105 and up

Summer has been sick since Tuesday morning, she started getting a fever and a runny nose. On Wednesday she seemed normal and played and ate like normal but had a low grade fever all during the day. When I got home from work she still had a mild 100 fever but seemed like she was feeling ok. She ate dinner like normal and drank a lot of water. We gave her a bath around 7:00 pm and that seemed to perk her up some. We only put a diaper on her to help cool her body off, and it seemed to work until we went to bed. Around 8:15 pm we were lying in our bed in a diaper and we took her temperature and the readings were around 104-106 which scared us to death so we decided to go to the ER room.

As luck would have it there was no line at the ER. They took her pulse, 140, and oxygen levels, 97. Her temperature, which they had to take rectally was 102.8. She weighed almost 27 pounds, which seemed like she was down a pound or at least down from our home scale. They gave her some Motrin and we sat and waited in the waiting area to see the doctor. When we saw the ER doctor he examined her and he said she looked fine, she was alert, she was playing, she did not have any rashes, so we were allowed to take her home and just let the temperature do its job and kill the bug.

The ER doctor asked if her shots were up-to-date, and yes all but the MMR that we delayed but planned on getting Thursday - but would be postponed until she felt better. The ER doctor said to keep a glass of water in her room to help with moisture, we asked if a humidifier would work and he said it didn't need to be fancy but we already have a humidifier. He then left to write out the orders and came back in looking a little worried and asked what kind of contraception we were using. Kris and I looked at each other like what? and said none. He then mentioned how we should hurry and get her MMR because catching something while pregnant is a really bad thing. No clue where that came from but ok :o) we plan on it as soon as she is better. We ended up getting home around 10:30 pm so we were only out about two and a half hours.

Thursday was Summer's 18 month well baby check but guess what - you can't have a well baby check up if your baby isn't well now can ya? We got there at 11:00 and they were more concerned with her fever, which she still had - and they would not complete the well baby check. The remeasured her and she is just shy of 27 pounds and they measured her height which they calculated 34 inches but I think they added a bit more than it was. I filled out all the well baby paperwork before they said we would have to come back so at least I have it for next time.

The doctor who came in was a PA and she said since Summer had a fever with no other symptoms, even though we said she had a runny nose and a slight cough - that it might be a UTI and they wanted to do blood work and a catheter. Kris was upset and didn't think it was a UTI nor did he want to do that to her because the ER doctor just said a fever was basically a normal thing, so we asked her for another opinion.

Another doctor comes in who has had several years experience and we go over everything again and she hears Summer get upset and cough and she thinks it is probably croup instead. We all agree to wait on the UTI and blood work and see if Summer will get better in a few days. From what I read about croup it does sound right, Summer gets worse at night and sounds horse/barky when she is more upset or tired.

As of today she is still pretty sick, her fever is much lower but her voice is much worse, she sounds horrible now. Kris just called and said she wants held and is unhappy and cranky. She is ok for the moment - watching Sesame Street - but I sure hope it passes soon, the stress on the parents is horrible!