Mother's Day 2013

Although Father's Day is over and Mother's Day is long gone I had to get this out and share my eventful Mother's Day recap. I'm sure my Father's Day post will be ready in time for Independence Day. Oh, and yes... there is a part 2.

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I am often guilty of setting a certain expectation. Sometimes it's high- sometimes not so much but to be honest... I never really expected this.

It all kind of started earlier last week. We never really got rid of the sickies in the house and then the little one starts daycare. So when you add the cooties on top of the sickies- things go awry. Tuesday morning we awoke to our little guy feeling very warm to the touch. I figured it was just a by product of his body trying to get rid of these awful germs- especially from the kid that was hacking all over him at daycare. So, hubby stayed home with him while I headed to work. I wasn't at work 30 minutes before he text me a picture of our sleeping son with the caption "def not feeling well". Our son is not a sleeper so I knew he wasn't feeling well without a doubt!

An hour later I get another picture of my sleeping handsome. I chuckled a bit- well they are going to be well rested by time I get home. Sure, enough an hour and some change later I get another sleeping picture update. I told my hubby to give children's Tylenol if he's still warm and I would come home for lunch. Before I made it home hubby was asking me to make a doctor's appointment because he wouldn't stay awake longer than 20 minutes.

I had gotten a little busy so I sent him the number to the doctor and asked him to call. Although I knew he had an appointment the next day I figured if we can get him in sooner he would be on the road to recovery a little faster. Well, that didn't happen. Which is kind of disturbing for me. We are new to the area and I am not sure about the pediatricians in your area but I am used to doctor's having sick hours every day for walk-ins and if the parents were concerned enough during normal business hours they would invite you to come in to be seen. If we didn't already have that appointment scheduled I would have been infuriated. Call me dramatic but I think sick babies are a little more important than your office hours.

That evening we started to give him Tylenol to keep the fever under control. I'll be honest- I was a bit unprepared. I scoured the Internet for other mom's opinions on fevers and I found that moms were torn between treating with meds and letting it run it's course. My son was very lethargic because of the fever and that scared me. That day his fever topped 102.5 but was pretty manageable with the Tylenol. During the course of the night things were up and down. I felt kind of bad having to give the Tylenol every 6 to 8 hours but what else was I to do? I tried giving him a cool bath but he seemed to be very irritated with my efforts. He slept with minimal clothing on that night to keep the heat from getting trapped on his body.

The next day I stayed home with the baby. We kind of slept in a little and then since he was doing better we did some grocery shopping. He was no problem at all while he was with me. We even played for a little bit before he had lunch. After lunch he started to get clingy.After I cleaned up the kitchen he fell asleep in my arms- fast. He hasn't done that since he was a newborn. We had just over an hour before we had to get ready to leave for his appointment so I cuddled my baby and savored him falling asleep in my arms. During his nap I could feel his temperature rising and two things came to my mind:

1. The Tylenol didn't last as long today
2. I'm not going to give him anymore so the doctor can get a good read of his temp.

I waited until the last possible moment so he can get as much rest as possible and then we headed out. That made me forget to pack his sippy cup- never leave home without a cup!

When we got to the doctors office things started off well. There was no wait- we walked in and before I could complete the paperwork we were taken to a room. I sat down with a groggy baby for 30 seconds before the tech came in to get vitals. That was a fight. My son didn't want to be touched at all! It was so cumbersome that for the very first time in all his doctors visits- I didn't get his weight check with a picture. I barely even got a chance to write it down!

She couldn't get a reading with the ear thermometer which resulted in more poking and prodding to get an axillary temp- it read 105.8. Now that was way out of my comfort zone. After speaking at length with the doctor about his medical history she gave him children's Advil in the office. He took it right out of the medicine cup like a champ! I was sure there would be spills and tears, and fighting but my little guy surprised me. I gave hubby a synopsis as soon as I got in the car and by time we got home he was doing a ton better. The only "diagnosis" the pediatrician came up with was that he 'might' have the flu and we should follow up with her on Friday.  We came to the decision to give children's Advil from there out.  His temp rose and fell cyclically with meds so he took turns staying home with him on Thursday. Hubby did 2 hours, I did four then he did another two. When I shared the info of his doctor's visit with my co-workers the next day someone asked if she swabbed his nose. I've never even heard of that. I'm not sure if she meant administering the "flu shot " with the nasal spray but I am pretty sure she meant that they can test the swab to confirm the flu.

My supervisor was very, very understanding but I'm still the new girl on the block with not a lot of sick/vacation time and plus I want to actually go on vacation at some point. So Friday morning he stayed with dad and then he came with me to my office for the late morning/early afternoon. I thought I would just hold him in my arms while I sit at my desk but within 30 minutes there were cheerios smushed in my carpet and Mickey Mouse clubhouse blaring from my iPad. I did manage to get a little done but productivity wasn't the priority.

Honestly, I was just looking forward to heading back to New Jersey. I was definitely hatching a plan to get him into his NJ pediatrician some way, some how. By time we pulled into my parent's house his temp was beginning to rise again. So we were on again, off again with the rising temp and meds all day Saturday until finally my husband had enough and we headed to the emergency room. I was relieved. I was happy that we would be seeing some doctor's from a major city in New Jersey- no more small town medical care. I'm not knocking the physicians or medical systems of small towns but there is a difference and I was happy to be back in familiar territory.

In the Peds ER they took his temp internally (see the difference) and it was 105.8. What the fuzz?? But the staff was very helpful and comforting while they wrapped my child in cooled wet towels and place him in my arms with a blanket around me so that I didn't get wet. This time they gave children's Motrin to bring the fever down while we wait for our next step- which was chest X-rays. The doctor wasn't comfortable with his cough and wanted to rule out a number of things. Honestly, I was almost in tears. If it weren't for hubby and Instagram I probably would have lost it. While hubby called all of family to bring them up to speed I sat wondering why my Mother's Day weekend had come to this.

Okay, I'm dramatic, but really I didn't want to spend Mother's Day in the Peds ER trying to cool down my baby and see if he has pneumonia. When the X-ray tech finally arrived (it wasn't really that long of a wait but it seemed like an eternity to me) they took him to the X-ray room and explained to us what was going to happen. He was still warm so I knew he wasn't going to cooperate because he wasn't feeling 100% yet. Do you know they had the nerve to kick me out the room?!?! Okay, not really kicked me out but politely asked me to leave. I obliged because hubby got to stay- he would be able to provide some source of comfort but honestly he was there to hold him down so the tech could get a good picture. I stood outside the room and tried to listen to them through the door. I vaguely remember what happened whether I could hear screams or not. When my husband flung the door open with my son in his arms I scooped him up immediately. On the walk back to the room hubby told me that it was a fight getting him to lay still for a picture. Although he would smile while trying to get up. Clearly, he has a momma who hounds him with a camera.

As time went on things got dare I say it... better?? His temp kept falling and as his temperature fell his spirits lifted. Next thing you know I was getting requests for 'juice' and Mickey Mouse! To say I was relieved was an understatement. And of course things got better went the doctor walked in and announced that his lungs were clear and there was no pneumonia.

Although this trip to the emergency room had a not too bad outcome- turns out he had an ear infection that may (or may not) have presented itself at the doctor's office just 3 days earlier, I began to wonder if we were doing something wrong. It seems as though the sickies has been present for weeks and we just couldn't shake it! 

How come he keeps getting ear infections?

Why would he have a fever present for so long with no other signs of an infection? 

What if this happens again?

What am I doing wrong?

Could I be over reacting? I suppose. But no one wants to see their child constantly not be themselves. I had a lengthy discussion with the doctor about it and I walked away from it with a relatively sound mind. I mean he did just start daycare and we all know it's notorious for the passing around of germs. Above all - I am grateful it was nothing more serious. Now, we can head home and rest. And maybe... perhaps not worry about any expectations but rather - be grateful that my Mother's Day isn't defined by time spent in the ER, what I did or did not do correctly, but the precious gift that I have in my arms.