I missed two days! As an anal, rules-following, only-child Capricorn, I find this distressing, even as an unofficial participant. I was so close to the end of the month, so close!
But I digress.
I wish I could tell you that I had been having so much fun hanging out with my husband while my in-laws watched the kids, catching up with my sister-in-law's dating drama, and stuffing myself with Thanksgiving leftovers, but it ain't so. Instead, I was Learning Things, some the Hard Way. Here's what I learned:
1. When your child sleeps poorly one night, then cries inconsolably for hours during the next night, it's not because she's trying to annoy you. It's because she has an earache.
2. Don't wait for your child--who wants nothing more in the world than to go to sleep--to cry for four hours before giving Tylenol. Get over your "I don't want to give her medicine unless I'm sure she needs it" attitude and just give her the damn Tylenol. It might help, which will give you a clue as to why she's crying.
3. 37°C = 98.6°F. Our #$&@ thermometer would only display in Celsius for some reason. At least the temperature I was measuring was normal. Thank you, Internet conversion programs.
4. It's good to know and be related to doctors. They can get you in to see their doctor friends and you won't even have to pay a copay! And you get free samples of the blessed Tylenol!
5. When your baby hasn't pooped in 36 hours, she'll decide to do her business just as the doctor walks in the exam room to check her out.
6. Flying home with a baby who has an earache might not be as bad as you expect it to be.
7. No matter how tired you are, being home will make you feel better about things.
Glad to be home. So, so glad to be home.
Moi
- Snickollet
- I'm a mother and a widow, and a whole lot of other things. Here, though, I tend to write about parenting, grief, and their intersection.
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4 comments:
Earaches are difficult to detect if you don't know the symptoms for your child. And, of course, you only learn the symptoms for your child after you have been through it a few times! Our eldest had constant earaches for months when she was just over 1, and we got to know the signs really well. If she started crying/ screaming in a particular way by 9.30-10.00pm at night we would know it was an ear infection and would Tylenol her. The dosage is supposed to be every 4 hours, and by 3 - 3 1/2 hrs we would often be counting down so that we could give her some more.
The earaches were bad enough, but what was worse is that she had pneumonia and I didn't even realise because the symptoms were soooo like the ones for the combination of an earache and cold. She certainly didn't seem to be that sick when I took her to the doctor's office - but she, in fact, was a pretty sick little girl. After this diagnosis I was a bit paranoid whenever she got a bad cough.
When she was little I was, at first, really reluctant to give her any medication, but experience (and her screams of pain) taught me to think differently. We have been much quicker to give medication to her two siblings as a result.
All of this is to say that sometimes the only way you can work something out is with 20/20 hindsight. Combine that with some pratical experience and then you have a better chance of getting it right. And you have my sympathy about geting sick at your in-laws, that is difficult and stressful. After experiences like this home seems a wonderful place!
I hope that the trip home was uneventful - and that Maddie is getting better.
I came really close to suggesting an ear infection, but thought I'd mind my own biz. Next time...
Sorry about the earaches. Poor Maddie. I can still remember how painful they were when I was a kid (don't remember being a baby of course).
I know about the 37=normal because my thermometer only has celsius markings ( I bought it in Thailand and have never replaced it). However, I never know how much over 37 means danger so I have to do the conversion thing to find out if the temp. is a just little high or really bad. I bought it when my mother was sick while we were travelling and her fever turned out to be high enough for an extra-fast hospital admission.
YT--no need to mind your own biz. You are a voice of experience!
Thanks to all for the supportive comments. I'm glad that the first earache is basically over and now I know what signs to look for in Maddie.
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