Last week, for a couple of days, D had a fever, and we briefly freaked out as we always do when she gets a fever. Because we've had 2 hospitalizations now due to high fevers, and of course there's this whole kidney reflux issue that makes us constantly worry she has a UTI.
But by Thurs morning, we were sure she didn't. By Fri, she was mostly back to her normal self. Although it turns out that collecting urine through a catheter results in unbearable pain while peeing for the next few days. I found out because for the next couple of days, the poor kid would be happy one second and suddenly clutching at me and screaming in pain the next. It was scary as shit, and early on, I guessed that it happened when she peed. So the next day, I called the urology clinic, and what do you know, the nurse said, yes, as a matter of fact, she's probably experiencing a burning sensation every time she urinates. Awesome. But it should go away within a couple of days, the nurse said.
So aside from that, the kid actually got better fairly quickly. She seemed happy hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law on Sat while G and I went to a wedding. And aside from her naps being all haywire, she seemed to be in good spirits.
But then I picked her up from daycare Tuesday and she felt a bit warm. She was screaming when I got her and it turned out that she was trying to poop but nothing would come out. The kid's also been constipated off and on since her fever, but then when she does manage to get any out, her poops are these monstrous, runny, disasters that end up EVERYWHERE. So I'm not really sure how I should be medicating or feeding her. Anyway, they tried to stick her in the toilet to poop and all that came out was this little black turd sticking inside her butt still (I freaked out about that too until I remembered she'd had a huge handful of blueberries the night before).
I took her home and she collapsed on me. We hung out on the couch for a good hour and a half before she perked up a little and asked for some food. She ate while we were sitting on the couch and then just rested her head on me again, which is how G found us when he came home a little later. She passed out soon after, but slept restlessly until she woke up again at 2. At which point, I brought her back to our bed and lay her on top of me. She tossed and turned on me for a good two and a half hours or so. At some point, we both fell asleep. A little before 5, I had G take her from me and put her in her crib.
She woke up again by 6:30 yesterday and spent most of the morning laying on top of me. Sometimes asleep, and sometimes just laying there. I took a sick day and mostly resigned myself to being a pillow. I was finally able to transfer her to the crib (and have her stay asleep) around 1 pm. By that point, I had finished my book (Yay for Kindle), started another, and watched 3 episodes of Parenthood while she slept. And my arm hurt like hell, I hadn't eaten all day, and I had to pee. Plus Mia was outside, tapping on the glass to be let in.
We had an appointment with our pediatrician in the afternoon. I actually postponed it once because she pretty much slept from 10am - 4pm, and even then only got up when I went to wake her for the last available appointment at 4:30. I'd called our doctor earlier in the day, expecting her to say what she usually did. She'll be fine, no need to waste your money on a co-pay. But for once our doc actually suggested bringing her in. 9 times out of 10, I've called our pediatrician and she'd told me not to bother coming in. I think what that means is that I call our doctor a lot, but just the fact that she wanted me to bring her in worried me a little. To top things off, G had to take a last-minute work trip yesterdayay, so I was mostly on my own. He was on his way out for an early morning flight when I had him move the kid back into her crib in the morning.
Turns out that the kid now has a throat infection. White blood cell counts were through the roof and her throat was red and inflamed. So the doc thinks she has a bacterial throat infection. No way to definitely rule out a kidney infection without yet another urine culture, but the throat clearly stood out as the first, most obvious culprit. So we'll see. She got an antibiotic shot yesterday, and we have to go back for another today. But if that's all it is, we should start seeing a drop in her white blood cell counts by this afternoon.
So lately, I've been feeling exhausted. I feel like our house has been filled with one illness after another. Our little sleeper is no longer that great at it . . . we went from being able to lay her in her crib at bedtime to sitting with her forever. She's up randomly, and if she does sleep through the night, I'm up anyway because either she's been restless or I've just gotten used to getting up at 3 in the morning. And she's not the only one who's been sick. Taking care of a sick kid when you're already feeling like crap is no picnic either. And did I mention how much my arm hurts from holding her all the damn time. But it's at these times - when I see her poor little body in a hospital bed with an IV sticking out of her arm or just laying listlessly on my lap - that I feel most like a parent. It sounds cheesy but I'd give up a fair number of body parts if it meant she could be always healthy and smiling. Last week, she'd clutch at me desperately every time she peed, and I felt so helpless for her. When we were at the hospital in India, she'd look at me, hold out the arm with her IV, and say, "Ow" or "no". Last time we went through this, she wasn't old enough to communicate like this. And I didn't know what to say to her. Her face looked pitiful and pained, and she was oh-so-clear about what she wanted. Yesterday, while I was happy to be able to transfer her to her crib finally, I actually would have held her all day, because it feels like at this point, it's about all I can really do for her. And man, the feeling sucks.
Anyway, hopefully it's just a throat thing and she'll get past it quickly. And we've already had a long talk with her. She's agreed, no more sicknesses this winter. We're done with it.
But by Thurs morning, we were sure she didn't. By Fri, she was mostly back to her normal self. Although it turns out that collecting urine through a catheter results in unbearable pain while peeing for the next few days. I found out because for the next couple of days, the poor kid would be happy one second and suddenly clutching at me and screaming in pain the next. It was scary as shit, and early on, I guessed that it happened when she peed. So the next day, I called the urology clinic, and what do you know, the nurse said, yes, as a matter of fact, she's probably experiencing a burning sensation every time she urinates. Awesome. But it should go away within a couple of days, the nurse said.
So aside from that, the kid actually got better fairly quickly. She seemed happy hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law on Sat while G and I went to a wedding. And aside from her naps being all haywire, she seemed to be in good spirits.
But then I picked her up from daycare Tuesday and she felt a bit warm. She was screaming when I got her and it turned out that she was trying to poop but nothing would come out. The kid's also been constipated off and on since her fever, but then when she does manage to get any out, her poops are these monstrous, runny, disasters that end up EVERYWHERE. So I'm not really sure how I should be medicating or feeding her. Anyway, they tried to stick her in the toilet to poop and all that came out was this little black turd sticking inside her butt still (I freaked out about that too until I remembered she'd had a huge handful of blueberries the night before).
I took her home and she collapsed on me. We hung out on the couch for a good hour and a half before she perked up a little and asked for some food. She ate while we were sitting on the couch and then just rested her head on me again, which is how G found us when he came home a little later. She passed out soon after, but slept restlessly until she woke up again at 2. At which point, I brought her back to our bed and lay her on top of me. She tossed and turned on me for a good two and a half hours or so. At some point, we both fell asleep. A little before 5, I had G take her from me and put her in her crib.
She woke up again by 6:30 yesterday and spent most of the morning laying on top of me. Sometimes asleep, and sometimes just laying there. I took a sick day and mostly resigned myself to being a pillow. I was finally able to transfer her to the crib (and have her stay asleep) around 1 pm. By that point, I had finished my book (Yay for Kindle), started another, and watched 3 episodes of Parenthood while she slept. And my arm hurt like hell, I hadn't eaten all day, and I had to pee. Plus Mia was outside, tapping on the glass to be let in.
We had an appointment with our pediatrician in the afternoon. I actually postponed it once because she pretty much slept from 10am - 4pm, and even then only got up when I went to wake her for the last available appointment at 4:30. I'd called our doctor earlier in the day, expecting her to say what she usually did. She'll be fine, no need to waste your money on a co-pay. But for once our doc actually suggested bringing her in. 9 times out of 10, I've called our pediatrician and she'd told me not to bother coming in. I think what that means is that I call our doctor a lot, but just the fact that she wanted me to bring her in worried me a little. To top things off, G had to take a last-minute work trip yesterdayay, so I was mostly on my own. He was on his way out for an early morning flight when I had him move the kid back into her crib in the morning.
Turns out that the kid now has a throat infection. White blood cell counts were through the roof and her throat was red and inflamed. So the doc thinks she has a bacterial throat infection. No way to definitely rule out a kidney infection without yet another urine culture, but the throat clearly stood out as the first, most obvious culprit. So we'll see. She got an antibiotic shot yesterday, and we have to go back for another today. But if that's all it is, we should start seeing a drop in her white blood cell counts by this afternoon.
So lately, I've been feeling exhausted. I feel like our house has been filled with one illness after another. Our little sleeper is no longer that great at it . . . we went from being able to lay her in her crib at bedtime to sitting with her forever. She's up randomly, and if she does sleep through the night, I'm up anyway because either she's been restless or I've just gotten used to getting up at 3 in the morning. And she's not the only one who's been sick. Taking care of a sick kid when you're already feeling like crap is no picnic either. And did I mention how much my arm hurts from holding her all the damn time. But it's at these times - when I see her poor little body in a hospital bed with an IV sticking out of her arm or just laying listlessly on my lap - that I feel most like a parent. It sounds cheesy but I'd give up a fair number of body parts if it meant she could be always healthy and smiling. Last week, she'd clutch at me desperately every time she peed, and I felt so helpless for her. When we were at the hospital in India, she'd look at me, hold out the arm with her IV, and say, "Ow" or "no". Last time we went through this, she wasn't old enough to communicate like this. And I didn't know what to say to her. Her face looked pitiful and pained, and she was oh-so-clear about what she wanted. Yesterday, while I was happy to be able to transfer her to her crib finally, I actually would have held her all day, because it feels like at this point, it's about all I can really do for her. And man, the feeling sucks.
Anyway, hopefully it's just a throat thing and she'll get past it quickly. And we've already had a long talk with her. She's agreed, no more sicknesses this winter. We're done with it.
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