First, Thursday my dad was admitted to the hospital for complications with his diabetes. (I know, Thursday isn't technically the weekend, but I'm starting there anyway.) I was pretty worried about him, and so didn't notice right away just how really warm the baby was. I finally got around to taking her temp, and yep, she had a fever. Awhile later, after I had tried everything to get it down and it was stubbornly refusing to budge, I bit the bullet and drove her to the Instacare. I was pretty sure the fever was from the MMR shot she had just had a few days before, but the fact I couldn't get it to go down really concerned me. In the middle of this, I found out that my dad was going into surgery, and would be coming out without a toe.
Somehow, in my experience, there is nothing better for curing a sick kid than walking into an Instacare. And I don't mean the expertise of the doctors there, either. Somehow the very act of walking in the door and paying that copay makes the fever go down, so when it's your turn to go back, the doctor politely (or sometimes not so politely) looks at you like you are nuts, tells you the kid's temp is only 99, and other than a little congestion, she is just fine. So I went home and spent the whole night taking her temp while she slept, and giving more medicine when it was time, to try to keep the fever down. I managed to keep it down around 101 all night without waking her even once, but pretty much missed the part where I was supposed to get some sleep, too.
Friday I found out that my dad was doing much better, but they were going to keep him in the hospital on heavy-duty antibiotics for a few more days. Sweetheart's fever persisted, and her little bit of congestion turned into endlessly flowing rivers of snot. (Sorry, gross, I know!) We went through two boxes of tissues, and despite the fact that they were the kind with lotion in them, that kind of nose-wiping turns anyone into Rudolph. Marquis's parents came over for a quick minute and his dad helped give her a blessing. I'm so grateful to have access to that! I spent most of the night just watching her breathe, and by morning it was apparent that breathing had become very, very difficult for her. So, back to the Instacare we went. This time the doctor didn't look at us like we were crazy, he instead ordered x-rays and tests of her sputum (which is doctor speak for snot). He said that she had bronchiolitis, and he was sure it was caused by RSV. He said that she was not quite bad enough to be in the hospital. Not quite. He gave us a long list of things to do, and asked us to come back the next day. One of the things he said to do was to have her sleep upright, and after discussing all the ways to have her do this, the only thing we decided that would really work would be if I slept in our recliner with her on my chest. That meant another night of no sleep for me, but it was easy to check her breathing and temp, and to give more medicine when needed. I only lasted half the night before I put her in her crib and went to bed myself, but I was still up every hour to make sure she was breathing.
Yesterday morning she finally was starting to feel better. We took her back to the Instacare doctor as requested, and he was pretty pleased with her progress, too. We (and the doctor) were surprised to find out that the RSV test had come back negative, and she instead he Influenza-A. It didn't change the treatment, though, especially now that she was getting so much better. It did explain why both Marquis and I were feeling pretty crappy, too!
We took it easy the rest of the day, and she actually started to play and sing like normal instead of just sitting around glossy-eyed. Today she still sounds a bit like Darth Vader, and she has a terrible, barking cough, but it looks like she will be over this soon. In the meantime, I think I have another day of cuddling ahead of me. Oh, and my dad is now home from the hospital and is recovering well.
I only have one picture from this weekend. I don't usually let her hold her baby while she is eating, but she has felt so crappy that she hasn't wanted to eat at all. She lost 1/2 a pound in two days, and when you are already super, super tiny, that is a lot. The only way she would eat is if she could first "feed" her baby, and then eat the bite herself. The result is two babies with blueberry faces! Thank goodness this doll can go in the washing machine!
1 comment:
ughh - that is no fun. I am glad to hear everyone is doing better now hopfully you can get some sleep!
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