Thursday, May 22, 2008

Fever

Carter scared the crap out of me yesterday.

His sitter called me at 4:30 and said he felt very hot and she though he had a fever. I left work about 20 minutes later and got him and as soon as I saw him, I knew something was very wrong. His cheeks were bright red and his eyes looked a little glassy. He just looked "off." And he definitely felt warm.

I put him in the carseat and noticed that he was just lethargic. Had his head to the side just staring off into space. I called Chris to let him know and then frantically texted Girl at each stop light to see what I needed to do. My mothering guru, that one.

Took Carter to CVS to get some Infant Motrin (we only have Tylenol at the house) and I picked up an ear thermometer while I was there. The lady at the checkout was joking around with a coworker while ringing up the woman in front of me and it was taking forever. I'm holding Carter and he's grunting and moaning and his eyes were all red and watery and he was hot as hell, so I channeled my inner rudeness and said, "Come on!" a little louder than...um...normal voice. That caused the worker, the woman in front of me, and the woman behind me to look at me, and once they saw my sick little baby I got a lot of sympathy and kindness. And quickness. That's all I wanted, people...make it snappy! I tried to have the worker open the thermometer right there so I could determine if I needed to head home or to the hospital, but her scissors were crap and they weren't working. Dammit.

Got home and as I was walking into his room to strip him, he vomited EVERYWHERE. I was soaked, he was crying, I started crying and shaking. It was scary. I stripped him down and changed his diaper and tried to nurse him, but he just wanted to scream. I called the doctor's office (in between talking to Holly, Chris, and my mom) and left a message on their urgent line because I had just taken his temperature and it was 103.5 in one ear and 102.9 in the other. Needless to say, I was terrified. I was holding him tight and shushing him and trying so hard to comfort him and make him feel better. I was so scared that he'd start having a seizure at any second. Whatever, I'm a scared First Time Mom...sue me.

I finally got him calmed down enough to where I gave him a dose of Tylenol and he started to drift off to sleep, but he woke up about 10 or 15 minutes later and was groaning and grunting and sort of heaving. He would throw up little bits, but nothing like that first one. By the time Chris got home an hour later, his fever felt like it was down (and it was...to about 102) and he was smiling at his Daddy. He had bouts of screaming that would last a few minutes, then he'd calm down for a few minutes, then screaming again.

We put him in his crib at 8:30 and he didn't go to sleep until after 9:00, which is very unlike him. I wanted to sleep with him so bad but he wasn't falling asleep in our bed so I had to take him to his so he could get some rest. By this point his fever seemed to be closer to normal.

At 9:30, our phone rang. It was the doctor's office...3 1/2 hours after I left them the message. She was very nice and apologetic and said their paging system was down because the electricity was out and all the pages were just now coming in. Since we seemed to have things relatively under control at that point there wasn't much she could advise us to do. She said if his temp spiked during the night to over 104 to call her and then head to the hospital. If it stayed under 104 then she wanted us to come in in the morning to have him checked out.

(Side note: If they think I'm paying the $15 they charge for after-hours consults, they're crazy. Not after waiting 3 1/2 hours for the call.)

At 1:30 I woke up and went in to check on him and he felt completely normal. His cheeks were cool and he was sleeping soundly. Thank GOD. He woke up to nurse at 3:30 and 6:30, pretty much like he normally does, and this morning he was fine. More fussy than usual, but no fever. And that fussiness could be because he had a little less sleep than he normally does.

So, he's at daycare today and every time the phone rings I'm scared it's his sitter calling me to come get him.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you really, really love your pediatrician? Because it's totally not normal to charge for calls to the exchange. I always thought that was part of their job as a pediatrician- to deal with parents and their questions/concerns.

Amy Anderson said...

I do love them so far. Their nurse line is always very good about calling me back quickly, but this is my first time calling after hours. Maybe the after hours charge is normal around here? I'm not sure but I'll ask around.

Holly said...

I 100% agree with "Two Lines"... this is under heard of! I can't believe they don't have a service that immediately pages the doctor on call. And the $15 is crazy.

Jess said...

That is just terrifying. 103 would officially have me peeing my pants. I hope he feels better today and the fever does not come back. Ever.

I have to third what Two Lines said. They shouldn't be charging, anyway.

Laura said...

Holy crap! What a terrible evening. Glad he is feeling better!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, that's so scary! I'm glad he's okay today.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! How scary! I'm glad everything is better now.

Brian said...

I'm glad you called Holly, but you didn't call me or Sarah, Paramedics who take care of sick kids every shift. I expect to be on the next call down list! Glad he's better.

Jessica said...

Please, Please, PLEASE don't hesitate to call us next time either. I love Girl to pieces, and I know she gave uber-fab advice. But if you can't get in touch with her, or need help in ANY other way... PLEASE call.
I know it's all over now, and the point is kind of moot, but gah... The fright of it all.
I'm emailing you my phone number now... In case it's been lost since we last talked.

gail said...

I'm glad he's feeling better. I have to agree about the ped though. Seriously don't they make enough as it is?

Jenn said...

{{{HUGS}}} You did all the RIGHT things!

Glad to hear he's doing great now. I have to agree the after hours charge is messed up. Our pedi doesn't charge for a phone call. It's part of their job.

Sweet Pea did that to me one night. Spiked a scary high fever all of the sudden. I dosed her with Tylenol, wiped her down with tepid water and put her on the floor under the celing fan in just a diaper to get a little air on her. Dropped her temp 3 degrees in an hour.

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

I almost started crying just reading that. I'm so glad he is alright.

Our ped charges for calls too. Maybe it's an East Coast thing? My OB charges for calls they deem "non-urgent" too.

Anonymous said...

You better hope the other moms aat your daycare don't read your blog! How irresponsible of you to send a child who had been so sick back to daycare the next morning. Guess he'll be sick again whhen the kids he infected pass it back to him.

Amy Anderson said...

I love how people feel they can say anything they want while hiding behind the veil of anonymity. It's so pathetic. Sign your name if you're going to attack me.

Amy Anderson said...

Oh, and not only that, he didn't have a fever when I sent him to daycare. No cough, no sneezing, no crying, no rashes, nothing to indicate he was sick. So keep your judgment to yourself.

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