Too hot...

No, not the weather. My munchkin. This weekend, poor Abigail got sick, and she had Carey and I very worried. We were returning from Philadelphia, where we attended our nephew's First Communion, and Abby was out-of-sorts in the car. When we stopped at a rest stop in New Jersey to stretch our legs and get gas, I picked her up out of her car seat and she felt really warm. I gave her some infant Tylenol to make her comfortable, and it seemed to help. (She finally took a good nap on the last leg of the trip.) When we first got home, she was okay, but she still felt very warm. So, Carey and I took her temperature and it was 102.1.

Being a Sunday night, I left a message for our pediatrician's office and our call was returned by the answering service. Abby had a cough, runny nose, and temperature. The doctor said that normally, they advise parents whose children have these symptoms to give the child a dose of infant Tylenol and wait to see what happens. However, because the swine flu is going around, the doctor advised us to take Abby to the nearest children's hospital to have her checked out and treated. Luckily, nearby in Syosset, there is a practice called PM Pediatrics, which is an after-hours emergency care facility specifically for children. So, at 11 pm on Sunday night, we loaded Abby into the car and drove to PM Pediatrics.

Our poor little girl was so miserable by the time we arrived. She was soooo tired, but she kept waking up, probably because of her high fever. When we were seen by the doctor, her fever was up to 104.5. (I was holding her, and she felt like she was on fire. Normally, when she's feverish, her torso and the top of her head feel warm to the touch. Well, her entire body, from the tips of her toes to the tips of her nose, felt extremely hot...) The doctor did a nose swab, which ruled out the flu (thank God!), and he also ruled out croup and ear infections. (One of her ears was slightly red, but nothing that would have caused such a high fever.) He said that it was very likely something viral and we would have to wait while Abby's body fought the virus. Abby is now old enough to receive infant Motrin, so she was given a dose by the doctor, and it brought her fever down noticeably within 15 minutes.

One of Abby's pediatricians was in the office yesterday morning, even though it was Memorial Day. He called us at 7:30, said he'd received the report from PM Pediatrics, and invited us to bring Abby in so he could check her out. We jumped at the opportunity to have one of her own doctors look her over, so we drove over to Huntington and met with Dr. Cohen. While Abby definitely did not like being examined, she did allow Dr. Cohen to do a full exam, and he agreed with the findings of the doctor at PM Pediatrics: Abby does not have the flu, she does not have croup, and she does not have an ear infection. (There was actually no redness in her ear when Dr. Cohen examined her yesterday.) Dr. Cohen told us to make sure that Abby is eating and drinking well, getting plenty of sleep, and to give her infant Motrin per the label directions as needed to control her fever.

Abby had a better day yesterday, coughing less and being fever-free. Right around dinner time, Abby started fussing, so we took her temperature and it was back up to 102.0. After another dose of Motrin, Abby was back to herself and playing with mommy and daddy. She did have some trouble sleeping last night (she went to bed at 9:15 pm, but she woke up at 2:30 this morning and wanted to play. Carey and I took turns rocking with her in the rocking chair, and eventually she fell back asleep around 4:15 am. She was still asleep when I left for work this morning.)

Abby is spending the day at home with daddy today. Dr. Cohen said that Abby shouldn't go back to daycare until she has been fever-free (without medication) for 24 hours. So, daddy is working from home today, and I'll be on-call tomorrow in case Abby is still unwell. Please pray for our little girl that her body fights off whatever virus is present and that she is returned to good health!