Sick Days

I've been delaying this post until I had some sort of resolution...but we're still just not there.

Saturday morning Baby Girl coughed once or twice.  We assumed a cold was coming on--no big deal, especially since we hadn't been sick since prior to Christmas.  We still shipped her off to her Grandma and Papaw's for the night for Grandma's birthday (yes, a night off for us is a birthday gift for my mom).  They came back Sunday night and we went out to dinner and nothing seemed off.  When I took Baby Girl to bed that night, she felt a little warm.  She was still acting normal and since she always feels a teeny bit warm to me, I didn't worry too much.  She was coughing a bit more, but again, nothing to worry about.  Something in my Mommy Gut told me to take her temperature before she fell asleep and I'm glad I did--101.1 orally (the first time she's ever had her temperature taken that way, actually--she did remarkably well).  I gave her some Tylenol and she slept a normal night.

I went downstairs to talk to The Hubby.  I know a fever isn't a big deal for most kids, but the only fevers we've seen have knocked Baby Girl out and were due to double ear infections.  She's cut almost all of her teeth and we've never had a fever from them.  She's had 6 (I think) single ear infections and no fevers from them.  She's had countless colds...no fevers.  So for her to have a fever of 101.1 was a fairly big deal.  We decided to wait and see how she was feeling Monday morning to decide what to do, but did compare our work schedules and The Hubby concluded he could stay home all day if I could stay home on Tuesday.

Her temperature was between 101 and 102 on Monday.

And Tuesday.

And again today.

WTF?

Yesterday the cough got so bad that it woke her from her nap, which hasn't happened very many times, no matter how bad her coughs have been.  She'd been sleeping for about 45 minutes when she woke up.  Once I'd concluded that she wasn't going to go back to sleep on her own, I gathered her up and took her into our bedroom to snuggle.  At first I didn't think she'd fall asleep, but after just a few songs, she was breathing heavily, stirring only to cough.  At some point, I dozed off, too, and woke when she'd shift or cough.  Around 4:00 I was done napping and turned on the TV quietly.  It wasn't until 4:20 that she woke up--she slept with me for 2 hours and 20 minutes!  Wow.  The only bad part about it was that she kept coughing in my face...I'm sure it's inevitable that I'm going to end up with this cold.  I just hope it doesn't come with the fever. But getting a snuggle with my busy 2 1/2 year old was blissful.

I called the doctor yesterday and the nurse thought that we should wait out the fever and keep treating it if it was over 101.  She said we should call back today if the cough got worse or the fever didn't subside.

Today I stayed home for the morning then did the switch with The Hubby at our place of work at noon.  After Baby Girl's nap, her temp was still 102, so she was given acetaminophen and The Hubby and I decided that he should call the doctor again.  He took Baby Girl to see a doctor and was told that her lungs sound perfect and her ears look perfect.  He said to keep treating the fever with acetaminophen and ibuprofen and to give some cough medicine at bedtime to help her sleep. If she starts getting thicker snot, we're supposed to call and have an antibiotic called in.

So I have no resolution.  I'd love to be reporting that the fever has broken or that the cough has subsided, but the cough just seems to keep getting worse and the fever is still there.  I'm facing The Working Mom Guilt--juggling both my responsibilities at home and at work and feeling guilty for not being able to give 100% to either one.  On top of that, while we have The Best Sick Leave Policy Ever, I'm feeling stressed because I need to have 240 hours banked by the time Baby Boy arrives.  I'm around 250 as of the end of January and while I will keep earning hours over the next few months, I already know I'll be burning time for my doctor appointments, staying home with Baby Girl, and then for myself if I end up with this.  It will all be okay--just another thing to worry about.