Two nights ago, while the wife was at the gym and I was on kid duty (coloring and drawing), my daughter instantly became quiet and start shaking, almost shivering, while whimpering, nearly crying “Dada”.
I freaked out.
I instantly went into First Aid mode (I took a class last year), I began talking to her, making her look at me while her eyes became heavy and started closing while she muttered a few words in-between. She was breathing fine except she was really warm, almost too hot. I’ve never felt so helpless my entire life; a million things were going through my head.
I called our doctor (we have a great pediatrician office that has a 24-hour on call doctor), after a few quick questions, and some checkups, she had a fever and he gave me some instructions on how to soothe her. She was fine after an hour or so, nonetheless still uneasy with rattled nerves. I was told the body could shiver when a fever is rising (nobody warned me about this?) Thankfully it wasn’t a seizure; she doesn’t have any history of it and if it had been she would have been unresponsive and blacked out.
We watched her throughout the night virtually taking turns, with a doctor on-call waiting to see if we should take her to the local hospital.
Next day- she was fine. As if nothing happened - acting normal, playing, talking, asking for stuff she couldn’t reach. Her temperature was hovering around 100, nowhere near the 105 the previous night. We were told if she was acting normal, she should be O.K.
Last night, it happened again, nearly the same routine. Except this time led us to the local hospital where they began performing a bunch of tests on her. There’s nothing more horrible for a parent than having your kid in a hospital, crying, wanting you to protect them, and you can’t. I wished so hard that I could take her place.
Then came the waiting. Waiting for the results of all the tests while feeling like nothing else in the world matters than to see her happy, saying funny things, and playing again.
We found out she has pneumonia and everything is going to be all right (after 10 days of antibiotics and check-ups.) Later, she was back at home playing and talking to the dog. It really is hard to imagine that this was the same kid a few hours ago. Because if it were me, I would be asking for KFC, somebody to rub my feet, and maybe a t-shirt or some kind of award to hang on the wall that says “I survived. Make me cookies.”
Glad everything is ok, pneumonia can be very scary indeed.
ReplyDeleteWow, scary. Glad she's feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThis happens to my 2 yr old niece a lot. How freakin' scary.
ReplyDeleteKids are so resilient. You will notice this more and more as she gets older. Like you said, we would be in bed for a week, wondering what we would be wearing whilst lying in our coffin, and a child will be asking for the 4th cookie in 10 minutes.
Like they say...it's a shame that youth is wasted on the young!
Hugs to you both!
Oh jeez! How scary!! Glad you figured out what it was.
ReplyDeleteWow. That is very scary! Glad that she is on the mend. And you cracked me up with your last few sentences. Yeah, you ARE right - you WOULD be asking for all those things, poor thing. LOL
ReplyDeleteToo scary! I hate when they get so sick like that...glad she is better...
ReplyDeleteglad she's ok. it's terrifying. of course, when my youngest was an infant, it was under my solo care that we learned she had some kind of allergy to rice. i won't go into details, but it was the scariest moment of my life and i was alone.
ReplyDeleteVery scary. And it doesn't ever end. My son 8 y/o fell from his bike last summer and broke both arms. We were about 10 blocks from home. It's amazing how fast they heal though. Good thing your girl had you there to help her.
ReplyDeleteYikes. Febrile seizure, maybe? See Wiki.
ReplyDeleteI hope she recovers quickly. Very quickly.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope you get your KFC, and a foot rub, because everyone knows that Dad's suffer the worse when a child is ill....
Please note the eye rolling.
LOL! Hang in there.
I was nervous just reading your post. Glad you were able to find out what's wrong.
ReplyDeleteScary stuff. So glad she is already getting better-
ReplyDeleteI used to get scarlet fevers when I was a kid-high risk for seizures because the temps would go too high too fast- and I spent a LOT of time in ER's hooked up to IV's and covered in ice packs.
And yes, these kids have a habit of getting really sick when only one parent is home...
So scary, but I am glad everything is ok. Nothing makes you feel more helpless then a sick child.
ReplyDeleteScares the hell out you doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteWe had our moment as well, so I feel for you all.
http://honeaexpress.blogspot.com/2005/02/perspective-of-parenthood.htmla
That would have scared the **** out of me.
ReplyDeleteI had pneumonia like that so many times when I was little. Now I feel terrible about what I must have put my poor parents through! Hope she (and you) feel better very soon!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that just the worst freakin thing ever. They really like to torture us, dont' they?
ReplyDeletevery happy she's alright.
Yeah. It stinks to have to take them in to the hospital. The worst part is when they are holding their arms out to you and begging you to make it stop and you feel like you would sell your soul for a magic wand.
ReplyDeleteLiv had a febrile seizure when she was 2. It was similar to what you described, but she actually did have a seizure. She was sick with a virus and I had to leave for work and she was crying. Suddenly, she just went rigid in the babysitter's arms and her eyes rolled back in her head. I skipped work, took her to the ER and all was okay.
I didn't throw up until after she was safe in her bed and it was all over.
Man, kids can scare the stuff right out of you! The get sick...turn you into helpless jello...and then they feel fine while you go into therapy about your lame-ass parenting ability. And it is dreadful to sit there while they get tested and cry. Or hold them while they cry and get stitches. Oh...no one warned you about that? Just wait......
ReplyDeleteYipe! Little kids can get so sick so fast. And loving parents always feel a little guilty that they can't make it all better with a kiss.
ReplyDeleteYou're a very loving dad and you've gotten through your first big parental scare. You should feel proud: You've passed a major milestone!
Very glad to hear your little girl is doing better.
Poor thing! Glad to hear everything is OK and you too managed to survive such an ordeal. I would have freaked, I am NOT good at that stuff. My hub is the rock.
ReplyDeletescary! having a sick kid has to be the WORST. glad everything worked out.
ReplyDeleteWe, unfortunately, had the same thing happen to us. When they're small, they can't tell us what's going on. So, it takes us longer to figure out what's going on. But what was scary, we had a Bat in our house that week, and I was terrified the whole time that it was rabbies! So, I was naturally happy to find out it was Just pneumonia. So glad you found out.
ReplyDeleteMan, the intense love we have for them makes things like this so scary. And when kids have to have any sort of medical procedure -- where the medical staff acts like everything is routine because for them it is -- it is terrible. You really would do anything to take their place.
ReplyDeleteThe freaky thing is how quickly these things can seem to manifest. When adults are getting sick, we know our bodies and feel that things just aren't right, but our little ones can't really express this to us so it's just like BANG, baby has a 105 fever! But they really act less like babys than most of us adults do when we get sick. Hope she has a quick recovery!
oh lord. totally, totally scary. i remember when my son fell down the stairs at 18 months--we had to hold him down for xrays and MRIs and he was so freaking scared I nearly puked.
ReplyDeleteI find it totally scary how things can go from "fine" to "oh my god. what is wrong?" in seconds with kids. They do everything faster.
ReplyDeletePanic is the worst. I never know if I should go in to freak-out mode where I try to do everything as fast as I can or to be calm and not make her scared or feel worse.
ReplyDeleteGlad to know it was something they could diagnose and clear up.
I've never had pneumonia so I wouldn't even know what it felt like.
Poor thing!!! I remember when my son's intestines came through his hernia when he was about 18months and he started SCREAMING - the doctors acted like it was nothing to worry about and to just push them back in and call them in the morning... >o(
ReplyDeleteI've had pneumonia 3x - at 4, 13, and 15. I even got an ambulance ride for the time when I was 4.
It's just awful to get, but keep in mind when you get it once, you are more susceptible for additional occurrences.
Good luck and may your baby feel better!!!
Glad she is feeling better and that the pneumonia wasn't bad enough to require hospitalization.
ReplyDeleteWe sure are lucky that kids don't know any better, asking for special treatments like foot rubs and breakfast in bed. It would run us even more ragged.
How scary. I think you all deserve t-shirts. Glad everything's OK!
ReplyDeleteI feel for you. last summer daughter had a virus which turned into Viral Encephalitis. With the onset of the Encephalitis, she would litteraly shake like a seizure except that she was responsive. I was alone and it was scary. Even scarier then the tests she had t oundergo at the hospital.
ReplyDeleteGlad she's home and doing better. Let her rest and spoil her rotten while she sick!
there's nothing worse than a sick kid. i'd rather have my wrists broken than ever see my kids get fever again.
ReplyDeleteglad all is well now.
Glad to hear everything will be OK. I give you many kudos for keeping your head.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter had a similar incident when she was about 18 months old. Middle of the night, outrageous high fever. I already knew to get her into a cool tub, but she was too achy to sit in her child bath seat, so I got into the tub with her, and had her sit on my lap in the tub, while calling the pediatrician.
I swore the next time, I would have the foresight to at least take off my jeans when I got into a tub full of water.
Wow, that is the scariest thing when your kid is sick. Especially when it is somewhat inexplicable.
ReplyDeleteKids seem to recover so well, don't they? I'm with you on the foot rub/t-shirt/award if it were me.
So glad all is well.
There is NOTHING worse than a sick, scared child. Glad you survived.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's been a long time since you last posted. This whole ordeal must really have taken the wind out of your sails (air out of your tires?).
ReplyDeleteHope you're all OK now.
Oh my gosh! How scary for all of you. I hope the wee one is on the mend.
ReplyDeleteMake her some cookies, and eat some yourself!
Yikes! Sick kids are a scary proposition, to be sure! Glad she'll be fine. Meanwhile, do demand that foot rub - but be sure to give mrs. creative one too.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear everything worked out in the end. We just got boy.imp off of 2 weeks of meds for sinus infection only to have him spike to 102...turns out he also developed a healthy, double-ear infection too.
ReplyDeleteHow frightening for you! We've spent a few times at the ER in similar (yet different) situations and it's worse than anything I've ever been through. And I've been through some pretty awful stuff. Our babies are our whole life!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad it all turned out okay and your daughter is going to be alright. Whew!
I'm glad she was OK! And you have my complete and heartfelt sympathy! I had to do the emergency run with my son because he did have a febrile seizure, with the same cause, pneumonia. I hate the emergency room (but I'm really glad it's there).
ReplyDeleteTHIS is scary, and brought tears to my eyes bc it reminded me of my friend whose daughter experience the same thing - except more severely. They ended up riding the ambulance to the hospital where she was required to stay overnite 'just in case'.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that she's recovering (if not already better?). I tell ya, no matter how many books I read, classes I take, and yada-yada-yada it's always those 'what-ifs' that scare the be-Jesus outta me!
Good work, CT-Dad!
Good heavens! How scary was THAT- took many years off your life, pal. My 5 yr old had a febrile seizure (from temp rising too fast) when she was 18 mos. I swear I lost 20 years that night.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she's going to be okay!