It was a tough week

Last week wasn't the best.

I was coming back from a cold/stomach illness from the week before.  I was ready to get back to the gym all week and get on with week 4 of C25K.  Then on Monday morning Lily started running a mild fever.  We sent her off to daycare with a dose of acetaminophen and all was well that day until about 5:00 that night.  The fever returned with a vengeance.  Ibuprofin didn't seem to touch it but acetaminophen did the trick.  She woke up with a 103 F fever on Tuesday morning so I stayed home with her.  She was in good spirits despite the fever coming back every 3-4 hours.  We played with her toys and watched Yo Gabba Gabba.

She still had a fever on Wednesday and it was barely being controlled by Tylenol.  All she wanted to do was cuddle on the couch.  I spoke to an after-hours nurse and did an over the phone triage.  She was fine but the nurse wanted us to bring her in on Thursday if she still had the fever because 3 days is getting into not-a-virus territory.  We didn't make it that long.

She woke up crying at 1:00 AM.  I took her temp with a temporal thermometer.  Surely that reading can't be right... this thing is kind of wonky anyway... let's do under the armpit then.  It hadn't even beeped yet when I saw the temperature: 104.3... meaning her internal temp was above 105.  I didn't wait to find out how high it was going to go.  I very quickly gave her another dose of acetaminophen and woke Husband up.  "We need to go the hospital."

Husband: "We need to go to the hospital?"  He repeats things when he's sleepy.

Me: "NOW."

We got everyone bundled (it was SO COLD) and drove to Abbott Northwestern, a hospital I'm not super wild about but is the closest to our house.  We were informed that they don't see children at that ER because Children's Hospital right next door handles them.  What?  There's a Children's Hospital in Minneapolis?

They took her vitals (thankfully the fever was already down below 105), gave us the transfer paperwork, and sent us next door.  After dealing with a grumpy triage nurse we were taken back within five minutes by a delightful young man who told us we just missed a huge rush.  If we had gotten there an hour prior we would have been in the waiting room with 40 other families.

It turns out that Lily had a double ear infection.  Which was news to me because in the entire time I had her at home she never touched her ears or indicated that they were bothering her.  I was asking:

"Is your stomach owie?"
"Uh-uh!"
"Is your throat owie?"
"Uh-uh!"
"Is your head owie?"
"..."

I figured she had a headache.  I should have known to ask about her ears.  This isn't her first ear infection.  Bad Mama.  But in my defense, I was a strep throat kid.  I didn't have an ear infection until well into my late 20s.  It just doesn't even occur to me that an ear infection is a thing.

Now all is well and she is happy and normal more than she is cranky once again.  She's even enjoying her medication, which is a relief since we had to physically hold her down and shove the syringe into her mouth the first few times.

That night at the hospital was the most scared I've ever been.

So I'm out three vacation days and an ER co-pay (possibly two).  It was worth it.