Friday, November 13, 2009

Why being sick on a Friday is tormening to Moms

Eli woke last night at 2 a.m. I could tell immediately that he had a high fever, as his face was burning up. His little baby cheeks were so red and flushed as well. The thermometer under his arm confirmed a fever of 102.1. What a bummer! I gave him some Tylenol and rocked and snuggled him for about an hour, in which time his fever broke. I changed his clothes, and put him back to bed. He continued to sleep until 6:30. I thought that being over four hours, he would have another fever. Much to my surprise he didn't! We went most of the early morning hours just fine, but then around 10 a.m. (while grocery shopping) I noticed his red face, and knew it was a fever. I was right.

So here I am asking the ultimate question: When do I call the doctor? He's beyond that young infancy when any temperature is a crises. He has no other symptoms, and the Tylenol brings his fever down. And I certainly don't want to expose him to a pediatrician's office full of sick kiddos!

But its Friday. There is an actual law about sick kids on Fridays. I think Sir Issac Newton discovered right after his laws of motion. It says that when kids are sick on Fridays and their mommy takes them to the pediatrician, the child feels better INSTANTLY upon walking through the office doors. The doctor has nothing to report, as all symptoms vanish and while the mommy is thrilled that there isn't anything wrong with her sweetie, she feels pretty bummed about the $20 co-pay that could have been used towards those gorgeous shoes she's been wanting.

However, when a kid get sicks on Friday and his mommy decides its probably nothing and chooses to wait it out, the sickness intensifies the moment the pediatrician's office closes that afternoon. Of course this forces the mommy to take her sweetie to the after hours office downtown that is always full of feverish vomiting children with oozy rashes. After seeing the doctor and getting a diagnosis and feeling guilty about not taking the sickness seriously earlier, the mommy returns home with her sick little one and, unknowing to her, she and her sick child pass around germs they attained from the icky waiting room at the after hours office so that the rest of the family wakes up sick in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

That being said, my appt. is today at 2:20. I'll let you know if the symptoms vanish at 2:19!

5 comments:

Jenny said...

Ryan only gets sick on Fridays or the weekends. His ped has rarely seen him sick. Ryan ran a fever with no symptoms when he was a baby and it turned out to be roseola, where they have a rash from head to toe after the fever breaks. They act fine, they just have the rash. Its viral and goes away on its own. I'm glad you are taking him to the doctor. Better safe than sorry.

Anne said...

Now that you say that, I did notice little Eli's red cheeks at the grocery! It was great to see you this morning...sorry I was so rushed. I didn't want to hold you up, and my little sweetie's patience for the grocery cart these days is quite short.

Scott and Malisa Johnson said...

No joke, Elsie started running a fever too, which made me think it was viral, and I was a little bummed because that just has to run its course.

But our doctor said they both have ear infections. He said they even match because the infections are both in their left ear. So he said they would get matching antibiotics. How cute, huh?

Ugh. I don't know whether to be happy or said! Happy that it can be treated, but sad that they could potentially be going down the same longear infection road that Emily traveled. Oh well.

So much for that sleep training, huh? Sickness kind of does that in!

Allie said...

Let's just both think happy ear thoughts. Kennedy had one a few months ago too. I don't want to travel down that road. As for your post, I think you need to check out my pediatrition.... Saturday sick hours in the AM:) He said he didn't like his patients going to the sick, oozy rash, urgent care office:) Hope your little ones feel better and they are better medicine takers than my little one was!

Sam said...

"sick, oozy rash, urgent care office" - that is my favorite urgent care description ever!

I made the decision when Hanna was about 2 that the peace of mind would always be worth the co-pay. Luckily, we've almost always had pediatricians that have separate rooms for sick and well kids.