105 Degrees

January 3, 2012

Georgia got sick on Friday.  I took her temp at 1:00 in the afternoon and it was around 101 I think.  No biggie I thought.  Surely it's just the fact that she is cutting six teeth.  I gave her some Motrin and we were good.  So I thought.

4:00 in the morning we are woken up by the sound of throwing up on the baby monitor...uh oh.  Talk about giving me a near heart attack!  I of course call my mom and she tells me to call the after hours nurse or take her to the Minor Emergency clinic.  So, that's what I do.  At this point G's temp is 103.2

We are no longer thinking teething and are thinking it may be a stomach virus but honestly have no clue where she would have gotten it.  We hadn't taken her anywhere but around family and none of them had any stomach virus symptoms.

So, we give the nurse hotline a call and they tell us these major things:
1)  Her temp isn't 103.2 it's 102.2 since it was taken rectally.  They told us to subtract 1 degree.  All the temps I write here though are exactly what the thermometer says. Not minus 1 degree.
2)  Most likely it's a virus.  There is nothing you can do but treat it at home.
3)  Don't give her Motrin and Tylenol on the same day.  It isn't safe.

We continue to treat her at home all day Saturday and the lowest her temp goes is 101.2

Sunday rolls around and we think she is doing better.  She's only been waking up briefly at night when her Tylenol wares off and then falls back asleep when she gets more.  Her temp all day Sunday hovers around 102.  We call the hotline again and they tell us the same things.  By this time J and I are sure she doesn't have a stomach virus because she isn't throwing up.  We think it's congestion that caused her to throw up because she was gagging.  We call the hotline again and they tell us all the same things.

Monday.  (Our dr's office is still closed)  She isn't feeling better and to me is actually getting worse.  When I get home from work I take her temp and it's 103 and some change with Motrin.  I call Jonathan and tell him that despite what the hotline tells us we are taking her to the minor emergency because this is not a virus.  She is just getting worse and now the Tylenol and Motrin are not working.  By the time we get to the clinic her temp is 105 (again, with Motrin) and her eyes were watering so badly it looked like she was crying.


We first see an EMT, followed by a nurse, and then the doctor.  The clinic was so quick.  We saw someone within minutes and we maybe there total one hour.  The EMT, nurse, and doctor all told us individually that everything the clinic told us was wrong.

1)  You don't subtract 1 degree when taking a rectal temp
2)  How could they tell she had a virus if they had not seen her in person?
3)  You can give her Motrin and Tylenol on the same day and AT THE SAME TIME or staggered and the dosage they told us to give at the hotline was too low.  We should have been giving her more.



The doctor told us she had an upper respiratory infection and the beginnings of a double ear infection.  Not a virus!  They gave her Tylenol and Motrin for her high fever and sent us home with a prescription for amoxicillin.  We were so angry.  Had we known she didn't have a virus sooner we could have treated it sooner and I doubt she would have developed an ear infection in addition to the respiratory infection.

Needless to say, we were LIVID.  We were absolutely furious the hotline had given us such terrible advice and let our baby just get sicker and sicker.  I'm pretty sure I'll be filing a complaint with the after hours hotline company.  We're just lucky that I had enough of them and had the good sense to take her in despite what they told me.

Here she is after her Motrin, Tylenol, and Amoxicillin.  Just as happy as she can be!  This was last night...about 2 hours before this her temp was 105.


Here she is this morning.  Still sleeping a lot but feeling much better.



21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness poor baby. I am so sad..that is a high fever and I can not believe the oncall/phone nurse.
I have always heard it is okay to do tylenol and motrin on the same day. I have also been told to switch off and to take their clothes off and not put blankets over them because that doesn't help break the temp. I always give popsicles and cool baths as well. When my little girl was between 2 and 9 months we had a run in with high fevers and it was horrible! Good Luck. Prayers for you all, I know how stressful it is :o)

Lyndsey said...

Oh my gosh, I can't believe how wrong they were with everything! That's scary! Poor G baby, glad she is finally on the mend though!

Tami said...

Oh Emily- what an awful experience! Poor G looks so pitiful in those pictures. I don't blame you for being furious! I'm glad that sweet girl is starting to feel better.

Rachel and John said...

That is so scary Emily! So glad you trusted your gut.

I have the exact opposite problem here. I call the health hotline and they always tell me to pop by the hospital just to be sure within the next 4-6 hours.

Hope little G recovers quickly!!

Paige said...

ohhhh myyyyy goodness! Poor baby girl and you poor thing. I am so happy she is doing a little better. How scary. Hugs for you and baby Georgia!

Michelle said...

After reading this, I am mad for you! That is so horrible. Sweet G looks pitiful in the sick pictures but 10 times better in the last one. Prayers she gets totally better soon!

Sarah said...

Oh my goodness, 105 is a scary high fever! It just shows you have to go with your instinct and use your own good sense sometimes. I can't believe what bad advice they gave you!

Melanie said...

That is SCARY! I would be livid too..be sure to file a complaint..no matter what!!!

Emily said...

Oh my goodness, Emily. I am so sorry for you and for G. Thank goodness you followed your gut and went in anyways. Hope she continues to bounce back to her normal cute self!

Joeylee said...

aww poor thing. Good thing you went against listening to the hotline and just took her in. How scary! Glad she is starting to feel better

Kristin said...

How horrible of them! Where on Earth did they get their medical advice from? Thank goodness she is okay now and you trusted your instinct to take her. Hopefully she's feeling MUCH better by the end of the week! :)

Elizabeth said...

That is so scary! I'm so sorry that Georgia was so sick. It was good that you stuck to your gut and took her into be seen! You are her mama and know her better than anyone, most esp the terrible person giving you advice from the clinic. So glad she's feeling better now. My boys had sort of a similar thing going on around Christmas...began with throwing up, which we thought was a stomach virus. Ended up, they had ear infections and a terrible cold. I think the mucus was draining in their bellies which made it get upset. Yucky germs!

Megan C said...

Poor baby G, that is not good news at all but I am glad she is better. I can't believe the after hours people said all that and it was completely wrong.

Mallorie said...

Oh poor baby! I CANNOT believe you got such wrong advice!!! I would've been SO upset too!! I'm glad she's getting better!!!

Cecilly said...

oh sweet baby G. I'm sorry! I hope she feels way better soon.

BeckyJo606 said...

I am so glad you followed your own intuition and took Georgia to the doctor! Poor little thing! I am praying she gets better quickly!

Ashleigh Nichole said...

oh my goodness bless her little heart :( I would much rather be sick any day then see my babies sick :( I hope she gets to feeling a whole lot better really really soon ;)

Natalie said...

poor baby girl!! I hope she feels much better soon!
I had to call our hotline a few times when I was pregnant and they always told me to go in, even if it was not that big of a deal. What a bummer yours is way too relaxed! Good thing for trusting your mommy gut!

cait said...

ah, this makes me sick to my stomach!! Poor baby...so glad everything is okay now! Makes this minor cold we're dealing with right now seem like nothing! Hope G gets to feeling better quickly!

Brittany said...

Oh poor thing! I'm so glad you got real answers at the ER! I hope she's feeling better soon!

lilmoomoo said...

aww :(
Hope she starts feeling better soon!
The picture of her leaning on her daddy's chest is just too CUTE.

lovelovelove,
moo.

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