When Life Comes to a Halt

     We had a sick little girl on our hands over the weekend (high fever, cough, stuffy nose, and just generally feeling icky) and it was not fun. I'm sure many of you can relate - having a sick baby sucks. Period. She had some minor sniffles about 6 weeks ago, but was still her usual happy self, so we thought having a sick baby wasn't too bad, but this time around, whatever she had/has was much worse.

     My husband said it best - when the baby's sick, life comes to a halt. I didn't leave the house all day Sunday and on Monday I only went out after Cam got home from work for a much-needed grocery run. I just didn't want to take Tessa anywhere, so she stayed in her pajamas and we had a quiet day at home with lots of cuddles, stories, and naps.

     If you know Tessa, you know that the above photo is not her AT ALL! She normally doesn't sit still for 5 seconds and definitely doesn't lay down anywhere but her crib and only when she's fast asleep. Yesterday, if I put her down on the floor, she either just sat there and cried, or just put her head down and laid there, totally ignoring her toys. Poor little girl!

     By afternoon nap time, her fever was quite high and she seemed very lethargic, like to the point of not being able to keep her eyes open. I was starting to get a little worried. I gave her a dose of Baby Tylenol and put her in her crib, then called our local Health Link number. I wasn't sure how high of a fever was too high (after reading conflicting information online), or how long a fever should be left (she had had a fever for almost 24 hours by that point). I'm a nurse, and I've been around some very, very sick people as part of my job, but when it's your own child, it's a completely different story. I'm Tessa's mom, not her nurse, and I just needed some reassurance that she was OK.

     To further complicate things, our area is in the middle of a measles outbreak, so of course, all I can think is that she has the measles. I keep checking everywhere for signs of a rash - so far, so good, but it's always in the back of my mind. I'd also be really hesitant to even take her in if things get worse. Given her symptoms, we likely wouldn't be allowed to enter a doctor's office and if we were to take her to the hospital and explain her symptoms, they would most likely send us directly to the isolation unit where all the suspected measles cases have to go right now. So, if she didn't already have the measles, she'd most likely come in contact with it by going in. And if we were to go in, all they'd probably do for her would be Tylenol and fluids, which we're already doing at home. So that was what was going through my head all day yesterday...hoping she didn't get worse so we wouldn't have to make the tough call of whether or not to take her in and knowingly expose her to something worse than she already had. Thankfully, I think she's on the mend today - still feverish, but more perky and active - I've even got a few smiles out of her today.

     It's so tough to be a mama to a sick baby. I now understand so much better the feeling of wishing you could take someone else's pain and suffering yourself. I felt so sad for her and so helpless yesterday - other than giving her Tylenol and trying to keep her hydrated and, of course, loving her, there was nothing else I could do. On top of that, it's so hard to know when she might need more help than I can give her at home, or how long to just wait it out. It's such a tough call, and hopefully one that we won't have to make any time soon.

     Here's to a (hopefully) healthy winter!