Olivia

Olivia is the oldest of the twins, by one whole minute! Ollie is her nickname and she has the sweetest nature about her. She loves her blankets, always has one or two with her if she can.

Earlier this year we almost lost her! She spiked a high fever at daycare. I felt like a horrible mother, because when daycare called it was about 4:30 p.m. and I asked them if they could wait a half hour because then I could finish my shift at work. They insisted that I come immediately, so I did.

On the way to go pick her up I called the doctor to make an appointment so that hopefully she could return back to daycare the next day if her fever was down. (Daycare has a rule that if a child had a temperature over 102, they need a doctor release to return to daycare.) I have a great team of doctors; one of which agreed to stay later at the clinic to meet us.

I picked up Olivia and made our appointment. The symptoms a high fever that was about 104. The doctor started checking her joints, and when she checked the left hip, Olivia screamed a piercing scream! The doctor looked at me in complete bewilderment and told me to get her to the emergency as quickly as possible, something was wrong.

I gathered up the other girls and off we went to the emergency room. Olivia endured several tests, but with no conclusive results. They gave her some Ibuprofen and sent her home, with instructions to bathe her in cool water and give her fluids and Ibuprofen to reduce fever. They told if at any reason her fever was to spike and not respond to the Ibuprofen to bring her back.

We got home late that night. I didn't get much sleep, because Olivia didn't get much sleep. Around 7 a.m. I checked her temperature. It was 104.2 degrees! I gave her some Ibuprofen, got the other girls ready for the day, and checked it again. In one hour it dropped to 104.

I was pretty concerned, so I took her back to the E.R. On the way, I picked up my best friend for support and continued up to the hospital. We ended getting rear ended and finished the ride up there by ambulance.

The doctor checked her out again and informed me that she did have RSV. That isn't so scary for a child that was almost two, and didn't really explain the high fevers. We were getting ready to leave when the doctor came in with a pretty large needle and a lab tech. He told me that something weird came back in Olivia's blood work. Weird? I requested more information. The doctor explained that Olivia's blood had some bacteria in it. That's not normal, but many times there is contamination that occurs. They wanted to draw some more blood and do the test again. Just in case there really was bacteria, he wanted to start her on some heavy duty antibiotics, hence the large needle.

We were then sent home.

Early the next morning, I received a call from the doctor. It went something like this:

"Are you Olivia's mother?"

"Yes."

"This is Doctor Blank up at Primary Children's Hospital. (pause) How quickly can you bring Olivia in?"

"Why, what's wrong?"

"We need to speak with you regarding Olivia's blood work. We'll probably be admitting her and possibly other things. We need you up here as soon as possible."

My stomach dropped. I was really scared. I had no idea what was going on and almost afraid to find out. I headed back up there for the third time in 40 hrs.

Again Olivia was subject to more testing, more doctors, more poking. They did an ultrasound on her and found a couple of puss pockets on her left hip. Then they tried to stick a needle in her hip to withdraw fluid from those pockets to do a culture, however she was just to little and they couldn't get anything. She was awake the whole time being a brave girl. She was so sick. I wished I could have endured all her pain so that she wasn't going through it. About 3 p.m the decided to do surgery.

My Grandma and Grandpa came up with their home teachers and placed their hands on her head. She received a blessing of healing. I have a strong testimony that blessings help those that need them, as long as it is God's will.

Olivia was taken into surgery, for about two hours she was gone. I could barely hold myself together. I waited while she woke up, then helped her with a Popsicle. They had to put her in quarantine room, with another child that had RSV. I barely slept all night. The next morning she woke up and was practically back to normal. We played all weekend in the hospital. She recovered quickly and was sent home. She had to have a pick line installed.

After she came back home, she had to receive strong antibiotics through IV for about 3 months. I was so happy to have her home, but sad to see a child learn medical procedures so well.

She had a Staphylococcal Infection.

To this day if she sees wrapping tape, she throws it away. Was really frustrated when I had foot surgery this last summer.

She is so special in my laugh and makes me laugh on a daily basis. I am so glad she is with us and is blossoming into such a beautiful little girl.