Yes, I know...what the heck is up with the title?? Well, Wednesday found my hubby and I taking baby to the Dr. with pink eye. She's also had a horrible cough for more than two weeks, and since it was combined w/a fever, the Dr. was tempted to put her on antibiotics, but didn't. He just wanted us to keep an eye on her-- hello?- like we do this 24 hours a day! That night, we were up 5 times w/a coughing, hacking, choking miserable baby E. Nothing we could do. The next morning found baby E choking on her cough, which caused her to spit up most of her bottle. Cough got worse throughout Thursday, and her breathing started to seem labored and more rapid. Fever of 101.5. At 10:00 p.m., she and I head to the ER at the suggestion of the on-call doctor. After 2 hours of waiting, the ER Dr. examines her, hears her cough, and says "That sounds like RSV." The nurse takes a booger/snot sample and adds, "I'll be shocked if this doesn't come back positive. This just screams RSV." ... Then, they leave. They leave me alone with my child, imagining all the horrible consequences of RSV. I've heard horror stories of babies being constantly in & out of the hospital, on almost weekly breathing treatments, complications that lead to pneumonia.. I finally break down and start crying hot tears right on my baby girl's head as I hold her and rock her, trying to help her get just a few minutes of sleep.
We were there until 1:00 a.m. The results....negative! Those assholes had me freaked out! Note to ER docs & nurses: Don't say s*#t until the tests come back!
Mucus. Baby E & I have lots of it. I had an ear infection that started last week, but my doc is stingy w/antibiotics, so he prescribed them for me, but said not to start them unless I got worse. Yeah...I got worse. By Friday my ears were burning, throbbing, and aching, and my equilibrium was so off that I was getting dizzy when I stood up. The infection spread to my sinuses as well. Needless to say, I started the antibiotics. To make things even better, the ER nurses kindly showed me how to use the bulb syringe (nasal aspirator) on Baby E's throat! Yes, her throat! She coughs up the phlegm, then gets choked up b/c she can't get it out. So, I have to suck it out with the booger sucker by shoving it to the back of her throat and sweeping it across. Can you just guess how much she's freaked out by this??!!
Home. I'm home now.. Not home w/hubby, but home with Mama. Because my oldest daughter had scheduled visitation w/her natural father in neighboring state, and my mom hasn't seen the baby in a month, I packed up BOTH girls (8 yrs. and 4 months) and headed out for the 6-hour drive. Well, it used to be 6 hours. We made it in 7 hours and 20 minutes yesterday. Yes, that's yesterday...after the ER visit until 1:00 a.m.! Me, the girls, and a ton of Spring Breaking college students on the very busy interstate. With my aching ears, a coughing baby, and a human garbage disposal that wants to eat every hour, I made the trip back to my hometown. No better place than Mama's house to convalesce I suppose. And hey, my stepdad is a pharmacist, so that's good :) And, since I'm in town, I can go visit that friend of mine who's in rehab (if she wants to see me, that is). If all this doesn't sound like a helluva Spring Break, I don't know what does.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Wow. I'm glad you're all (relatively) healthy and that you made it safe and sound to your mom's house. It's a good thing you hung on to that prescription, huh? (I managed to get my own ;)) I hope you get at least a little bit of rest and relaxation while you have grandma around!
You poor thing! You and the baby both sick - it must have been miserable. And having to make that drive after spending all night in the ER? Yuck. I understand the reluctance to over-prescribe antibiotics, but that is ridiculous! I hope that your spring break IS relaxing and restful, sometimes it's good to go home to mom. And good luck with your friend in rehab - I'm sure that she will appreciate your visit.
Ugh--that's awful! I'm glad that you are with your mom now and can rest. I hope things are all better very soon.
Holy Cow. I hope you get some well deserved rest and feel better soon. The bulb syringe is the WORST. Poor baby.
(p.s. A doctor once saw a birthmark on me and declared in a shocked voice that it was "probably" cancerous, and I freaked out for a week until my test results came back...negative.
sheesh.
Oh dear, I'm only reading this now, so I'm wondering how the week went. I hope everyone is feeling much better and that the trip back went on OK.
I also loved the previous post. Excellent points about praise and encouragement -- I'd never thought about that.
Post a Comment