A Sick Little Sugar Cookie
I knew it would happen - that we would have her in day care for a week, and then she would get sick. Yup - right on time.Friday night she got cranky - but her diaper rash had gotten better so I did not understand. BTW - A&D Ointment - the good 'old fashioned yellow goo - was the ONLY thing that worked. Even the daycare workers tried the flour browned in a frying pan. I tried Desitin, Desitin Creamy, cornstarch - I even tried giving her an oatmeal bath with Aveno Baby Oatmeal Bath Soak. She screamed through the whole thing. So much for "soothing". I told her I was sorry about 100 times, and called my mom who convinced me to have my husband go out and get A&D ointment right then and there. As soon as I applied it, Sugar Cookie breathed a sigh of relief. It works on burns - so I guess that's why it is so good. The rash is healed now, thank God.
But Saturday she woke up and was in a foul mood. She squirmed and stuck her legs out all rigid and cried and fussed. She also pooped more than I have ever seen her poop - in colors that I am certain appear nowhere else in nature. She was congested, and was having trouble breathing. I tried Vicks Baby Rub on her chest, and it helped a little. I tried half-doses of infant Tylenol Plus Cold. Still her fever went up - to 99.5. I kept taking her temperature and petting her head - and Michael and I took turns holding her. Still, she cried and fussed. Oh, our heads hurt so bad. And I was ready to go to the night-pediatric center at any minute if the fever got to 100. Thank God it never did.
Sunday the fever was mostly gone, but Sugar Cookie was still feeling yucky. Even though it's ot recommended for babies older than 1 month, I swaddled her pretty snugly, being careful not to hurt her circulation, breathing, or wrap her legs too tightly. Once she was a baby burrito, she stopped crying so much and would finally take a pacifier. I was also afraid with her arms flailing about she was going to scratch herself despite my constant nail-trimming. I swear, baby fingernails are little daggers just waiting to cut you.
Last night, around 1, I had taken about all the crying I could, and I got up to retrieve a blanket, placed a screaming Sugar Cookie on it, and swaddled her and placed her in the bed with us instead of in the crib. She finally let us get a few hours of sleep. I felt awful for her, but it was all we could do to get a little rest and stop our heads from throbbing. I'll bet her head hurt too. Once I had that realization, I gave her a teesy amount of infant Tylenol once she was swaddled, gave her a bit of formula, and rocked her until she closed her eyes.
Ugh. I felt so bad for her. But this morning she was much, much better. Fortunately, the day care is closed today for inservice, so Sugar Cookie will go to work with Michael and not be around any germy kids.
She was feeling well enough to do the "Butt Cheeks" dance Michael does with her. She was grinning and "dancing" when I left for work. In case you are curious, the cartoon The Boondocks often makes fun of BET, and from time to time will feature the song "Shake Them Butt Cheeks" to paraody the fact that, well, BET features shaking butt cheeks. Now, this funny song is even funnier when Michael is singing it while standing the baby up on his lap (holding her under her arms/around her middle) and making her "shake her butt cheeks". I tease him that if her first words are "butt cheeks", he is in big trouble. But she loves this so much that her whole face just lights up whenever he starts to do it with her. *sigh* I'm just glad she's back to her movin' and shakin' little self.
posted by No Longer In Crisis @ 2/20/2006 11:30:00 AM
<< Home