On the mend!

Thanks be to God, Rebecca seems as though she is on the mend. She slept much better last night and did not seem to be feverish this morning (I didn't irritate her by checking it). Although she still didn't eat breakfast, she laughed at the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse opening song and she sang along with the Little Einsteins. I took this as an excellent sign! Although she was still pretty lethargic today, she took an interest in her lunch, and she ate a lot of wagon wheel pasta with homemade alfredo sauce that I made for her in an attempt to tempt her to eat. Then this afternoon, she was sweaty and her skin was a little clammy, but I think it was just that her fever broke finally.

Dr. Wong called me this afternoon with the tests. Nothing grew out in the urine sample overnight. That's a good sign, although they continue culturing it for a couple more days. No results back from the blood cultures (they should take 3 days). The CBC showed a white cell count of 19, while the reference range for her is below 11. So that indicates some kind of infection somewhere, but it could also indicate an infection that is going away (like ears and tonsils) in a very stressed child (like one who'd just been subjected to being catheterized and held down for a blood draw). If there was something really dangerous, the white cell count would likely be higher. All her other counts look like a baby who is sick but whose immune system is responding appropriately. Dr. Wong's one concern was the possibility of pneumonia, so we're watching her for any kind of cough or heavy breathing, but there's nothing like that. So in all likelihood, she had some kind of viral infection on top of the ears and tonsils.

Tonight, she's been much more active than in recent days, has laughed a lot and is playing. Probably responsible for her feeling much better is a special delivery package from her Grammy, which included a smushy stuffed dog named Huggley Dougley. Rebecca has indeed hugged it and smiles at it and carries it around. So hopefully she is well on the way to recovery. Sorry no pics the last few days. I'll try to remedy that soon!