Larissa's First Fever

On Saturday evening, I brought Larissa to West Coast Park for my colleague's birthday celebration. We were there for only about 2 hours. We reached home at about 10pm and when I showered Larissa to get ready for bed, I felt that she is a bit warm to the touch but I thought it was only because she was teething and I did not give it too much thought.

On Sunday morning, Larissa was very irritable and cried at every little thing. I found that a bit weird as she is usually an independent baby. However, I confirmed that she is sick only when I tried to feed her lunch. She rejected all her food and spit everything out. I started to panic soon after. I was at my mother's place and my thermometer was at my mother-in-law's place.

I checked with my mom and she assured me that it was probably only because baby was teething. Later when I got back to my mother-in-law's place at about 4.30pm, I took her temperature and it measured 38.3degrees. I freaked out. It was a Sunday and no pediatrician is open, it means that I will have to bring her to the hospital. I tried to feed Larissa some paracetamol before we went to the hospital but Larissa hates the paracetamol and every time I try to feed her will result in her vomiting. We cleaned her up, gave her a shower and got her ready for the hospital. However, before we were about to get her out of the house, I took another reading of her temperature and it read 37.6 degrees so we decided that we shall not go to the hospital first and observe her at home. That night, she woke up several times as she was very uncomfortable and I had to soothe her. At times, it simply means having to cradle her in my arms for a long long time. That night, her temperature at 4am read 39.1 degrees.

The next morning, first thing in the morning we got her cleaned and we brought her to the pediatrician. Apparently, there is nothing wrong with her. The only thing the doctor found was that her throat was quite red, probably a sore throat and its probably viral. There is no medication for her, the only thing is to make sure she is comfortable and to bring down the fever. The doctor prescribed some neubrofen but I am determined not to let Larissa take the medication unless her fever hits 39 degrees.

I wipe her down every other hour and I bathe her twice a day. She is still rejecting food but she is still latching on. Rashes have appeared on her thighs and I'm suspecting that its false measles and if it is, it means that the fever is gonna break soon.

It is heartbreaking to see my girl so sick and especially so when she vomits every time she takes the medication. I tried to give her all 5 mls at one shot and it ended up pretty bad with her vomiting all over. The method that works is one which I give her one mls at a time and I have to press her nose to make sure she swallows.

She is starting to have diarrhea, which I am unsure if its one of the symptoms of false measles but I am hoping that she will recover soon. Sighs....