Recap of the First 10 Weeks

Scarlett has had a few adventures already. And unfortunately they weren’t all pleasant to say the least. As we were about to leave the hospital after she was first born, we were told she had jaundice. She was able to come home though, and the little photo therapy light they call a “Bili Blanket” was delivered to our house. Her highest bilirubin level was a 19 which is a high enough number to cause concern. She stayed on the light for four days, and her levels finally began dropping. Scarlett never seemed to mind the lit up blanket attached to her, but she hated having her blood tested for 8 days straight. They had to prick her little ankles daily and send the blood off so that the bilirubin level could be tested. It was awful, and little did Chris and I know the worst was yet to come…

Once the jaundice scare was over, the next couple of weeks were great. She has always slept good, usually getting up only once at night to eat. She never seemed to be colicky or unhappy. She loves to eat, and gained her birth weight back in two days after she was born! She began smiling at about 5 weeks and could hold her head up somewhat at about 6 weeks. When she was almost 8 weeks old, I decided to go back to work the last week of school to finish the year up. My mom came down to watch her for us. The first day I went back, I came home, and we noticed Scarlett seemed sleepier than usual and appeared to be a little pale. We took her temperature and were shocked to find that it was 101.4. We rushed her to the ER at Plano Medical Center. They ran tests on her blood and urine and x-rayed her chest looking for pneumonia. When all the tests came back negative, they sent us home saying she probably just had a virus of some kind.

We followed up with our pediatrician the next day who was concerned that Scarlett still had a fever but no other symptoms. She sent us to the ER at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas so that she could be tested for Meningitis. We were horrified to discover they test for Meningitis by administering a spinal tap. This ER visit was probably the worst day of her life and of mine. First, they spent almost two hours trying to start and IV. I felt so helpless seeing and hearing her scream during this. Then during the spinal tap, although we weren’t allowed in the room, I could hear her screaming from down the hall even with my ears plugged. They never did get the IV started. When the spinal fluid tested negative for Meningitis, they sent us home.

Exhausted from our past two days in the ER we went back to the pediatrician the next day for another follow up. To our dismay, Scarlett seemed to be getting worse. Her fever was no longer dropping after Tylenol, and she was becoming very fussy. Her little eyes just looked sick. Our doctor now saw signs of dehydration and admitted her to Children’s. We wound up staying there for two nights. They got an IV started this time, and the women who were able to find a vein were angels. They swaddled her and gave her sugar water while they started the IV. They were clearly experts, and she hardly cried. We were so thankful for this as it was much less traumatic for her than the previous attempts to draw blood and start an IV. And after testing the remaining spinal fluid from the spinal tap for a virus called the Enterovirus, they finally discovered what was causing her fever. She did in fact have Viral Meningitis. The Enterovirus caused her to have Viral Meningitis. Unfortunately there is no medicine to help cure Viral Meningitis. The doctors said she had to just get over it on her own, and that it usually runs its course within 5-7 days. The IV helped replenish her fluids, and they sent us home after two days. We were just thankful she didn’t have the much more serious and life threatening Bacterial Meningitis. After leaving the hospital, her fever did not return, and she began acting like her little self again. We are still baffled as to how she got Viral Meningitis. She’s breastfed and stays at home with me. We’ve never even taken her out to a restaurant for goodness sakes! We are just thankful she is better and did not suffer from any long term effects.

Miss Scarlett will be 11 weeks old on Wednesday. She weighs 14 pounds now and is 24 inches long. She’s in the 95th percentile for height and weight! She’s our little chunky monkey! She began sleeping in her crib/nursery about a week ago, and that is going very well. She’s just growing and changing daily! Here are some pics to recap the first 11 weeks!

First Family Photo



First Car Ride


First Time at Home


First Bath


First Time in Swing

First Pic with Pappa and Pa

First Pic with MiMi

First Pic With Auntie Mandy and Uncle Jeff

First Pic with Cousin London

First Pic as My Little Glow Worm (on the bili blanket)

First Time to Capture Her Smiling

First Time as a Cowboy Fan

First Friend, Baby Alli

First Pic During Tummy Time

One Month Old, May 9

Two Months Old, June 9