Wednesday was a long day. Reagan was just not herself. She could not be soothed. I couldn't do anything right for her, so I just put her in the bed and closed her door. No matter what mood she is in, the show must go on. I had many other things I wanted to try and get accomplished and I just didn't have the time to sit and hold her. Not that it would have helped anyway. I had already tried that.
By the time her afternoon feeding rolled around, I noticed she felt very warm. Very warm. She had gotten over whatever it was that had her out of sorts earlier in the day and had gone back to her normal cheery self. I took her temperature and was shocked to find that it was 101. I called Brian, reported my findings and consulted my ibuprofen chart from the doctor. I adminstered 1/2 teaspoon of Motrin and waited a half hour to see if it helped.
Temperature now up to 101.5. I called the doctor and was again shocked. This time it was to hear that they wanted me to take her to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth. This really wasn't a good time for us to have to go to Fort Worth. First of all, I hadn't had a shower all day. I didn't know what was wrong with her or what they might do. I was trying very desperately to not panic and remember that I am not to worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell the Lord what I need and thank Him for all He has done. If I do this, I will experience God's peace that is more wonderful than the human mind can understand. (Phillipians 4:6-7)
I called Brian and he said he'd meet me midway so we could go together in the car.
I really tried to think ahead. We would have to eat dinner on the road. The older girls would need something to do. How long would we be there? Reagan would need to eat. I would need something to read. Should I take a change of clothes for me, in case we have to stay overnight? Somehow, I managed to not panic. I put together bags for the girls with several books and toys and their cups. I grabbed a book and a magazine for myself and prepared 3 bottles for Reagan. I brushed my teeth, washed my face and got dressed.
And we were on our way. I left the house at 5:10pm and signed in at the hospital at 6:55pm. I cannot for the life of me figure out what in the world took so long. That amount of time seems like a nice, leisurely pace, but I remember feeling very frenzied trying to get there quickly.
Of course, the fever had broken by the time we got there and the triage nurses admonished me for giving her Motrin. This whole situation was very bad for the other girls who were subjected to disease and who knows what else and also made to sit still for a long period of time. They did really well, considering. We were moved to a room, where we were left for over 2 hours with no one ever coming to check on us. They didn't want me to feed Reagan formula, but they didn't give me enough PediaLyte either. The whole situation was very frustrating.
Finally, a very harried, mean looking doctor in blue jeans came in. After waiting for 2 hours in the room, we finally got 3 minutes of her time. She was literally in the room for 3 minutes. She said Reagan's ear was "a little pink". We waited all that time and will probably have a bill for $1000 just to be diagnosed with an ear infection. We got a dose of antibiotics and a prescription for the rest and we were done.
After stopping at a 24-hour pharmacy to get the prescription filled, we got home at midnight. The girls did not even sleep in the car.
Today was Reagan's 4-month check up. The doctor said her ears looked fine.
I don't know why I'm so frustrated with the process. I think maybe the doctor could have looked at her before sending us all the way to Cook's. I know Reagan is right at the age where a high fever like that can be very serious, but there are other considerations as well. I think next time, one parent will go to the hospital with the sick child and the other parent will take the other ones home. This will keep them from being exposed to who knows what in the ER waiting room of a major metropolitan hospital. Things are a lot different for us here when we don't have anyone that we can call to look after our girls when something like this happens.
In other news, Reagan is weighing in at 16 pounds, 5 ounces and is 27 inches long. She is in the 95th percentile. Her head circumference, which I forgot, is also in the 95th percentile. Everything is rolling along.
4 comments:
Hey Brian & Georgia,
I never thought 101.5 fever was high. OOPS! Anyway, I feel your pain. I'm usually the one to worry when the kids are sick.
Hope things are better now.
Jeffrey
Well, in the general scheme of things, 101.5 is not a high temperature. However, for a 4-month old infant, it is very high. She seem to be doing better now, except she's getting up in the middle of the night again which isn't fun for anybody!
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I think there is a rule somewhere that you aren't fully a parent until you've sat in an emergency room for hours somewhere panicking over an infant, just to have some snide doctor tell you there really isn't a big deal and you are a terrible over-reacting mother. That bites. Hope everyone is well now. Love ya!
Yup, we've done it too. I feel your pain, with the situation and with the process. That part gets easier as they get bigger, too. =)
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