3wo niece in ER - pls keep bub and mum in your thoughts

My three-week-old niece has been in the ER all afternoon, now admitted to hospital for up to 48 hours (at this stage). My sister is a member of the BB community - so please keep her bub and her in your thoughts tonight. I don't think it's a "touch and go" situation, but I'd imagine with such a small baby things can also take a sharp turn.

Medical staff can't diagnose problem at this point - they've done several tests and taken x-rays, and are now considering doing lumbar puncture (I understand that's the only way they can diagnose a serious illness in a newborn).

Apparently my niece has been crying a fair bit the past 24 hours like she's got a pain, or is in pain, and ran a high temp earlier today. Upshot was, my sister was advised to take her to ER. Last I heard she's settled down a bit and her temps have also settled.

Hopefully it's nothing serious, but it's a concern given she's so little. At least she was born full term at a good healthy weight, has put on weight and has been a good BFer.

Get better soon bubba, xx

Oh gosh, how awful for you all. I hope and pray that your little niece will be ok :pray:

How scary. I hope everything goes alright and it's nothing serious.
Sending all my thoughts to you, your niece, your sister, and the rest of the family. :hug:

Get well soon, precious girl!
xox

My thoughts and prayers for bub and mum.

Regards,
Dianne

Thanks gals - drs at this stage think it's a virus but still unsure. Apparently it's been very difficult to get a blood sample from my niece - I guess that's normal for a three-week-old.

No word yet on lumbar puncture. Sounds like my niece has settled a bit since being admitted - they want to keep her in for a couple of days given she's a newborn.

I'm mainly thinking of my sister. How frightning for her to see her baby girl go through this.

Oh the poor little babba :(

I hope they find the reason very soon, and wish her a very speedy recovery, being in ER is not a fun time at all and so very scary with sucha wee little bubba, keeping them in my thoughts and prayers :hug:
Take something in for mum, especially some yummy food, hospital food isn't so great and she won't want to leave bubs side for very long.
Take care xxoo

Oh no poor bubs ! :pray:

Poor Mummy too - how awful

Sending lots of :hug: and get well vibes their way !
xoxo

What a stressful time for Mumma...I'm :pray: bubs recovers really quickly hun!

Oh dear I hope she is better soon thinking of them.

xoxo

Please let her know we are all here for her. Plenty of :pray:ing for bub going on here

Thoughts for them are with us tonight *hugs* I hope there's some good news soon.

Hope things go well for your sister and your niece.

In a baby this young, fevers are almost always the result of a viral infection, and are self resolving. But because on rare occasions they can be bacterial infections, and much more serious, there is a standard set of tests that we do to make sure we aren't missing something. These include a chest x-ray (to check for pneumonia), a urine test (to check for urinary tract infection) and a lumbar puncture (to test for meningitis).

And yes, taking blood from a three week old can be very challenging.

Thanks again all.

Michael - thanks heaps for the professional advice. Appreciate hearing what commonly happens with bubs this young. What a nightmare to get to the bottom of why an infant is so ill - better to do the test and be sure though.

Beema - Would love to be there for my sister, but she's interstate. Fortunately our parents are visiting her, so she had them on hand for some help and support (she and her DH have a two-year-old DS too).

Last update is the drs on the paediatric ward think Miss S has a stomach virus. They've decided not to try to take any more blood from her and won't do the lumbar puncture at this stage. Thank goodness. She'll stay in hospital for at least 24 hours.

And on a :) note - apparently mid afternoon there was concern Miss S's tummy was bloated. No sooner did the "young doctor" (my mum's words) make the comment than Miss S did a poo explosion ... at least they know she's not constipated, and they got the poo sample they wanted!'

Hopefully tomorrow brings news that's Miss S has improved further.
Thanks again xx

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They've decided not to try to take any more blood from her and won't do the lumbar puncture at this stage.

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That's great news. We had the awful experience of trying to take blood from our 5 week old baby. It was very distressing and not something I'd wish on any parent of a baby so young.

I hope she continues to improve and mum and bub are home soon :hug:

That's great news, glad to hear she is improving.

Regards,
Dianne

I'm so glad that your niece is improving, I have been there with a very sick newborn and it is the most helpless feeling in the world. I hope she is home safe soon.

xx

Thinking of you, your sister and her/your family.
I hope your neice continues to improve.

Quick update - spoke to my sis tonight - Miss S has slowly improved over the course of the day and is now more settled and temps more consistent. If she continues to improve, she'll possibly go home tomorrow. Drs still think it's a virus, but all-in-all she's doing well considering the awful fright she gave her mummy and daddy.

Thanks again everyone for keeping my sister and niece in your thoughts.

Andie xx