Tuesday, April 29, 2008

reality bites

I had a post all planned out, but reality took over and I am too tired to write it out like I want to. So, it will have to wait ...

Little 'Ny has been in day care since she was 18 months old. And, since then she has had colds, pink eye, stomach flues and pneumonia (twice). She has very large adenoids and tonsils (which we have "discussed" having removed) which do not allow her stuffy nose to drain resulting sinus infections. As she has gotten older the illnesses are less often and we do our best to limit the amounts of antibiotics to prevent resistance. But, never fail she comes down with something every other month.

It has been over a month since her last illness, so I wasn't terribly shocked when she woke up at 3am this morning with a 101.5 fever. As usual, Hubs and I both get up, take her temperature, change her into cooler pjs, give her a dose of Tylenol and bring her to bed with us. The remainder of the night was broken up by the snoring of a restless kid.

When Little 'Ny woke up her fever was 99.5, so I called her school to inform them she would be staying home. They informed me there have been 5 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease at their school -- one of them in Little 'Ny's classroom.

I have never heard of this disease, but what I have learned is that it is common for kids this age and this time of year. There is no antibiotic that can be taken because it is a virus that just needs to run its course. And, we won't be certain that this is what she has for a couple of days after the fever has subsided and if the blisters show up. Great ... a waiting game.

I worked from home today with her while Hubs was out working and running erands. Most of the time the fever had her pretty lethargic. She went down for an early nap allowing me to get some work done. When she got up I took her to the store to pick up more Tylenol and popsicles. She took cat nap next to me on the sofa around 4pm. All day she barely had an appetite, but she ate her entire dinner.

As usual, before bed I got her in the tub. She had a great time pretending to make birthday cakes out of the bubbles from her bath. At the end of the bath she was standing up while I rinsed her off and somehow slipped rolling onto her back. I pulled her out of the shallow water and got her wrapped up in a towel on my lap. Sure enough she got so upset she threw up. The icing on the cake.

She really didn't want to go to bed, but midway through the third book I heard her gently snoring. I am sure she will be up around 3am with a spiked fever. Ah, the joy of parenting. Good thing I am taking tomorrow off.

Thumbs Up

2 comments:

  1. We had that disease going around St Louis last fall,..must be making it's way across country..one day care at a time...Hope she is feeling better soon

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  2. Aww, poor little 'Ny :( And poor parents, too - I know it's hard to watch your child feel miserable. We, too, deal with the many plagues of pre-school. Hope she's better soon!

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