105 Degrees

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.