My little girl is sick..what a weekend..

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-21-2004
My little girl is sick..what a weekend..
4
Mon, 12-06-2004 - 11:57am

Last week, my oldest dd came down with a cold. Nothing major, just a real nasty cough and a runny nose. I kept her home from school one day just so she could get some extra rest. I made her wear a surgical mask and made sure her and the baby were not in close contact to prevent the baby from getting sick. The baby has such an low immune system as it is and plus I cant give her anything b/c she is on anti-seizure meds. I know that there was a good chance of her getting it anyway b/c the fact the cold germs were spreading around before my older dd was showing symptoms, but I wanted to anything I could to prevent her from getting sick. Well...she was sick over the weekend and what a weekend it has been. She started coughing late Friday and running a low grade fever. I have to watch her fevers b/c anything over 102 triggers a seizure. I gave her infant tylenol to reduce the fever and rubbed some baby vick vabor rub on her chest. She fell asleep in my arms and I put her back to bed. Just as I was falling asleep, she woke coughing so hard, she threw up. SHe was also burning up. It had only been an hour since I gave her the tylenol. I took her temp again and it was 101.4. I gave her a bath and got her all nice and comfy again. She was actually smiling at me and wanting to play..mind you its 2am. Took her temp again and it was 100.1 and then I fed her a small bottle of water and she fell back to sleep. Her apnea went off around 3:30 am, causing me to jump out of bed, tripping over a basket of laundry and bumping my head on the edge of her crib. Apparently she had stopped breathing for 20secs but with all the comtion of me falling, woke her up, smiling of course. I went to pick her pick her up, I notice she was burning up again and I took her temp and this time it was 102.4. UHGGGGG!!!! I suspected she had a small seizure, causing the alarm to go off. We were told by the docs to expect that and not to panic (yeah right..sure ..no problem) especially if she is running a fever. I knew I had to get that fever down. I gave her another dose of tylenol and another bath. She was still coughing and was very fussy. I sat up with her for about an hour watching reruns on Nick at Nite. I took her temp again and it was 102.0 so I made a call to the doc. I was scared that she might have another seizure. I didnt know what else I could do to bring the fever down. The on call doc suggested that I give her Motrin, wait 3hrs retake temp if still above 101, give tylenol wait another 3hrs, retake temp if still above 101 give Motrin, wait another 3hrs if above 101, take her to the ER. SO, I woke up DF, who amazingly was still sleeping after all this, to run down the the 24hr Walgreens and get some Motrin. I gave her the Motrin and finally fell asleep with her on my chest. I wasnt about to move. I woke up with her screaming, coughing then throwing up all over me. It was 7:30am. We managed to sleep 3hrs. I was happy. Got her and myself cleaned up. She seemed in a okay mood. I took her temp and it was 101.4. So, gave her a dose of tylenol. She fell back to sleep while playing on the floor and I took the unexpected nap as a changce to nap myself. I had a pounding headache and the bright florida sun coming in my kitchen double doors wasnt helping. She only slept for about 45min before waking up screaming mad and coughing. She was burning up again...I can not believe how hot she was..she was just red. I took her temp and it was 104. I gave up..we were going to the ER. I called the doc and she agreed. She was even going to meet us there. I called my DF who was working. There was a problem. He was 2hrs away. I called some friends and family but no one was home...so I called 911. I noticed that she was getting quiet why I was on the phone. I looked over at her (she was lying on a blanket on the floor with her toys and her gym) and she was shaking. I told the 911 operator that she was having a seizure. I put the phone down to hold her, trying to prevent her from hurting herself. Within 3mins, the fire trucks and ambulance were there. I was started to get upset but stopped. I had to answer their questions and comfort her. Her seizure only lasted about a min and when they showed up, she was half asleep. It only took them about 5mins to get her ready to go and into the ambulance. At the hospital, I explain to the doc I thought the seizure was b/c of her fever and not her disorder and she agreed but we needed to bring the fever down and find out what caused it. I told her about my older dd had a cold, that I suspected that the baby just had a cold too. They ran a few test and gave her some medication. We found out that she has an ear infection,and a mild upper respitory infection which was causing her fevers. Her doctor said I was doing the right thing, but with her condition (an unknown seizure disorder)that the smallest fever could (but not always) could trigger a seizure. They put her on some IV antibotics for a few hours then sent us home later that night. That surprised me b/c the last time she went to the hospital, they had her on IV meds and wouldnt release her for a few days. Her doc said that we could give her the same meds at home. SO, we went home. (Not that I wanted her to stay but I wanted what is best for her). Saturday night, we slept better, but not much, she was still up and down and her fevers were still runnin around 102. They would come and go. All day Sunday, she was coughing. She was fighting me taking her medication, but I managed to get it in her (thank GOD she likes bananas..she had no idea that her bananas had some antibotics mixed in there). Last night, she just wouldnt sleep. Coughing all night, throwing up twice. She did have a fever of 103 and I gave her some Motrin. But no seizures since Saturday. This morning so far she has been okay. Just coughing and fussy. No fever since 2am. WOOHOO!!! She has a follow-up Thursday. I am so tired. I need a nap. Matter of fact, she is getting sleepy now so we are going to go lay down. Sorry so long, just needed to vent. I havent really had a chance to deal with the whole 911 major seizure going to the hospital event. Her usuall seizures are so minor, you dont see them.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Kay, momma of 3 with #4 on the way.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Mon, 12-06-2004 - 7:13pm
(((Big Hugs))) to you and to your dd! How awful to go through that. There is nothing worse than having a sick baby. I am praying for your dd and hope she has a super speedy recovery. I especially hope her seizer disorder is gotten under control. You are very brave to have remained so composed with all of this going on!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 12:03pm
HUGS to you and your dd. I am so sorry you had a rough weekend. I am glad she is feeling better.
I hope this does not happen again. You did everything right and you were a great mmom. BIG HUGS to you :)
Hope you have a good week.





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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 3:31pm

YIKES! I can see what you mean... My son who is now 3.5 yrs old suffered from cyclical spiking fevers (and about 3 of those caused febrile seizures)- however at the time we didn't know what was causing it, we now know it was aspiration pneumonias, although they just thought it was asthma with a low immune system... NOT so!

Anyway, the way they had me treat him was to give him IBUPROFEN every 6 hours, TYLENOL every 4 hours... and he could be on both and it would be OK. However, I found the tylenol never helped, only the ibuprofen. So.... I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking of you. Try to get some rest.

With my best, Grace

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 10:30pm

I sure hope your daughter's are feeling better. I hate that darn Emergency Room. We spent over 7 hours this past week with our 2 1/2 yr. old daughter to only find out she had some funky viral infection and problems with her lactose intolerance. She had spiked a temp of 104.8 and was rolling in tummy pain so I was thinking maybe appendisitis. It is so hard when they are so sick at this age and when they are babies. Hang in there Momma.

Trish :)