Wednesday we ran errands and on the way home, Lucy fell asleep. Even though it was only 12:30 which is early for her nap, especially considering she had a good nap in the morning, I chalked it up to the excitment of the errands and the car ride so I opened up the windows to the car, left the garage door open and sat there and made a phone call to catch up with a friend. And hour and a half later, she was still sleeping - this is unusual. Eventually she did get up but 30 minutes after she got up, she was cranky and rubbing her eyes so I helped her take another nap - and she just kept napping until 5pm when I had to wake her up. By then I knew something was wrong but I had to go pick up Craig from work. She fell asleep once she was back in the car but woke up enough for us to take her temperature when we got home - 101.
We borrowed our neighbors awesome quick thermometer (as compared to our lame thermometer which takes over a minute of baby wrestling before it gives us an error message because she wasn't holding still enough) and some ibuprofen but since the fever wasn't dangerous and she was able to sleep and nurse, we held off and let the fever do its job and just monitored the situation. She was like that - cranky, sleepy and hot from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, she would only sleep on my chest, with me sitting upright. She wouldn't even let Craig hold her while I ate dinner. So we slept on the couch. And by "we slept" I mean she slept and I tried to sleep.
Thursday afternoon she had a bit more energy and around 4pm her fever finally broke and her crankiness disappated slightly. I had barely put her down since Wednesday since she would scream mamamama as soon as I did so I was grateful for the break but that night she still only wanted to sleep upright while being held. Luckily she let Craig hold her, either she was feeling better that he was good enough or she was so tired it didn't matter but so he was able to take the early morning shift while I got a teeny tiny bit of sleep. Today, she seems fine which hopefully means we will all get some rest tonight. It's only 5pm but Craig and I could both probably go to bed right now - if only Lucy was willing.
This was the first time she was really uncomfortable sick. It was also the first time it was hard to do what I felt was right. I didn't want to rush to drugs because I didn't think in the long run it was the best for her, but I hate to see her feel sick. I'm glad I could "practice" on a quick illness because after 24 hours, I'm exhausted and I think if it had gone on any longer, my resolve would have weakened. But hopefully this will be the bout of illness in our family for a little while.
So glad you are on the mend..it sure is difficult when your little one is sick. So hard to watch them! I definitely control moderate to high fevers in children under 1, as they can easily cause febrile seizures and brain damage. Above a year, it's a good idea to allow lower fevers to take their course, as it is a bodily response that is good for fighting the source of the fever, as well as building the immune system.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you already knew that, but I just like to mention it because we really avoid medication in this home, and I successfully treat nearly everything with natural remedies, yet sometimes ibuprofen (I prefer much to Tylenol with it's liver toxicity and not as effective) can be truly beneficial and worthwhile!
God Bless!
Oh I agree. I've seen different information as to what temperature levels need treatment at different ages(Drs Sears has a good page about it) but she never got higher than 101 so I was comfortable waiting it out. If it had gotten much higher, or if she hadn't been willing to nurse, it would have a different story. And it was very reassuring the have the (dye free) ibuprofen nearby at night just in case.
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