What's up, Doc? | Toronto Teacher Mom

What's up, Doc?

Monday, April 17, 2006

Wow, it's been a long time since I last left a post. I've been a little lazy, yes. But also lacking much sleep.

Last Wednesday, Madeleine came down with her first fever. She woke up at midnight, which is very unusual, and she felt very warm. I took her into our bed to nurse her back to sleep but each time I would take her back to her crib and lay her down, she would wake up and fuss some more.

The following night, it was worse. She was hotter than ever. I took her underarm temperature as best I could, considering her arms were flailing, and I got 101.8 Fahrenheit and 38.5 Celsius. We gave her some Tylenol but she was still feverish and very bothered. My husband and I decided to take her to the hospital where she had been born, only to be told at the triage desk that it was an adult only hospital. The nurse recommended that next time we should take her to SickKids, located right across the street, seeing as this hospital didn't have the proper equipment to measure a baby's blood pressure or temperature. The nurse also mentioned that going to the adult hospital would only delay treatment since they would have to transfer her if treatment was necessary. I offered to just go there at that point and not bother to register but she said since we were there, we needed to at least let the doctor look at her. Now that makes sense. My daughter could have been seriously ill but because we went to the wrong hospital, we risked delaying treatment. Try and figure that one out.

Anyhow, the doctor came to the conclusion that it wasn't anything to worry about and that we weren't giving her enough acetaminophen. I was somewhat confused when he gave me a ratio of 15 milligram of medicine per kilogram of weight, knowing that I needed to convert it to millilitres. But the nurse couldn't help me out with the conversion. Whatever.

Later that evening, the fever got progressively worse. The increased dosage of Tylenol helped but we were still concerned since she wasn't eating much of her food. She did compensate by nursing. All day long. She was constantly attached to me, day and night. And then when it was time for bed, she'd be so fussy that she would get very little shuteye. We decided, at 6am on my husband's birthday, to take her to SickKids. The fever subsided and she seemed to be in a better mood. The doctor used a catheter to get a urine sample, which I regret agreeing to (my poor baby!), they determined that the fever was not due to a urinary infection. She said that it could be Roseola and that after three days of a fever, Madeleine might break out into a rash. Sure enough, she did.

Aside from a slightly diminished appetite, she's been getting better. She hasn't had a fever in three days and her rash is looking better. She is taking longer naps during the day at the expense of a more restless sleep at night. I took her to the family doctor today to get a more definitive answer to what could have caused the fever only to be more confused. He said it could possibly be the measles. And he didn't want to rule out Strep. So he gave a prescription for antibiotics. I don't know why. But I'm not giving my daughter any antibiotics. I don't feel it is necessary. Why can't we get an answer from the professionals instead of resorting to diagnosing the problem ourselves?

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  1. ACK!
    I hate that! a few months ago we had a round of what was diagnosed as Roseola... then a few days later I got a close-up of the bottoms of LaLa's feet, checked her hands and then hopped on the Mayo clinic online... sure enough, it was actually Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Not that a different diagnosis would have changed the treatment... they are both "let them run their course" illnesses, but I would have been more careful of other kids coming in contact with her.

    How fun for you that all of this follows closely on the heels of popping a tooth.

    by the way... I tagged you for a meme.

  2. I don't like doctors...for most of the reasons that you just mentioned in your blog! They are supposed to have all the answers, but they usually end up telling you exactly what you already figured out! If only they could cure everything that comes their way! Then I would be singing their praises!
    Don't feel bad about not giving Madeline the antibiotics. If you don't think she needs it, then she probably doesn't. Trust your instincts...you are the mama! :)

  3. Sick babies are hard! It's hard because you can really only keep them comfortable and they are miserable and it makes you sad. I still have a hard time when Cam gets sick and he caught everything this winter! He was sick all the time.

  4. Poor Madeleine! Its the worst when babies are sick, because they can't even begin to let you know how they don't feel good. Its even worse when you can't find a doc that knows that they're doing.

  5. Poor Madeleine! Poor you! Hope you are both on the mend!



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