A Mother's Intuition

Sometimes you just know...

Well at least, today, I did.

Ansleigh didn't wake me up until 10 this morning which is late, even for her! I got up, gave her her bottle, and went back to my room to wait for her to finish it.

An hour and a half later, I got her up and she felt hot. I thought she really was just hot (I mean, we do live in Florida) so I stripped her down. I was holding her and kept realizing that she felt REALLY hot. I got up, got the thermometer and a clean diaper and took her temperature. I have taken her temperature several times and it is always about the same, even when I think she might have a fever. I was really surprised when it just kept going and kept going. It stopped on 101.8!

Let me just interrupt to say that my child has NEVER been sick and her temp. has definitely never been that high so I was worried.

I called the pediatrician's office and they said they'd have the "on-call" nurse call me back.

30 minutes later....

The phone rings. I tell her what is going on with Ansleigh:

• snot shooting out of her nose
• very fussy
• not much of an appetite
• fever

She responded with, "Is she teething?" Okay, seriously, how am I supposed to know that when she hasn't gotten any teeth yet? I answered her as politely as I could. She asked me a few questions and then in a very nice way, told me my child would live.

If this was kid #3 or 4, I would have believed her. In fact, I probably wouldn't have called in the first place, but seeing as I am a first-time mom, that response really just didn't satisfy me.

I gave her some Tylenol and kind of waited around. I tried feeding her some lunch. She just wasn't being herself. Hmmm....

So I picked up my computer and emailed Winn...my superhero! Her husband, Hiep, is a pediatrician at the same practice I go to. She called Hiep and then called me.

I had decided to give Ansleigh a bath in the vapor bath stuff, hoping, it would help her to feel better. It didn't.

Right as I was getting her out of the tub, the phone rang. I ran to go get it and it was Winn, saving the day. She got Ansleigh in to see her sweet, sweet husband. She told me to take her on to the office and that they were expecting Ansleigh! Yay!

I took Ansleigh in and after a thorough checking, Hiep told me that it was either a virus that could last about two weeks or teething. He said he didn't see any signs of teething (swollen gums, etc.) except for the excessive drool. He gave me his cell phone number (my second hero of the day!) and told me to call him if I needed to. He also instructed me on how to care for her.

I brought her home and put her to bed. She napped for really the first time all day and it only lasted about an hour.

When I got her up, she felt REALLY hot again. I asked Anthony to touch her and he said she felt hot too. I changed her diaper and took her temperature again. 103.4!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had a small panic attack....just a little bit.

I called Hiep and left him a message and he called me right back. He is amazing. Seriously. He told me how much tylenol and how much motrin to give her and when to give her what (if that makes sense?).

So tonight, Ansleigh is being medicated all through the night (midnight, 3 am, 6 am, 9 am, etc.) for 24 hours.

Hiep is planning on checking on her in the morning and I am crossing my fingers and saying my prayers that my sweet little baby will start feeling better.

You can call it mother's intuition or chalk it up to the fact that I know my kid but either way, I'm glad I listened to myself (instead of that mean ol' nurse) and took her in. Now, we just need to get her better or sprout that tooth!