Katherine is sick

kit_kats_mom wrote: I've had some chest cold thing going on since last week. I've just been drained and it feels like there is an anvil on my chest. I perservered though and DH pitched in alot this weekend with K so I gots loads of much needed rest. I'm feeling better ,still cant breathe but I feel better. Katherine wouldn't sleep last night without nursing constantly and she started coughing. She had a 101.5 temp at 4am and we spent the day marathon nursing and snuggling. A few stinky diarahea diapers and a short nap later around 3, I took her temp and it was 103.3! I freaked out. I took her to the ped and they did a strep culture. Apparently her throat is raw and swollen. Poor baby did not like that at all. She is resting on daddy right now and the fever is down to 101 again. I have stict orders for tylenol/motrin every 3 hours and I will be nursing her alot. she won't drink or eat anything. I can't say that I blame her. I feel so sorry for my little pumpkin when she isn't feeling good. She is just so pitiful.

ediep replied: Awwweee Poor Katherine, I just hate it when our cutie pies are sick! Jason hated that strep test too.

Hope she feels better soon

Maddie&EthansMom replied: (((HUGS))) for Kat and you!! Poor thing! It makes me soooo sad when little ones are sick. I hope she feels better soon!

amynicole21 replied: Poor Katherine!!!! I bet she feels just awful... I hope that the tylenol and motrin do the trick and at least keep her comfortable until this nasty bug gets out of her system!

A&A'smommy replied: awww poor baby!!! I hope you are both get well soon!!!!!

chloe&tysmommy replied: aww poor little kat, hope she's feeling better soon and the medicine you are giving her helps her get over this

victoire2002 replied: Hope you guys feel better really soon! Here's some hugs for you!

momma2jenna replied: so sorry your baby girl is sick. Hope she feels better soon!
Jenna's teething so I know the 'mushroom syndrome' too!
(dh calls Jenna my little mushroom because she's always attached)
hope your boobies get through this too!

DansMom replied: Poor Katherine, it sounds like she's just miserable. Hugs to all of you!

MommyToAshley replied: Aweee, poor baby! Hope she is feeling better soon!

Kaitlin'smom replied: awww get better soon to both of you!

jdkjd replied: How are all of you feeling today? Much better I hope...

maliksmommy replied: I hope she feels better soon. Poor Katherine

coasterqueen replied: Hope you both feel better soon!!!

kit_kats_mom replied:
I feel better but I can't seem to keep her temp below 99 axillary. Her fever still hasn't broken but she seems happier today although still clingy and wanting to nurse around the clock. Dh played hooky today so i am getting ready to take a nap so I can stay up tonight with her.

I have a call into the ped. I remember hearing something on NPR, just a snippet, about how west nile virus acts like a cold in most healthy adults and that many of us have had it already and have the antibodies in our blood. It is the elderly and the young who you have to be worried about. It wouldn't be a far streach for us to have that since we do live in a swamp and we go outside frequently. It's probably nothing but that darn NPR program has me thinking now....no more NPR, this is why I stopped watching dateline too. Too many things to worry about.

jdkjd replied: You are banned from NPR and any news show outside of The Daily Show!!!

Goodness, get a nap STAT and hopefully the Ped will call soon. HUGS!!

kit_kats_mom replied:

you are so funny. Thanks for the laugh!

MomToJade&Jordan replied: Oh no. I hope Katherine feels better soon. I used to get some really bad colds this time of year when I was there. As for the West Nile I would monitor her for a while and if she isn't getting better then I would take her back to the Ped. It sounds like she has just gotten what you had. I am also going to forbid you from NPR. I am the same way. I will see something on tv and think Oh no. Just get some rest if you can and hopefully all will get better in a couple of days.

kit_kats_mom replied: Well we went to the ped again today. Katherine woke up at 4 am and was burning up. I took her temp and it was 103.5 so I was pretty worried. The doc drew blood and had me get a urine sample (not the most plesant task). Katherine screamed and cried during the blood draw and I had to hold her down. I hate doing that, it makes me feel so bad. Anyway, the doc said her tonsils are really red and swollen and that one of her ears is "a little bit red" so she gave us some amoxicillan just in case it is an ear infection and/or strep. The doc is really, really concerned about her growth though. She is running all kinds of tests on K's blood to rule out odd diseases (she mentioned cystic fibrosis and acidosis as two possible explinations for "retarded growth") and she is looking into having my breast milk analyzed for caloric density. I sure hope that my milk isn't the problem, as much as I complain about it, I do enjoy nursing her for the most part and I would really feel guilty if her slow weight gain is my fault. By the way, I don't like the word retarded used to describe my baby at all and all this talk of rare diseases is only making me worry more. I am quite sure that she is fine and that this is just the way she is meant to be but the nagging doubts put there by the dr. still keep me up at night. As many of you have pointed out, she acts normal and is energetic and happy. I wish the doc just hadn't told me anything and let me be in the dark unless she found something. I am going to be a mess as the mother of a teen daughter if I can't get this anxiety and worry out of my head.

amynicole21 replied: I'm so sorry to hear she's still sick! I hope the meds do the trick and she's feeling better by tomorrow!

As for her "retarded" growth... doctors should know better than to use words like that around mothers I think she is putting undue anxiety in your head. But, on the other hand I guess she just wants to be straightforward with you about some of the possibilities - however far fetched. I am 110% certain that nothing is wrong with Katherine, but if it will put your mind at ease about her petite size, I think the tests are a good idea.

And I've never heard of breastmilk having low caloric density... is she making that up Never doubt yourself on that decision... it's the best thing a mom can do for her child and I applaud you

MommyToAshley replied: Poor baby, so sorry to hear she is still sick. I hope the antibiotics help!

As for the tests, I agree that they will put your mind at ease. But, Kat is active, energetic, and hitting all her milestones early... I think she is fine, she is just going to be petite. My niece (Ashade75's daughter who will be 13 soon) went to the doc for a check up and they told her that she would probably only be 5'2". She's always been petite. But, she is a very healthy girl, really cute, and so smart... she's class president, plays soccer, and gets straight A's. There's nothing wrong with her, she just wasn't meant to be tall.

As for bf, I agree with amynicole, it is one of the best decisions you could have made for her!

DansMom replied: I know other people whose pediatricians are "alarmist" like that. Daniel's ped. is the opposite. No matter what I tell him, he says it's nothing, whereas my friend's pediatrician has put her son through a 2-hour CAT scan because he was cranky. It turned out he was teething.

Is your doctor on the young side? Mine is in his sixties I think. Maybe it's better to have a ped. who will catch something rare if there is something wrong. On the other hand, you'll have more instances of worrying and testing over nothing... as I hope and suspect is the case here.

And more hugs to all of you---I hope this fever breaks soon and Katherine starts feeling a lot better.