Saturday, August 16, 2008

Poor little buddy


So I had a little scare on Thursday with my little guy. He was acting fussy all day, which I just assumed was due to his teething ( he has one tooth on the bottom so far) but as the day went on, his fussiness got worse and worse, and he was starting to act a little lethargic, which is not like him at all. He was also not eating hardly anything the whole day. I decided to take his temperature, which was a little high (100.1 F). I also noticed he kept pulling at his left ear, so I was concerned he might have an ear infection. At his point it was after 5pm, so since my doctors office was closed, I decided to take him to Kids Care. When we got there his temperature had risen to 102.5 F. The doctor looked in his ears and they were both fine. She also looked in his throat which also looked okay. She said she was a little concerned because he REALLY didn't look good at all and she couldn't tell what was wrong with him. She recommended that I go up to Primary Childrens ER to have some blood work done, and possibly a Lumbar puncture to test his CSF for Meningitis. Me being the little paranoid mommy I am, I started to cry a little. I'm glad Kevin was there to be the tough one, and to assure me that everything would be okay. When we got to Primary's they took his vitals, and his temp had gone up to 39.9 C (103.8 F), and he seemed to be increasingly lethargic, and would cry if you moved him. So they ended up starting and IV and giving him some fluid, drawing some blood, which they had to come back and poke him again because they forgot to get enough for blood cultures. They also wanted to get a urine sample, which meant putting a straight catheter in to get a clean catch of urine. I felt like my baby was being tortured, and I felt like a horrible parent, but I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to make sure there wasn't something serious going on with him. Well ,to top it all off, the doctor wanted to do the Lumbar punture ( A needle is stuck in his back and cerebrospinal fluid is aspirated out). This was done to test for Meningitis. After a few hours of being in the ER (we were there until 1:30 am) They concluded that he DOESN'T have Meningitis, and his urine looked good. The only thing that we are still waiting for are the blood cultures, which can take a couple days to come back. Now it's 2 days later, and Cannon is still a little sick, but not nearly as bad as he was. Now I feel like I put him through all that torture for nothing. Was I being a paranoid parent? Should I have just kept him home and not taken him to the doctors in the first place? Kevin thinks it was just his teething, but I still don't think that would cause that high of a fever, and to cause him to act that way. I'm new at this parenting thing so I don't know. I'm just glad that he's doing a lot better.
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5 comments:

The Despain Gang said...

That would be scary and unnerving for any parent, I think. I too am a new mom so I know I would react the same. Husbands are good and keep their cool under stressful situations and help their wives feel better. Jer's done that for me several time. Go Kevin! Anyway, no. I don't think you're being paranoid and I think you're doing great! He seems like a very happy baby--a temp of 103 is pretty high, I'd be nervous too. Unfortunately, I don't have any major advice or earth shaddering wisdom. I feel about as lost as you felt most of my days as a mommy! I guess those scary moments are just to balance all the joy? I hope he get well soon! I'm thinking of you both!
-Melissa

Tiff-E said...

K, Sometimes I get so frustrated with doctors...but I would probably have just what you did, it's better to be safe than sorry!!! My friend actually had a similar experience and was feeling awful about it...I think every parent feels so bad sometimes, and the kids don't even end up remembering anything about it...No worries, you are a great mom!!! And he is one cute kid, it was so fun to finally meet him last night!!! :)

Sarah Evans said...

You totally did the right thing. Way to be a good mom and very observant. Cannon is lucky to have you for his mother:-)

Jared & Larisa said...

I am so sorry! It is a horrible thing to see your kids sick. We will be praying for him to get better soon ... hope you find out what it is so you can make it better.

Kari said...

You are not paranoid. I would have done the exact same thing!! Glad you found me! Kari