Sick
The Sunday before last Pearl woke up with a stuffy, runny nose. I was especially bummed as we had a first birthday to go to that day. However, Pearl was in good spirits and with the mama's permission to expose everyone to our germs, we went to the birthday party and Pearl had fun. Later that afternoon she developed a fever but her condition improved throughout the week.
Then she woke up very early on yesterday morning burning up. We didn't have a working thermometer but she felt really hot to me so I woke my husband up to give her a dose of ibuprofen. When we got up for the day her runny nose had picked back up and she was still feverish, and very grumpy. I bought a temporal artery thermometer (which is really neat and works well... when Pearl will hold still for me to use it, which unfortunately is only when she is asleep) and monitored her temperature throughout the day. It peaked at 104.5 degrees and we gave her another dose of ibuprofen at bedtime. She fell right asleep but woke up not long after and wouldn't go back to sleep for a long, long time.
Today, same story - fever, grumpy, snooty. Me doing research, trying to decide whether or not Pearl needed to go to the doctor. I was thinking she had a sinus infection from the way she seemed to be getting over the cold and then worsened, and I didn't know whether that was something that she could get over on her own or not.
At about 3:30pm, it seemed that her fever had broken. Then when I took off her diaper she ran around like a crazy person then had a major poop on the floor (I realized afterward she was looking for her potty, which was trapped in the bathroom. She's been very good about letting us know she needs to poop lately - not so much with peeing). When I stripped her down to clean her up I noticed a rashy area on her back and freaked out a little. She was crying from being wiped down and being tired and I decided the rash was enough and I'd call the pediatrician. So I made an appointment for later in the evening, and while I was on the phone Pearl calmed down and afterward I nursed her to sleep.
I woke her up looking in on her about an hour after that and she screamed and screamed and wouldn't stop and I could tell she was in pain, the poor girl, she was wiggling furiously and arching her back and gasping for breath. Watching some silly flash animations online finally got her calmed down and then I could hear it: the tell tale glurping. At a birthday dinner for my brother on Saturday night, I'd bitten into a chicken strip and thought, "Uh-oh, I think this has cow's cheese in it!" then I thought, "Mmmmmm!" and proceeded to devour two of them. I wasn't sure there was cheese in them, you see. But now I am.
She didn't have a fever when she woke up so we decided to cancel the appointment rather than expose her to more germs at the doctor's and force her to lay back in the carseat while having dairy-induced reflux. But then of course when the time of her appointment rolled around, she was feeling hot again.
So that's how things stand right now: feverish and grumpy, stuffy and snotty-nosed, rashy and refluxy. Ah, and don't forget about those bottom molars poking through. In the morning if she still has a high temperature I'm going to take her in, or of course if she worsens in the night.
Having a sick baby is tough; the decisions are hard. Should I give her fever reducers, knowing the ill effects such medicine can have on the body over time? Should I trust that the fever is harmless in itself and serves a purpose and leave it be? Should I expose her to the germs at the doctor's office, and if I do, should I let her have antibiotics that I don't feel good about giving her? Part of me wants to make her as comfortable as possible and get her through this quickly; another part wants to let her tough it out and let her body do its thing. Part of me knows that this isn't something serious and that she'll be okay; another part panics at the thought of anything happening to her.
I don't know how my mother raised six children and kept her sanity!
AM Update: Pearl is in much better spirits, the fever is gone, and even the runny nose appears to have dried up. Whew!
Then she woke up very early on yesterday morning burning up. We didn't have a working thermometer but she felt really hot to me so I woke my husband up to give her a dose of ibuprofen. When we got up for the day her runny nose had picked back up and she was still feverish, and very grumpy. I bought a temporal artery thermometer (which is really neat and works well... when Pearl will hold still for me to use it, which unfortunately is only when she is asleep) and monitored her temperature throughout the day. It peaked at 104.5 degrees and we gave her another dose of ibuprofen at bedtime. She fell right asleep but woke up not long after and wouldn't go back to sleep for a long, long time.
Today, same story - fever, grumpy, snooty. Me doing research, trying to decide whether or not Pearl needed to go to the doctor. I was thinking she had a sinus infection from the way she seemed to be getting over the cold and then worsened, and I didn't know whether that was something that she could get over on her own or not.
At about 3:30pm, it seemed that her fever had broken. Then when I took off her diaper she ran around like a crazy person then had a major poop on the floor (I realized afterward she was looking for her potty, which was trapped in the bathroom. She's been very good about letting us know she needs to poop lately - not so much with peeing). When I stripped her down to clean her up I noticed a rashy area on her back and freaked out a little. She was crying from being wiped down and being tired and I decided the rash was enough and I'd call the pediatrician. So I made an appointment for later in the evening, and while I was on the phone Pearl calmed down and afterward I nursed her to sleep.
I woke her up looking in on her about an hour after that and she screamed and screamed and wouldn't stop and I could tell she was in pain, the poor girl, she was wiggling furiously and arching her back and gasping for breath. Watching some silly flash animations online finally got her calmed down and then I could hear it: the tell tale glurping. At a birthday dinner for my brother on Saturday night, I'd bitten into a chicken strip and thought, "Uh-oh, I think this has cow's cheese in it!" then I thought, "Mmmmmm!" and proceeded to devour two of them. I wasn't sure there was cheese in them, you see. But now I am.
She didn't have a fever when she woke up so we decided to cancel the appointment rather than expose her to more germs at the doctor's and force her to lay back in the carseat while having dairy-induced reflux. But then of course when the time of her appointment rolled around, she was feeling hot again.
So that's how things stand right now: feverish and grumpy, stuffy and snotty-nosed, rashy and refluxy. Ah, and don't forget about those bottom molars poking through. In the morning if she still has a high temperature I'm going to take her in, or of course if she worsens in the night.
Having a sick baby is tough; the decisions are hard. Should I give her fever reducers, knowing the ill effects such medicine can have on the body over time? Should I trust that the fever is harmless in itself and serves a purpose and leave it be? Should I expose her to the germs at the doctor's office, and if I do, should I let her have antibiotics that I don't feel good about giving her? Part of me wants to make her as comfortable as possible and get her through this quickly; another part wants to let her tough it out and let her body do its thing. Part of me knows that this isn't something serious and that she'll be okay; another part panics at the thought of anything happening to her.
I don't know how my mother raised six children and kept her sanity!
AM Update: Pearl is in much better spirits, the fever is gone, and even the runny nose appears to have dried up. Whew!
Labels: Pertaining to Pearl, The Fuzzy Peach Show
posted by fuzzypeach | 4:28 PM
2 Comments:
Oh poor little Pearl (and parents too!). I hope she's as right as ninepence again soon :-)
i go through all those same questions when Tessa is sick. i hope she continues to feel better! poor pum'kin!
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