Well, being in and out of sanity the past 12 hours has done a number on me!
I feel the need to sorta, hang it out to dry and move on, so you, my readers, shall pay the price ;]
At about 3/4 this morning Lily threw up all over the bed. I was so sleepy, and didn't really think anything of it. That girl puts so many un-edible things in her mouth, it surprises me she doesn't throw up more. So I nursed her a little bit and she snuggled right up to me and went to sleep. I woke up this morning at the normal time with her and went to her room to play. I usually lay in the twin bed to try to wake up while she plays. But today, instead of wanting to "read" her books, or play tag with rusty, or build towers, she just got on the twin with me. I thought "YES! SLEEP!" And we woke back up at about 9:15
When we woke up, she was on fire! Ok, not like flaming baby, but her little head was burning up. I got out the thermometer and took her temp. 102.
Hrm... What's going on?
I try to let her play some more, be herself. I took off her diaper, tried to let her cool down some, and her temp came down a little. GOOD. But then, after feeding her, and giving her lots of skin to skin, it rose, and rose, and just kept on rising.
One of the hardest things for me to do since becoming a parent is learning not to please everyone.
That was a hard one to write... By nature, I need everyone around me to be happy about every decision I make-every employer, teacher, babysitter [lol] I've ever had, has told me this. Since Lily's conception, nothing could be truer. With almost any decision I make I receive one of two arguments:
***I wrote these two responses and realized that I was judging these women just as much as they are judging others, so I edited that bit out ;]***
These are both reactions I get when I ask for prayer over my daughter's health, seriously?!?!
After much debate, we decided to take Lily to Cook's Children hospital. Her temp was up, but she showed no "symptoms" Just loss of apatite, uber sleepy, lethargic. I feared UTI.
We checked her in and I started feeling awful about my decision, fearing what my "crunchy friends" would think of me.
Poor Lily was in pain, and the nurses didn't help. We got the head shake, tisk tisk, and eyebrow raise from our doctor for not immunizing her, which didn't help.
She got an "in and out" cath. I'm tearing up just thinking about it, but I can NOT risk her having a UTI and not knowing. My sister was hospitalized and died briefly from a UTI when she was just a few months older than Lily is now. I didn't look, but Eamon was such a great daddy. He held her hand and tried to sooth her. He was our rock.
The UTI screen came back negative, so they drew blood. Another moment for our knight in shining armor to come through for us.
It ended with the doc telling us it was just a 72 hour virus. If it lasted longer than that, come back. UGH. But the peace of mind that she didn't have a UTI from the diapers that I use calmed my spirit.
The thing about sick babies is that they demand all of your time and energy. I told Eamon I hadn't spent that much time with her since the day she was born. And I loved it. There was no fighting me to get down and play with her toys, no pulling my hair, no screaming. Just pitiful pouts, nursing sweetly, and cuddling. It was heart breaking and beautiful all at once.
Well, that the long and short of it. We made it NINE MONTHS without sickness, so proud of my little girl for handling it so well!
Mae