Danica Sick

I was up at 3am... not because I was working. Actually I took the night off. I was up because Danica finally got sick. I jinxed it the other night when while out with some friends I joked that we've exposed Danica to so much already...the dog hair, dust, and the like... that her immune system is already strong so that is why she has not been ill yet.

Sure enough the next morning Danica awakes early and is hot. It takes Allie almost 2 hours to get her to go back to sleep. When she awakens an hour later I get her and she is still hot. We take her temp and it is 101.4 . Besides being hot and cranky nothing else seems wrong so we are thankful and keep our fingers crossed.

After her mid day nap she is more hot than before. We take temp and it is 102.5. I call the nurse and she says to keep giving her fluids and Tylenol and if she isn't better in a few days call back. As long as we keep her hydrated and no other symptoms arise it should be ok. By 5 o'clock, three hours after the nurse called Danica now has 103.5 fever and she just threw up all over me and her. It looked like her bottle feedings for the entire day were now spilled on the floor and our clothes.

It was then I decided I was not going to work. What started out as a low fever was getting worse and of course I was starting to panic. We called neighbors and family and no one was answering. So we called the doctors office: message said call 911 or call the doctor at her home!

Allie called the doctor at her home. It was around 7pm and the doctor was not happy. Danica's cheeks were rosy red, she was cranky, and now we were worried. The doctor basically said the same thing as the nurse. So we continued on with our night.

But the problem was now Danica would vomit any time we brought anything to her mouth... water... formula... and the Tylenol. How were we supposed to keep the fever down if we could not give her the Tylenol? We waited and finally tried to get her to sleep. Allie tried the Tylenol and Danica began to vomit and was also heaving. It was an awful sight for me. I was worried. Her fever will only get worse without the Tylenol. We can't give her fluids to keep her hydrated!!

I was ready to take her to the ER. Allie said call the doctor first. It was 10:30PM last night and I dialed the doctor. The phone rang many times before a very irritated doctor answered. She was even less happy this time. She said my daughter is not going to dehydrate in a few hours. Watch the diaper and if you have to you can give her Tylenol as a suppository.

I got off the phone and felt exactly the same as before. Reluctantly I went to put her to bed without fluids and without Tylenol. At almost 11:15 I had rocked Danica to bed and layed down. I was afraid at what i might find a few hours from then!

I awoke at 1:30 and could not sleep. I left the room and went on the computer. I waited for any noise from Danica's room that would signal she was at least OK. I didn't want to go in there just yet because she needed her rest. Suddenly Danica began to cry. I quietly entered her room... as I did she began to sit up. She was crying. I picked her up and for some reason she didn't feel right. SOMETHING WAS WRONG!

To my amazement Danica was cool! Three hours ago we put a hot child to sleep without fluids to hydrate her and without a fever reducer... yet she was cooler now than at any point in the day. So cool that she appeared to be shivering. I called for Allie, she came over and took her temp. It was 99!! We were both quiet happy.

Danica and I would only sleep a few hours from then until now... it is 3:30PM. She is not sleeping but she is drinking plenty of fluids and in somewhat better spirits as am I... and the fever has subsided!