It started my Mother's Day off like any good mother should, getting thrown up on by your child and then staying awake while you watch the fever come down, or any more signs of vomit.
It happened... again.
5 times now.
But this time, we were prepared. I had the Prednisone ready. And I was on the way to the kitchen with Abby to get it when she ralphed all down my back and then all down her front.
103 was the temp this time.
I loaded the syringe with pink juice and squirted it little by little in her mouth. The whole time she's whimpering and crying. I then give her some Motrin to help with the fever. I strip her down on the kitchen counter. I strip myself down. I toss our clothes into the laundry room.
I change her diaper and give her fresh, clean, wonderful smelling, pajamas. I take her upstairs to lay with Gene (who has hurt his back and can't get out of bed without help) while I clean up the floor and start the washer.
I return upstairs and scoop her up. She's is fighting sleep. We cuddle up in the chair and I turn the tv on. For the next two hours, I watch her. She wiggles to get comfy, but never once whimpers anymore. She seems mellow. We finally both get in a position were we can sleep. I catch an hour or so. Gene then convinces me to come lay in the bed. I agree because I'm so uncomfortable.
I take her temperature before we settle in. Its 97.9. It's working. Or something is working. The Motrin usually doesn't bring it down that far, that fast. I continue to pray that the steroid does what its suppose to do because I don't know what to do if it doesn't.
Eventually, everyone gets uncomfortable in the bed and we get up. Abby jumps right up. Giggles and plays in the bed. She wants to get down and run around. She shows signs she's hungry so I let her have a few mini pancakes. I start with just two (normally she would eat 3 maybe 4). She shoved all of those in her mouth and then asked for more. There was only 3 left in the bag so I gave them to her, thinking she probably wouldn't eat them all. But almost instantly, they were gone. That is not normal with her fevers. It usually takes her several days to get back to eating like that!
I patiently waited for the Motrin to wear off. We hit the 5 hour mark, usually the point where it starts coming back. So far her temp is still normal, 98.5. The six, seven, eight hour marks come and go with no change.
We head to the Cobb's for lunch. Abby is content running around. Looking for cats, dogs, and soccer balls. She eats some lunch, but not much because there are things to go see and do. I keep an eye on her temp. It starts to raise slightly (100.0) so I dose her with Motrin. I;m too worried its going to get high again. We'd also been playing in the pool and the sun, so I don't know if she was just hot from that. I would hope not, but I've never checked my temperature in a situation like that. So now we continue to wait.
I'm worried it will be a long night, but I'm exhausted. She goes to bed with no problem and so do I. Around 4:00 she starts crying. I usually let it go and she can soothe herself back to sleep, but I was paranoid so I went to check her. She wasn't in real distress. She raised her arms to be picked up. She felt warm, so I took her temp. 98.2 She was fine. It had been twelve hours since the Motrin. She just needed some love. We rocked and cuddle in her room till she was back asleep. I put her down and went back to bed myself.
She was up on her own today. I heard her crying while I was getting ready so I went to check. Again, paranoid! She was standing at the side of her crib, just ready to get out. I picked her up. She didn't feel warm, but I checked her temp just in case. Still normal 98.4
She ate some breakfast. And off to school we went. She was delighted to see her friends and to be playing outside first thing. I watched her from the car for a while. She toddled around like all the other kids were. She went up and down the slide and climb into the playhouse all by herself.
I've put in a call to the pediatrician. To notify them on what happened, and to know what to do next. It seemed like the prednisone did the right thing. I just hate that this keeps happening. For one thing, if it is teeth, this should be the last one for a while. We still have canines to go, but hopefully we should get a break before those come in. And hopefully those will be like the other teeth and not cause any problems.
I guess my Mother's Day was meant to be spent doing what a mom should. No day of rest for me.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
Periodic Fever Syndrome
They took more blood yesterday. Just two tubes this time. They called this morning with the results. (Which I didn't think we would know anything till Monday).
The nurse explained that the inflammatory markers has returned to normal. That's what we'd hoped to see. She said this is mostly likely Periodic Fever Syndrome.
Young children will spike a high fever, with no other symptoms, for 48-72 hours, and then be fine.
This diagnosis doesn't surprise me. This is what google told me it probably was. This is what Dr. Hart thought it might be. This just confirms this.
So the plan is, next time the fever appears, take a dose of Prednisone and record the temps for 24 hours. The hope is the steroid eliminates the fever.
Lets hope it works. I would really hope to not have another fever for a while. 4 back to back is rough. Google says it can happen as frequently as every 2 weeks. I don't know how many cycles you can go through.
I still think its ironic that it occurs with teething. But I'm not confident it is occurring with teething. Its so harder to tell with the molars. I don't feel anything on the other side. I saw a small spot 2 weeks ago, but she won't let me look in there now. I really don't feel like its teething, given how high it can get. And, that she throws up.
I just hope it all resolves soon, and never comes back!
The nurse explained that the inflammatory markers has returned to normal. That's what we'd hoped to see. She said this is mostly likely Periodic Fever Syndrome.
Young children will spike a high fever, with no other symptoms, for 48-72 hours, and then be fine.
This diagnosis doesn't surprise me. This is what google told me it probably was. This is what Dr. Hart thought it might be. This just confirms this.
So the plan is, next time the fever appears, take a dose of Prednisone and record the temps for 24 hours. The hope is the steroid eliminates the fever.
Lets hope it works. I would really hope to not have another fever for a while. 4 back to back is rough. Google says it can happen as frequently as every 2 weeks. I don't know how many cycles you can go through.
I still think its ironic that it occurs with teething. But I'm not confident it is occurring with teething. Its so harder to tell with the molars. I don't feel anything on the other side. I saw a small spot 2 weeks ago, but she won't let me look in there now. I really don't feel like its teething, given how high it can get. And, that she throws up.
I just hope it all resolves soon, and never comes back!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
She's just like me
There is no doubt... that Abby is my child. She's just like me.
Swimming lessons didn't go "swimmingly"
She didn't object to being there. She didn't have a problem in the pool. But she clung to me like her life depended on it. She participated. She let me kick her arms and legs. But, she whimpered the entire time and shyly hid her face.
That's me. To a T.
I've always been slightly afraid to try new things. I'm hesitant but if able to go at my own speed, I'm ok. We took each part of the lesson slowly. I don't want to completely freak her out. She hated being splashed in the face by the big boy next to us, but she loved it when I blew bubbles in the water.
She was similar last week with getting blood drawn. I knew she didn't want to do it, but she didn't fight it. She knew that there wasn't any choice but to get through it. And in the end... its really not all that bad.
As an adult, I'm trying to not be a shy about things. Especially now that I have a child that is showing the same personality.
It will be hard to shed the wallflower persona. Its really what defines me. Its also Gene. We are the perfect pair of wall flowers. And we created the ultimate wallflower.
Except, I don't want Abby to miss out things because of it. I look back at my life and there are so many times I wish I would have done or said something, but I was too shy and I missed out.
Abby doesn't need those regrets. Life is too short.
Swimming lessons didn't go "swimmingly"
She didn't object to being there. She didn't have a problem in the pool. But she clung to me like her life depended on it. She participated. She let me kick her arms and legs. But, she whimpered the entire time and shyly hid her face.
That's me. To a T.
I've always been slightly afraid to try new things. I'm hesitant but if able to go at my own speed, I'm ok. We took each part of the lesson slowly. I don't want to completely freak her out. She hated being splashed in the face by the big boy next to us, but she loved it when I blew bubbles in the water.
She was similar last week with getting blood drawn. I knew she didn't want to do it, but she didn't fight it. She knew that there wasn't any choice but to get through it. And in the end... its really not all that bad.
As an adult, I'm trying to not be a shy about things. Especially now that I have a child that is showing the same personality.
It will be hard to shed the wallflower persona. Its really what defines me. Its also Gene. We are the perfect pair of wall flowers. And we created the ultimate wallflower.
Except, I don't want Abby to miss out things because of it. I look back at my life and there are so many times I wish I would have done or said something, but I was too shy and I missed out.
Abby doesn't need those regrets. Life is too short.
Monday, May 5, 2014
18
One and half years... 18 months... 78 weeks... 546 days... 13,104 hours... 786,240 minutes old.
And I wouldn't change a single one of them.
I can't believe its already that time. You are no longer a baby, you are a little girl. It amazing to see how your features and personality have grown and changed.
You are a "hefty" 20 pounds! Wow... finally to the big 2-0. You still can wear some 9 month things, and mostly 12 month things. You do have some 12-18 month things, but there is some room to those. It all depends on the brand as to how they fit (get use to that, its like that for the rest of your life!). You still are in a size 3 diaper. You will probably be in those till your are potty trained (which isn't too far from now!)
You love to eat. We often find you in the kitchen with your hand stuck in the cabinet, looking for a snack. But, you've always been a snacker. Cookies are your favorite food. Especially Oreo's. You also love cheese, green beans, pizza, spaghetti, pancakes, cereal bars, gold fish, peanut butter crackers, PB&J, french fries, and chocolate candy! (Thanks easter bunny)
You're vocabulary has exploded. It doesn't take you long to hear a word and then repeat it. It always surprises me when I hear you say something that I haven't taught you. You know who your family is, you can say Mama, Dada, Gogee, MaeMae, and Nana. (We are still working on Poppie (you call him MaeMae as well) and Do-dah). You know Woody and Smokie. You know kitty, donkey, bird, duck, fish. You can say up and down. You can say mine, and NO! You can say and sign, More, Please, and All Done.
Your favorite place to be is outside. You stand at the door and beg to go.. ousside. You love to run around and investigate things. We moved the swing over so we can sit in the shade while you play in the rocks. You cry when its time to go in and you cry if we go out and go straight to the car. I love that you love to be outside and I hope that never changes.
These past few weeks have been tough because you've gotten sick so much. I can only hope that this summer we can get ride of all the bugs and stay healthy for a while. I think the sickness could be related to teething. You know have 10 visible teeth, and two that I think are coming in soon. You love to use your chompers.
You have developed a bit of a personality for throwing and epic tantrum if you do not get your way. You get very, very upset. You try to hit and bite anyone or anything. We've been working on these feelings and what's appropriate responses. Its the hitting and the biting that bothers me. I do not want you to hit or bite anyone else. I understand that you do not understand, and most of the time you are upset at me. Most people think you are the happiest child ever. But after asking for cookies for the millionth time before bed, an epic tantrum is the only acceptable way to end the evening. I know we will work through these moments, and a lot of them depend on your mood, my mood, and what's gone on that day. I try to keep an open mind, and also keep my patience. Parenting is not the easiest task in the world.
You continue to sleep well. When you are ready, you are easy to put to bed. We just follow your cues and most nights you are in bed between 7:30 and 8:00. You sleep for a nice long 12 hours and you wake up most mornings happy and smiling.
We start swimming lessons tomorrow. I'm excited to take you. I loved to swim as a child. You certainly have plenty of opportunities to do it. MaeMae is always proud to have someone come swim in her pool. You haven't enjoyed having water on your face in the pool, so we will see how this goes. I just want you to feel comfortable around the water and excited to get in it.
I can't believe how much time has already passed. Each day I want to bottle up and hold on to it forever.
And I wouldn't change a single one of them.
I can't believe its already that time. You are no longer a baby, you are a little girl. It amazing to see how your features and personality have grown and changed.
You are a "hefty" 20 pounds! Wow... finally to the big 2-0. You still can wear some 9 month things, and mostly 12 month things. You do have some 12-18 month things, but there is some room to those. It all depends on the brand as to how they fit (get use to that, its like that for the rest of your life!). You still are in a size 3 diaper. You will probably be in those till your are potty trained (which isn't too far from now!)
You love to eat. We often find you in the kitchen with your hand stuck in the cabinet, looking for a snack. But, you've always been a snacker. Cookies are your favorite food. Especially Oreo's. You also love cheese, green beans, pizza, spaghetti, pancakes, cereal bars, gold fish, peanut butter crackers, PB&J, french fries, and chocolate candy! (Thanks easter bunny)
You're vocabulary has exploded. It doesn't take you long to hear a word and then repeat it. It always surprises me when I hear you say something that I haven't taught you. You know who your family is, you can say Mama, Dada, Gogee, MaeMae, and Nana. (We are still working on Poppie (you call him MaeMae as well) and Do-dah). You know Woody and Smokie. You know kitty, donkey, bird, duck, fish. You can say up and down. You can say mine, and NO! You can say and sign, More, Please, and All Done.
Your favorite place to be is outside. You stand at the door and beg to go.. ousside. You love to run around and investigate things. We moved the swing over so we can sit in the shade while you play in the rocks. You cry when its time to go in and you cry if we go out and go straight to the car. I love that you love to be outside and I hope that never changes.
These past few weeks have been tough because you've gotten sick so much. I can only hope that this summer we can get ride of all the bugs and stay healthy for a while. I think the sickness could be related to teething. You know have 10 visible teeth, and two that I think are coming in soon. You love to use your chompers.
You have developed a bit of a personality for throwing and epic tantrum if you do not get your way. You get very, very upset. You try to hit and bite anyone or anything. We've been working on these feelings and what's appropriate responses. Its the hitting and the biting that bothers me. I do not want you to hit or bite anyone else. I understand that you do not understand, and most of the time you are upset at me. Most people think you are the happiest child ever. But after asking for cookies for the millionth time before bed, an epic tantrum is the only acceptable way to end the evening. I know we will work through these moments, and a lot of them depend on your mood, my mood, and what's gone on that day. I try to keep an open mind, and also keep my patience. Parenting is not the easiest task in the world.
You continue to sleep well. When you are ready, you are easy to put to bed. We just follow your cues and most nights you are in bed between 7:30 and 8:00. You sleep for a nice long 12 hours and you wake up most mornings happy and smiling.
We start swimming lessons tomorrow. I'm excited to take you. I loved to swim as a child. You certainly have plenty of opportunities to do it. MaeMae is always proud to have someone come swim in her pool. You haven't enjoyed having water on your face in the pool, so we will see how this goes. I just want you to feel comfortable around the water and excited to get in it.
I can't believe how much time has already passed. Each day I want to bottle up and hold on to it forever.
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