Saturday, August 8, 2009

Daily Peep: Poor Baby

For those of you not following along on Twitter, it seems that Peeper has a cold.


It shouldn't surprise us, really, because she's seemed a little "off" all week.

Actually, Shrike noticed it first, and mentioned it on Monday. She had pooped three times that day, which is very unusual for her (it's usually more like once every two or three days), and Shrike said that she just didn't seem quite herself, all around.

There's nothing (other than the poop frequency, which has continued all week) that we could really put a finger on, she's just seemed a little fussier and grumpier than usual.

She's also not been overly interested in solid food, other than Cheerios.

I was chalking that up to the new and excitingness of the Cheerios, and the fussiness to always wanting to be "walking" somewhere these days, so less willing to sit and play, or even to sit and cuddle (unless she's nursing and/or sleeping).

Then she starting to sound a bit congested over the past fourty-eight hours or so, and this morning, she woke up around six o'clock, crying.

She very rarely wakes up crying in the middle of the night. (6 am is "the middle of the night" for us.) She stirs and roots and nurses back to sleep, but almost never gets awake and cries.

I got up and brought her to the "goody chair" in front of the computer and she went right back to sleep, but was up again an hour later.

This time, she had a dirty diaper, and also felt hot. We took her temperature and it was a bit over 99 F under her arm.

I left a voicemail for her doctor's office, hoping they could see her today, but when the nurse called back she said they were all booked up, and just asked me a bunch of questions.

She said that it sounds like she's picked up a "bug that's going around," and what they've been seeing with it is about 5 - 7 days of cold symptoms, and some kids have had some vomiting and diarrhea with it as well. (She said that she might just get away with the more frequent poops.)

Basically, the nurse said that as long as she's nursing well not to worry about the solid food (I knew that and wasn't concerned at all; I'd only mentioned it as part of the "she's not herself" thing.), and to give her Tylenol or Motrin for fever, and she's not on the upswing by Monday or Tuesday (or if it gets really bad) to give them a call.

She also said that we could run a humidifier, and put saline drops up her nose then suction it out, and put some rolled-up blankets under the end of her crib mattress to elevate her head while she sleeps.

Or, we could hang out in the bathroom while a hot shower runs, and (try to) put breastmilk up her nose then (try to) suction it and let her sleep in my lap with her head slightly elevated.

She's not done much today other than sleeping and nursing, mostly at the same time.

I figure that has to be a good thing, because she's getting rest, fluids and antibodies.

And I'm not having to chase after her, which is definitely a good thing, because now my throat feels scratchy and I am starting to feel icky.

I am really glad Shrike is going to be off work the next couple of days.

18 comments:

  1. Poor baby! Stick to nursing, of course, and if she wants any solids just crackers or Cheerios should be easy enough on the tummy. So sorry they took Dimatapp away from you... Oh, poor baby to you too. You take Tylenol and eat tomato soup. (And if you and Peeper are both puny, maybe we should say "Poor poor Shrike...")

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  2. And of course that humidifier thing would be good for both of you. If you're buying one It's worth your time to check out how easy it is to clean, even worth it to pay a little more to avoid one that can't feasibly be cleaned; it's easy for them to get moldy. Also, you want the cool mist kind, so it doesn't get hot.

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  3. Lady Kay has already given you the grandmotherly advice. I don't have much to add. I really hate to see either, both or all of you sick, but my first thought was Gee, it is JUST a cold as opposed to last year when it would have been MY God, she has a cold! and would be worried sick about her. Hope all is mild and short lasting.

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  4. Shrike got off work a couple of hours early, and stopped at a grocery store on the way home for crackers and tomato soup, among other things.

    As she got home, Peeper's Tylenol was kicking in, so she's been in a pretty good mood for her, while I had some soup and a bath.

    I'm not feeling sick yet, but I can feel it coming on.

    Even with her fever (temporarily?) down and laughing with Mommy, you can tell Peeper isn't right - she's got "sick eyes."

    You are right, though, about how much less of a big deal this is than the last time she had a cold, a couple of weeks before her surgery!

    PS - I'm blaming it on all those germy kids at swimming lessons.

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  5. awww, poor baby :-( pieces had a cold-thing going on for awhile... we were also told to use a humidifier (he was reallllly congested), but we found this plug in vaporizer- amazing! it worked wonders! hope peeper is feeling better soon! (and you, too, mama!!!)

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  6. Oh yeah, Frappa has used the plug in vaporizer thing and loved it. She likes Shower Soothers too. I don't know if they might be a little strong for Peeper, would might be great for you if need be.

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  7. And then there is good old Vick's Vapor Rub

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  8. I love Shower Soothers. I should read the package about Peeper. I wouldn't put her in the shower w/it but maybe in the bathroom.

    I should checked on the plug-in kind.

    I think we have a vaporizer somewhere.

    Vick's is a no-no for babies now.

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  9. If Vicks is a no-no, is there a problem with the pluc-in thingies? (Why's it a no-no now?)

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  10. Vicks is labelled for 2+ years. I just read that there's a baby one tho, or I think the plugins are ok.

    I read that the real stuff can actually be counterproductive for babies. It irritates the nasal passages and causes more mucus. The study showed it can cause real breathing problems sometimes.

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  11. It is a wonder we survived. My Mama rubbed our chests with Vicks and put warmed up flannelette PJs on us at a hint of a cold. I think from birth. Then, if we got a sore throat, Daddy swabbed it (thoroughly!) with Merthiolate, which probably cauterized it. It was strong and burned something awful on a raw wound, such as a scraped knee. Hate to admit it, but once the burning stopped, the throat actually felt better. They thought we were negligent parents for not doing that to you all.

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  12. And didn't she also prescribe honey, lemon juice and whiskey for a cough?

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  13. That's Anonydaddy. :D

    Gramm definitely did the honey, maybe with lemon... I really doubt she was up for the whiskey though.

    I remember Anonydaddy telling me how to make a toddy when I was a teenager since I couldn't cold medicine, but then he decided I had measured heavy on the whiskey and took it away from me. :(

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  14. I don't know, it seems like I have a memory of that. I was very little. Maybe it was Grandpa (ours) telling her she should add whiskey?

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  15. Anonymama just gave me straight honey for a cough.

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  16. Yes, but you were old enough for honey.

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  17. Yep, straight honey was it most of the time.

    Frappa swears by a toddy of honey, lemon, whiskey and tea when she is sick.

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  18. I wasn't criticizing the honey - just the lack of whiskey ;-)

    Actually, the spoonful of honey was always the silver lining to the cloud of illness :-)

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