The past month has been a roller coaster of emotions and one of the toughest times for our family. Bottom line up front: Anthony Paul Jr was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for 25 days with bacterial meningitis.
The full story: Thursday, 12 June. Anthony Paul was fussy and didn’t what to nurse. At about 1:00AM Ty noticed that Jr felt a little warm, so we took his temp..102! I rushed him over to the nearest ER while Ty stayed home with the girls. While there, he became more and more lethargic. He didn’t even flinch or cry through many failed attempts to start an IV and a spinal tap. They arranged for an ambulance transfer to the NICU at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Form this point it was all a blur. They started him on IV fluids, continued the antibiotics and antivirals, and he was intubated and placed on a ventilator because he went into respiratory distress.
Spinal fluid, blood, and urine cultures all came up positive for Group B Strep (surprising since I tested negative for the bacteria and Anthony Paul didn’t get sick until day 10 of life. Docs said he could have gotten it from anywhere). Treatment for this infection is 21 days of IV antibiotics. Days later a skin swab culture came back positive for HSV, a virus that can also cause meningitis. Thankfully the HSV was only present on his skin, but they began antiviral treatments in conjunction with the antibiotics just to be safe. On day 3 in the NICU, Anthony started to have seizures and they hooked him up to an EEG to confirm. The doctors were able to control the seizures with a few different medications. On 21 June, his fevers returned. A head MRI showed increased fluid in the ventricles and a blood clot in a vein that drains blood from his brain. More medication was started to treat the clot. His blood pressure was also elevated thus another med for high blood pressure. Thankfully the last week or so was less eventful and he continued to receive IV antibiotics and antivirals. He was finally discharged from the NICU this past Monday, 7 July with a handful of medications we have to give him round the clock.
Summary:
Diagnosis #1 – GBS Sepsis and Menigitis – Resolved
Diagnosis #2 – HSV – will continue to take oral medication for 6 months
Diagnosis #3 – Hydrocephalus – monitor with head ultrasounds
Diagnosis #4 – Hypertension (high blood pressure) – treat with medication
Diagnosis #5 – Thrombosis (blood clot) – treat with anticoagulant medication until dissolved
Diagnosis #6 – Seizures – treat with anti seizure medication and slowly wean as he gets older
Anthony Paul received 3 lumbar punctures, 2 blood transfusions, 2 platelet transfusions, 3 MRIs, 4 head ultrasounds, and at least a hundred needle sticks for blood tests, IVs, glucose tests, medication shots, etc.
This type of infection can be extremely devastating and are lucky that we caught it as soon as we did. Anthony Paul still has a ways to go before fully cleared, but our baby boy is feeling much better. Ty and I have to stay on top of all his medications and dozens of follow up appointments with hematology, neurology, neurosurgery, nephrology, audiology, ophthalmology, and with his pediatrician, but for now, we are happy to have him home.
I didn’t take any pictures when things were really bad…wouldn’t want to relive that time in my son’s life anyways, but here are some pictures when he started to feel a little better.
Finally getting to hold him again after 5 days in the NICU
Daddy reading Jr his big sister’s language arts journal
You can see all the IV attempts on the back of his hand. I’ve learned that it’s hard to get an IV started in infants and they don’t last long with the type of medication getting pumped through it, so they have to start a new one every couple days. They were able to get a picc line in him (after 3 failed attempts). The picc line starts in his arm and ends near his heart. It can be used over a longer period of time.
Ty’s mom and my family came out to visit and help out with the girls
I spent every minute I could in the NICU and only went home twice in the 3+ weeks. The social worker got us a room at the Fisher House on base, so I would walk over there to shower and get a little sleep and head back over to the hospital the next day to do it all over again. Ty would also come and watch over Anthony Paul when he wasn’t taking care of Jo and Ana.
All the medication he has to take at home to include a subcutaneous shot we give him twice a day (not the funnest thing to do)
“I’m outta here!”
Home sweet home 
For those of you that knew Anthony Paul was sick, thank you for your thoughts an prayers. As I sit here typing this blog entry with my baby boy in my lap, I know that he had an angel looking over him and everyone’s prayers were heard. Thank you again for all the love and support.