28th December 2008

Whew - First Fever Hot to the Touch Baby Moment

Wow.  Holy cannolis or cammolis like I typically say.  Melina has her first fever, or her first infection of some kind.  I wonder if someone were to measure endorphins on a day like today what the number would be for first-time mom with an inconsolable 5 week old baby trying to get a fever down, cooled to the touch, and satisfied. 

Melina has just a low grade fever of 99.7, which is not really a fever for an infant (greater than 101 typically) but what was so concerning is that she was rather hot to the touch, increasingly so as the day went on.  And, she could not be consoled whatsoever today. 

Her ears seemed to bother her a bit or she was just coincidentally touching them more?

Diarrhea moreso than normal breastfeeding stuff

Could not seem to get enough milk today - didn’t want anything but breastmilk until tonight

Crying beyond belief without stopping

Unable to be consoled - or left for very long, with exception of one nap

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The past 12 hours I was not able to satisfy her milk requirements.  It’s possible she was using them to pacify, as opposed to eat.  She spit up this morning twice a large amount of breast milk.  And you could tell, she did not feel well.  She did not want me to leave her for a second, or put her down.  She’s started to stretch her arms up to be picked up - and she didn’t want to just be held, she wanted to be on the breast. 

Tonight, around 8 or so, she woke up from a 3 hour nap with diarrhea so bad it went right up the diaper to her chest (she was sitting in the car seat).  She was hot to the touch - her skin was red- her feet looked and felt like they were on fire.  After I cleaned her up, I carried her tiny self upstairs to take a “rectal, yes rectal” temp as my doc says they’ll need a rectal for the most accurate temp.  It climbed very quickly to 99.7 and so we went into the tub and cooled down.  I wasn’t sure who was radiating more heat - her or me.  Throughout this all, she was understandably screaming bloody murder - oh my poor girl.  I pulled out that great book Elaine gave me, “what to expect in the first year” and flipped to the part about fever and heat illness (in the event she had overheated in the house, or being layered up too much).  I learned that the fever of 99.7 was pretty normal for a rectal temp and that infant temps rise throughout the day, surprisingly enough.

I of course called the doc’s office and they called me right back - thank you for that.   So how can a temp be not far from normal but the baby be so incredibly hot to the touch, not to mention she had clearly not felt well throughout the day, and now she really felt bad.  So, doc said to watch her for 24 hours, see if temp gets better, and give her half a dropperful of infant tylenol, which I did. 

Despite doing that, when I took her downstairs tonight after giving her the bath, putting her in just a diaper and a very light receiving blanket, she still did not want to be anywhere but on my breast.  I didn’t have much milk left - so I frantically (as she was wailing) prepared formula, being a bit nervous as I wondered if the Sensitive Stomach Similac had contributed to her gas pains, and now fever?  I had just started giving her that since she was tucking her legs a lot, and seemingly in discomfort.  Yesterday she didn’t poop all day - today, she had a different outcome. 

Anyway, after 40 minutes of breastfeeding and 4 oz of Similac Advanced powdered formula, Melina actually completely calmed down - she slept around 10 p.m. or so - and it’s 1 :30 - so I’ve carried the car seat right upstairs to her room and put that in the crib - as to not to disturb her.  But, it seems she is still warm to the touch. 

Don’t they say “feed a fever, starve a cold?”  And isn’t it amazing that a tenth of a degree temp change could make her so hot to the touch, and so incredibly agitated? 

I also wondered if what I had eaten in the past 2 days had any affect (crab dip with garlic), or the rumballs (hmmm), or was something else going on with my supply?  Or, was it her Similac Sensitive Tummy?  Or, was she just hot? 

My back hurts, my feet hurt, my boobs hurt - but around midnight I finally ate my first sorta kinda meal (other than pnut butter sandwich earlier today) -

I can’t believe the level of stress that occurs when your baby gets sick and you don’t know what to do - other than the things I did - to console her, make her feel okay.  Once we’d get past a crucial peak, then she’s resume to normal almost.  Wierd. 

I hope to get a sorta night’s sleep - I’m not waking her for her feeding - if she wants to sleep that’s okay, right?

Deep breathing here - lots of ice water tonight - and three motrin for pain.

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