Reagan's First Christmas

The rest of December until Christmas passed uneventfully... a very wonderful and long overdue visit from Aunt Hannah brought much laughter and new dinosaurs for Ryan and goodies for Reagan, too.  Not that you'd know it from the last few days, but the weather allowed for a walk on the trail and a selfie (which I have discovered, is impossible for me to figure out how to take the picture while looking relaxed-- note the amount of concentration on my face):

Reagan's first Christmas approached with much anticipation... I think even she felt the excitement in the air!  Here she is on Christmas Eve:

Reagan's first solids have been avocado (big hit) and carrots (equally big hit).  I am discovering that this child LOVES to eat!  How refreshing!!

Reagan was up all night Christmas Eve into Christmas morning with what I assumed were teething discomforts.  Her fever hovered around 101.5-- not unusual for teething.  However, mid-morning on Christmas, Mom and I both realized that she suddenly felt much hotter.  We took her temperature and the thermometer beeped at 104.2.  We knew we had something other than teething on our hands.

Leaving her presents unopened, we immediately packed a bag for her, got Ryan ready to go to G-mas, and headed out the door.  RK and I went to the ER and Mike took Ryan to Cathy's.

 My Christmas dinner consisted of water and a pepperoni Hot Pocket....

Lab work and a sterile urine sample revealed a massive kidney infection and UTI.  Reagan spent two nights in the hospital where she received three doses of Rocephin, and then was sent home with further antibiotics which we continued for eight days.  Reagan had a kidney ultrasound done on Christmas Day, which we would later compare with another ultrasound three weeks later to see if the swelling in the kidneys was temporary or indicative of further renal issues.

Reagan wanted to hold her hands so badly, and couldn't figure out how to do so with the IV......

...but she finally found something that worked for her:

 Reagan still enjoyed receiving lots of love throughout this ordeal and spent much time with family:

Eventually, her brother helped her open all of her presents, and we vowed NOT to spend next Christmas in the hospital!