I've been completely MIA the last couple of weeks. I woke up last Saturday to feed Paige. She felt very hot to me so I grabbed my thermometer. I noticed I did not buy a new rectal one and only had the temporal lobe one I use on my older girls. It registered at 100.7. I initially thought I had overdressed her. I immediately changed her and took her down to just her diaper and within ten min her temp had gone back to normal. I actually was shocked that I didn't freak out and go to the ER then. She went back to sleep after eating and when she awoke Sunday for the day she felt fine. She was eating normal and eliminating on her regular schedule. Around 2 that afternoon she felt incredibly hot to me again. I took her temp and it was around the same. I called the Dr on call thinking what are the chances I did this again? He instructed me to go out and buy a rectal thermometer immediately and if it was over 100.4 to go straight to the ER. This is when I felt a pit in my stomach that would not go away for days. I did as instructed and her temp (in the bathroom of the drug store) was 102.1. I tried so very hard to hold my shit together for my older girls. My husband was in Hawaii for work and wasn't expected back for days. Upon getting to the ER they acted fast and started telling me all the possible reasons she could have a fever and because she is so young they have to run EVERY test possible. Thank God we were near family and they could come get my older ones. They did a catheter, blood tests and a spinal tap. I have never felt so helpless in my life. We were admitted to the hospital and were told we would be there for 7-10 days. I burst into tears thinking I was going to miss Christmas with my daughters (on top of being scared out of my mind for my baby). All in all, we were in the hospital five days and she was diagnosed with a UTI. All the ultrasounds on her kidneys and other tests run show that this was a fluke thing and just really bad luck. I did so much praying in that time. I can't believe that even after 3 kids, I made such a mistake as to thinking I had overdressed her. I guess I hope to give some new Mom's reassurance that even us with more than one LO still make mistakes. And we all will, it's just learning experiences. I hope to God that no one has to go through something like that. We had to best Christmas gift by having her being released a healthy, happy baby. She even gained weight while we were there!!
Re: Worst Mom moment in over 9 years...
How scary! I'm glad that you are home now with your healthy baby and your family!
But, for us to beat ourselves up for not catching the fever sooner really does mean that we ARE great, caring mamas. If that didn't bother us, what type of mamas would we be? We just made a mistake and luckily our little babies are perfectly fine. So, hugs to u, mama!! I'm glad she is okay!!!!!
DD has periodic fever syndrome and I went through a lot of Mommy Guilt for not catching fevers, but now we are managing well!
The fact that you care enough to feel the guilt, also means you are a great mom!