You can imagine this has been frustrating.
I could go on and on here about how stressful it has been to deal with one illness after another this winter (it has been HORRIBLE) and figure out who is staying home from work, or leaving work early, or calling Matt's parents yet again to see if they would like to stay with the germ-ridden children...
Instead I'm going to talk about Facebook (sort of).
Around 7 tonight, just before I was going to give Harper another does of Motrin, her temp went up to 103 degrees. That's the threshold where I start to feel very nervous about a fever. And normally the kids don't run fevers that high. I looked online a bit to see if I could find some kind of magic number at which a fever needed immediate attention. I mean, I know 106 would be bad, obviously, but when does the real worry start, 103, 104? Anyway I couldn't find a satisfactory answer and I stopped myself before I could delve too far into Google's vast knowledge of fever-related illnesses which might turn deadly. I did, however, put Harper's temp into a Facebook status update to see what other moms thought.
I got several replies and even a phone call (thanks again Chris!), and reading/hearing them made me feel confident enough in our decision to hang on until morning and call the pediatrician, unless things take a turn for the worse overnight.
I am left feeling how nice it is that I can put a question out there and get such an immediate response. I'm grateful that I can reach out via email, Facebook, this blog, and by cell phone and get lots of good opinions on which to base a decision. It leaves me wondering what people did before we were all connected in so many ways.
I guess in moments of uncertainty you just had hitch up the wagon and ride to town to retrieve Doc Baker.****
Don't forget, only eight more days to help me raise money for the March of Dimes - go ahead, click the purple box on the right...
5 comments:
I did miss your FB update so I didn't comment there. But I agree that it can be a wonderful resource (as well as a terrible time-suck)! I hate the whole fever thing too but our peds always ask how our kids are acting/eating/ peeing, etc and if the fever has been controlled with motrin. So I try to give those variables their due attention before freaking out. But I almost always check with the doc just in case...hope Harper feels better soon :)
We are the information generation. I wonder the same things.
I hope the kiddos are feeling better soon!
YES, I LOVE Facebook/Twitter/blogging for that. I also love our pediatric nurse, who once said, "We don't even really think of it as a fever until it hits 102."
This post reminds me of the post Beth of So The Fish Said did about how grateful a working parent should be if he/she has a stay-at-home parent, because it means the working parent never has to deal with the worse part, which is "who stays home when the children are sick."
I hope today has been better, Kels. I am always nervous responding to the FB post like that (even though I did) because I don't want to tell you NOT to worry, because what if something was really wrong, etc, which is why there's always the tag line, def call the doc!
And this winter has been the sickest we've EVER had, by far, and it has driven me right up the wall. And I can only imagine the additional stress of worrying about who has to take off work, etc. I will remember to be thankful that I don't have to make that decision (right now) the next time.
I don't even treat fevers with anything until it gets to be 102 or the kids are way lethargic. I wouldn't stress until it hit 105, and then I'd call the doctor.
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