Fever

It's amazing how much a trip to the pediatrician can throw off your day, like the plans you had to exercise or make dinner or call your grandfather to wish him happy 83rd birthday. Forget it. Everything flies out the door when you call the pediatrician to report that your child has a 103.5 fever and they say, "Bring him in right away please!"

Poor Baby B. He woke up yesterday feeling very hot with a 100 degree temperature that kept rising throughout the day as he napped and napped and then napped some more! Kudos to Hubby T for finally deciding it was time to call the doctor. I mean, sometimes a fever is no big deal and I didn't want to drag us all down there for nothing. Plus the doctor's office website said that we didn't need to call immediately until it reach 104. But he was right, it was time. So off we went.

And that's when the day really went down hill. First they tried to give Baby B some motrin orally to bring down his fever; it was apparently so disgusting and distressing that he promptly vomited the whole thing up as well as his entire last feeding. (And that is exactly why we try to always keep an extra outfit in the diaper bag, thank goodness we had one this time!) We never really recovered after that. Every attempt they made to look in his mouth, look in his ears, even listening to his heartbeat was met with fussing and squirming and crying. Baby B is normally a very agreeable and happy child, even at his well child visits, so this was evidence of just how yucky he was feeling. Then they wanted to draw blood to run some tests and not that I doubted it before but now I truly believe them when they say it's really hard to find a vein in a 6 month old. Once they got the needle in they missed the vein so then they were moving it around trying to find one....I don't watch when they stick needles in my arm so watching them do it to my precious little baby boy was excruciating (for him too, which he very loudly and angrily let us know!) Finally they gave him a super-shot of antibiotics which is supposed to help fight anything and everything that could be bringing him down. Unfortunately the super shot consisted of two shots, one in each leg, that are supposedly so painful they include a numbing agent in the shot. Needless to say, I was in tears as well by the end of all this. I don't think Baby B has ever cried and screamed that hard in his life.

Phew. Thank goodness for the yummy cornbread that I had made a lunchtime that was waiting at home for us:) And that it was almost bedtime:)

So the take-aways from this first traumatic doctor visit. Thank you God for modern medicine and health insurance and for a pediatrician's office we feel confident taking our baby to. In the midst of worry about why my little boy is sick, it's a comfort to know that I am doing everything I can for him, and that the doctors and nurses have his same best interest at heart. And secondly, God bless the moms and dads who have children who are seriously sick and have to get pricked and poked all the time. I hope I never have to experience this kind of trauma with Baby B on an extended basis. I can't wait to get my happy, healthy, smiley boy back soon and pray for those who have longer to wait.