howie was going to be admitted for an overnight stay.

We got checked-in at the ER at around 945, by the time Howie was up to his room was 830. He slept maybe 1.5 hours all day long and with the sleepless night the night before that he had one would think that maybe he would crash right out once on the floor. WRONG! He was awake until about 1015. Then he crashed. The nurses would come in and monitor his vitals with the lights on, he didn't flinch. He was out!

Adam and I traded places once more. I slept at the hospital and Adam came home to be with the kids. As we waited for the pediatric surgeon to discharge Howie (the oncall pediatrician had already given us the okay to leave - one foot out the door!) he started to grimace in pain again. I immediately called the nurse to have the pediatrician come back into our room. I explained what he was doing and she ordered an xray for Howie. It was shortly after the xray was taken that I knew what was causing Howie so much pain.

The little stinker (pun intended) proceeded to let out the biggest toot I have EVER HEARD come out of a little boy. I couldn't believe it. When his nurse came back from lunch, not expecting to still see us there, she came into the room to find out what was going on. I explained to her what happened and then, well Howie obliged her with another round of ginormous flatulence that even the nurse was taken aback by. Sweet, huh?! I called Adam and for the last time, we traded places again.

This time, I was greeted at home by my own mom and dad whom had come over for the weekend. It was good to see them and I was grateful my dad could be here to help me understand what was happening and explain things further to me. We watched Howie and when I had questions about his behavior, my dad was right there to answer them. No phone calls this time, just a turn of the head and a question asked and answered immediately. It was an INCREDIBLE comfort to have him there.

Finally, I got a text from Adam about 330 that said they were just waiting for paperwork and they would be on their way home. Waaaaaawhooooooo! My baby would be home and not have to spend another night in the hospital. That was the best news I had heard all day.

So, now we deal with some of the side effects of the procedure, the bonked tooth and sore mouth, and wait and watch to see what happens next. If some of the side effects don't clear up by Friday, he'll be back to the pediatrician (he was just there today for a follow-up visit post hospitalization) to have further testing done. I am mindful and hopeful that everything will be better and that nothing more will need to be done.

I still can't believe the chances of this happening to two different people in the same family just under 2 years apart. The chances have to slim. It is definitely a de ja vu all over again. Let's just hope there isn't a "three times a charm" in the family!