Day 7 of infant flu 5/6/09

Today, CC had her 4 month check up. Glad we scheduled it for today, so that she can get checked out for this flu. She didnt have a temp when we went so thats good. 12lb 13.65oz and 23.5 in long. Dr says even though shes sick, she can get her shots. So we did that. 5 shots in all because the usual combo shot, they were out of. So she had to get each vaccine seperately. that was just great. She didnt cry as much after these, so thats good. She slept most of the day, and when she wasnt sleeping, she wasnt happy. She ate dinner and went to bed early tonight...lets hope tomorrow is better.

Day 6 of infant flu 5/5/09

Well, her fever doesnt happen at night...seems strange to me. I know because I got up every 3 hrs last night and checked. At least I will get a full nights sleep tonight. Maybe Although she is fussy, that's ok. We will do what we need to do in order for her to feel better.

Day 5 of infant flu 5/4/09

A few days ago I asked if the seemingly betterness of cc was her actually getting better - or the calm before the storm...and now i know...it was the calm.

Today cc started her fever. This am i took her temp, 97.9 . Thought we were going to get lucky. Fed her breakfast, played, but the fussiness presisted. So, i thought, ok fine, i'll do the temp again. Sure enough, 99.6 . I braced myself for the worst. Found the tylenol bottle immediately - and then thought....how much?! The bottle only lists for 24lbs or up - and cc hasnt taken tylenol since 2m - so obviously her little body could handle a bit more - so the dr i call. Nurse says .08 for 12ish lbs. asked a few more obviously first time mom questions before getting off the phone. Then i remembered a question i forgot to ask. o well right?

So, off and on all day, back and forth - 99.6 highest so far - 98.0 being the lowest during the tylenol dose. We are continuing that...praying the storm will pass soon.

Day 4 of infant flu 5/3/09

Today was interesting. At first I thought all was totally wonderful...then out of no where the fussing was NONSTOP for almost 2 hrs until she finally knocked out. Her temp was low, 96.1 and no one tells u what to do with a low temp. So i called the 24 hr nurse advice line - 30 mins later no one had answered, and i had worked myself up so much - i called the on call dr. She was very nice, tho obviously just waking up - said to keep her bundled with the hat on her head, and just take her temp again in the am. Hopefully tomorrow will b a better day...right?

Day 3 of infant flu 5/2/09

Well, believe it or not - today was better...the morning was full of snot and yucky - but then, the evening - nothing...no snot, no boogers...no cough. pretty interesting. Still sleeping with the cold humidifier, upright in her swing. She even talked to us today. That hasnt happened much lately. She just doesnt feel good enough to entertain us with those coo's and tiny chuckles. But she did...then off to dreamland she went after watching tv. Pictures will follow. It was adorably halarious as she just laid there on the bed, staring at the HGTV's rate my space...she may be a designer one day. Who knows.

So my question is...is she better? or is this the calm before the storm? stay tuned...

Day 2 of infant flu 5/1/09

Called pedi as soon as I woke up. No appointments - of course. I am a first time mom, who just so happens to also have extreme anxiety and worry issues - and yet- u want to tell me that u wont see my daughter?! her first flu...her first runny nose...her first cough - and u wont see her? even to tell me that things will be ok?!

Nurse says humidifier, saline drops in the nose, suction out the snot - but no more than 4x a day. Tylenol or Motrin if theres a fever...thats it? No miracle drug to make this better? No, she'll be fine. No, I'll take it all away in five minutes and make this better?

Then of course, the question..."do you breastfeed?" each time i hear this, its like someone stabs my heart....did i try? OF COURSE...did i want to more than anything else? DUH could i? no...y? sure, it was probably partially me. I could have, should have done more research. Taken a class...something. I should have been more prepared. I should have known better - i should have done it. I should b nurturing my daughters tiny little body with the stuff God intended for her...but the answer is no. ok? everyone out there, the freaking answer is NO! No, i am a failure at what I should have been able to do by my God given right - NO - i cant give my child the antibodies that she needs to NOT get sick...no no no no no....

She did ok. She ate every meal. Not as much as usual, but who can blame her? Def a little more fussy, def not as easily pleased - but all in all, she's still smiling, still playing with her toys, still trying to become hannibal and eat those fingers...still my little girl right?

Day 1 of infant flu 4/30/09

Thursday wasn't horrible. It was in fact the beginning of the inevitable. A tiny cough and sneeze. The paleness in her sweet, soft skin was enough of an indication to me that a pediatrician call would def be in order early Friday morning. Someone, anyone out there, fix her. Fix what her mommy did to her. Make her better. Healthy. My baby again. anyone?

Surviving Sickness @ 4 months 101

Well ladies & gentlemen, ok who am i kidding, ladies, lol, we knew it was bound to happen right? The inevitable cold/flu during the first year of life. What we didnt expect was that it would come on the sleeve of this huge swine flu pandemic. Guess Cadence will be just like her mother, if you're guna do it, do it big right?

I have been battling this since Monday. Started off as a bad decision sore throat I assumed was brought on from my sleeping next to an open window all night. What can i say? i was sweating & marcus was cold. u do what u gotta do. Then within 48 hours it turned into a full blown flu. Totally diasterous to a new babies immune system & terrifying with Swine Flu fresh in the news. My first instinct was to lock myself away from all human contact until i was 110% healthy...but cc, who will watch cc? This is when that 1000+ miles from family truly sinks in, and totally blows. Of course my mom would rush to help - but it appears that I am not the only one in need of a mother's love. in the battle of the sniffles vs a brand spanking new, totally adorable might I add, granddaughter + a new c section hurting, breastfeeding, totally sleep deprived mom - duh, of course she wins, hands down. I wouldn't even think of asking. & so, here i am, running fever, barely mentally here, yet marcus has to work. no choice in that. I tried to get the dr to get him out of work so that I could quarintine myself from them, but of course, thats just not an option.

So, what does a desprite for sleep, totally full blown sick, fever suffering mommy do in this time? daycare. Yes, i broke down, cried my eyes out, and dropped her off at the daycare on base. Had i ever been there before? no. Had i stayed a while to make sure that i agreed with their standards? no. Is that horrible? i think so. But what was i going to do? Hang out long enough to infect all these other tiny littles lives? They said call whenever, at any time, and I could get an update. Did i? no. I feel like a horrible mom now, but the rest I got, i needed. I needed Cadence to be somewhere germ free. I needed her to be away from me - not because i dont want her, but because i love her too much to be the reason she gets sick....but, despite my horrible effort - she indeed got sick.

No fever yet - we are still crossing our fingers on this one, but a stuffy stuffy runny nose, cough - and the occasional sneeze. Do i think i am a horrible mommy for letting this happen? yes. Could i have done any more than I did to try and protect her from this? no. i dont think so. So I decided to at least document the days...one by one. Until my little lady is fully totally healthy again.