Sick Children

So I've been a bad CDH parent, I'll admit.  I fell victim to the same scam Payton pulled on the doctors in the NICU.  She lulls you into that false sense of security that she's a tough little cookie that can handle anything thrown at her only to have us realize that "no, she's still quite fragile".

On Friday she started with feeling just a bit off.  A few small vomiting episodes and just a bit warm (keeping in mind we're finally getting summer here on the west coast) with a clear runny nose.  Saturday saw a small vomit and again a bit warm and the start of more yellow thicker mucus.  Still, she had good energy, and was happy. 

Through the night I noticed her temperature had risen to a slight fever (38C which is about 100F).  The next morning she was cuddly, lots of thick mucus to keep us on our toes but all in all she seemed fine.  No coughing, breathing issues.  Just what appeared to be a good snotty cold (similar to one I saw on a girl in Fernie last weekend and I was eyeing up to see what she was touching to try to avoid).

By 3 pm on Sunday Payton's temp had reached just over 39C (just over 102F).  We stuffed her full of Tylenol and put her to bed. 

That night she continued to feel warm but I was out of my sticker thermometers and I knew my ear one wasn't working right.  So at 6 am I took her to the ER to get her checked out.

At the ER her temp was 36 and change (normal) and the doc listened to her breathing (all clear), checked her ears (all clear) and her throat (a bit red) and simply told me to keep an eye on her but if her temp went up again to 39 to bring her in for bloodwork.

At 11:30 am her temp was over 39 again.  We took more Tylenol and waited to see if it helped.  At 2 pm we were back in the ER as Tylenol wasn't working.  The new doc checked her ears (one was infected), checked her breathing (a bit raspy) and ordered an x-ray.  Sure enough, pneumonia!!!

The little rascal went from "all clear" to pneumonia in both lungs in a matter of 8 hours!!

We also learned that Payton doesn't respond to Tylenol to lower her temp but responds very well to Advil.

Both Monday and Tuesday night were rough for Payton. Her temp peaked Monday night at about 39.7 (~103.5) and then on Tuesday night (Wednesday at 2am to be exact) her temp peaked at 40.2 (104.3F). 

She wasn't due for Advil for a few hours so we tried some Tylenol and some cold cloths on her head (all the while keeping the room cool with our AC).  45 minutes later I opted to 'over dose' my child with Advil (about 1.5 hours before she was supposed) but I figured an Advil addict for a child was better than a brain fried one. 

The Advil (love this stuff) got her temp down right away and as of now (almost 4 pm, 14 hours later) I'm happy to say that Payton's temp has stayed down. YAY!!!

She had me scared for a few days there wondering how much more she (or I) could take.  She was a trooper through it all and other than just wanting to be held, she hardly complained.

On a positive note, after 4 days of virtually only fluids, Payton has learned to sign for milk.  Its crazy cute with her little hands squeezing away.  She's also developed the squinty cry that Livy used to do.

I want to get a video and put it together with Livy's.   Sooo cute.  In reality all kids likely do it at some point but I remember it being soooo cute with Livy and find it funny that Payton does it as well.

So, that's been our weekend and beginning of the week thus far.

A good reminder for me that kids are hardy but can be so fragile and CDH babies especially.  While they can surprise us, they also need constant diligence and I almost missed it thinking she was so much stronger than she was.