Our kind on-call doctor was on speed dial all weekend, and she patiently told me the same thing over and over again, "If you can make him comfortable and keep him drinking, he will be okay, but take him to the ER if you start to feel uncomfortable about the temperature." She also told us about the femoral seizures that can occur when temperatures spike too quickly. Thus creating shear panic in us as parents.
Countless numbers of tepid baths, many with he and I in the tub together-as he was too tired to sit up by himself for the length of time it helped to bring the fever down, were given. Oral doses of ibuprofen. Anal suppositories of acetaminophen. Old-timey remedies of salted socks and essential oils in his humidifier water- nothing seemed to work.
I kept telling myself (though I wasn't truly believing) that the fever was good and his body was hard at work protecting itself. I also decided that it was probably viral and that taking him to the doctor would be a waste because they wouldn't be able to do anything. However, come day three of a fever over 102, my reasoning began to seem weak- it was time to take him to see the doc.
My husband and I made a plan, wherein he would take our son to the doc at about 9:00, so I got up and started to get ready for work at 6:45. I grabbed the baby from his bed and laid him down with my husband to cuddle, soothe, and monitor him. At 8:15 when my husband's alarm went off, he awoke to find my side of the bed a disgusting, sweaty mess. Guess who's fever finally broke?
Having already set up the appointment and wanting to get to the root of all this mess, my husband took him to see the pediatrician, who informed us that little booger had a double ear infection. Hmm, so advice from someone who didn't get it completely right?
Well, here it goes:
If your baby is experiencing a fever:
1. Let them drink anything they will accept. I, to my horror, gave my son some Sprite- fresh from the McDonald's fountain. I desperately wanted to keep him from dehydrating, so I did whatever I thought might work, and he did not get dehydrated.
2. If acetaminophen isn't working, try ibuprofen. I was always told to use tylenol and that is what the doctor recommended, but after 2 days of it not working, she suggested to try ibuprofen. And it worked.
3. Anal suppositories, while very gross and very weird, are magical. The stupid fight of making a baby ingest medicine while they are thrashing around makes it so hard to tell how much they actually got. These are a once and done deal. You know exactly what they got and it gets into their system fast.
4. If your child is not desperately ill, call your insurance company. I called early on in the fever trail and they were able to tell me how to anticipate the cost of ER vs. Urgent Care, etc. It was helpful to know our options.
5. If you are having no success, think outside the box. After finding out that Bubba had a double ear infection, we started an antibiotic. After two doses, he began showing signs of an allergic reaction. With no medicine to help him, I started looking for other ways to help him in this fight. I took him to see a chiropractor this week who adjusted him. I know it seems odd and it was a little hard to watch him lay on the table (he cried when he was laying there, but stopped immediately when I picked him up, he was scared, but not in pain) but it was been three days without meds and the adjustment seems to have taken some pressure off his ears and no signs of a returning infection have surfaced.
6. Enjoy the bizarro version of your child who will cuddle you and watch movies. It is heartbreaking, but also the sweetest thing to see your baby take so much comfort in a mom and dad.
.JPG) |
| Trying the salt in the socks method my Nee-Nee swears by. |
No comments:
Post a Comment