A scare I never want to have again

For the last week or more, PaciBaby's colic has been increasing in severity, to the point where in the last couple of days, she spent the majority of the day screaming, from dawn to dusk. Her feeding had decreased from 4 oz every couple of hours, to maybe 1.5 oz when we were lucky. I took her in to see her pediatrician yesterday morning, and she saw a nurse practitioner named Melanie. (I will never see an NP again, ever. Doctors only).

She examined PaciBaby and could not find anything obviously wrong, but for one thing. Her head size is increasing, quickly. She increased 1.25 cms since last Monday, 11 days prior, and went from the 50th percentile in head size to the 75th, while her body and weight are still in the 10th.

Alarming, at least to a parent. Melanie ordered a head ultrasound, and within a couple of hours, we were heading to the children's hospital in Norfolk. She screamed the entire time in the waiting room, while I received plenty of dirty looks from unsympathetic parents. I took her to the bathroom to calm down with a bottle while we waited.

The results came in a couple of hours later. A nurse called from the pediatrician's office, and told me that PaciBaby had some fluid on her brain. I immediately start crying, and she tells me that if she continues to scream in the way that she was (in the background) and refuse to eat, that I should take her in to the CHKD emergency room. So, I called Chad and my MIL and he left work to come meet me to get her there.

Luckily, we were seen quickly. Four hours and 100 wasted bucks later, we were told that her results AND THE RADIOLOGIST'S REPORT all came back normal, and left with a diagnosis of....colic.

I AM LIVID. Her pediatrician's office WILL be reimbursing us that money, I don't care how many people I have to raise heck with to get it. I called them this morning and reported what happened to the nursing staff, and was told by Melanie through another nurse that her results were totally normal. They had no idea where this first nurse got her information (!!!) I will be back Monday speaking with her main doctor and the office manager, filing a complaint. This is not the end.

I am, of course, SO THANKFUL that PaciBaby appears to be fine, but to go through that kind of hell for nothing is not going to be overlooked. No way.

So that is the story of how the last 36 hours have gone. Thankfully, she was great today with Chad while I was at work, and she is sleeping peacefully now. But my blood still boils.