Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Snot Rockets and Sunshine

I know it's Halloween and I should have some really cool Halloween themed post, but that will have to wait.
I'm so far behind on blogging, it's ridiculous.

These last few weeks have been the most trying times I've had in a while. Maybe I'm being a little over dramatic, but in the past any time I needed a break or had so much to do, I would just take Adelei to Nanny's. I haven't had that here, so I've found ways to make it work. While I think it makes me stronger and more resourceful, it can be hard and frustrating at times.

Moving on...
Last Friday after play group, Adelei would not take a nap. Usually I just try to do activities that will make her tired [going to the park, playing outside, dancing, chasing the dogs around....you get the idea], but that day, everything was making her cry. She wouldn't eat anything to save her life. Even her favorite show was making her cry. I checked her temperature and it was only 99.8, but I decided to give her a small dose of Motrin anyway. I also gave her milk and rocked her, thinking that if she slept it off she'd be okay. Except she didn't sleep. And after 8 hours of fighting her trying to get her to eat or drink, soothing her a million times, and trying [but failing] to get her to sleep, we ended up at the ER.


Her temperature had gone from 99.8 to 102. They gave her a large dose of tylenol coupled with a large dose of motrin, and within the hour she was drinking all of her milk AND all of her water while eating some snacks. She was tested for strep throat, and we waited. And waited. And waited. And when we got home 3 hours later, the test had came back negative and they told us to take her to her pediatrician on Monday.
Awesome. Luckily they did give her some antibiotics, so we didn't have to go the whole weekend getting worse.
 
I called the doctor's office first thing Monday morning, and they called me back around noon asking me to bring her in. We got there and saw the doctor, and he was appalled. Apparently, babies this young aren't able to develop strep throat. Also, they told me that her ears looked fine [I told them she had been digging in them, which she usually does when she has in infection]. He looked and said that one was definitely infected, and looked like it was on the mend thanks to the antibiotics, but it was most likely infected when I brought her in Friday. He prescribed lots of medicine, suggested I buy a vaporizer, and sent us on our way.
I'm happy to say that, even though she still has a nasty cough, Adelei is feeling so much better. She's sleeping more normally, she's playing, she's eating [a little bit!], and she's pretty much back to her curious little self!
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I want to give major props to single moms, to moms whose husbands are gone for business or deployments. This is the hardest [but most rewarding] job I've ever had!

1 comment:

Sara Strand said...

I'm totally convinced that ER doctors and nurses need to have more training when it comes to infants and toddlers. Any time I've had to take my kids it's been a nightmare and they were so wrong it wasn't funny.