Sick again

Lois is sick. It started last Friday afternoon while we were napping. The fan was aimed at her when I felt that she was quite hot than normal. I kissed her forehead to check and she really wasn't ok. I turned the fan off and after a while she was perspiring. Relieved, I endorsed her to her nanny as I ready up to do our groceries.

When I got back, she was still sound asleep. The night drew in and everything's fine until we checked her. She was running a fever. I got the thermometer and it said 38C. Together, Daddy Poh and I, gave her a sponge bath, changed her clothes and put powder on her. We waited a bit before we gave her paracetamol. When her condition didn't improve we gave her 0.75ml. She was crying terribly at the middle of the night. Oh how terrible! Whenever Lois is not feeling well, I feel doubly unwell. If only I could get sick instead of her. Thank goodness afterwards, she perspired, like a kid running under a hot summer sun.

The following Saturday morning, she was still warmer than usual, but still alert and playful. Eager to practice her walking skills, she covered the whole house walking barefooted, guided only through her hands. I read that fever is not really the disease, just a symptom of something else, and that the temperature is not the best measurement of whether a baby is sick or not. A baby could be running a 40C temperature but still feels ok compared to another who only has a mild fever, but is lethargic and irritable. Good thing in Lois case, her fever was not very high, not as high as her energy and enthusiasm. In the afternoon, it was time for Lois’ pedia visit. Instead of giving her the scheduled vaccine, Dr. Jocelyn Yambao-Franco asked us to return again two weeks after. If her condition worsens come Monday, we must bring Lois to the hospital for her to see. Urinalysis and CBC count would then be done in order to check what’s wrong with her. She said no other symptoms accompany Lois’ fever so it could just be the infamous lagnat laki. She also asked us to give Lois zinc food supplement daily, on top of her multivitamins and vitamin c medicines.

Back at our house, Lois was the picture of a healthy baby – only with a fever. She wiggles at the sound of catchy tunes and chuckles whenever Daddy Poh appears under the pillow. I thought she was well on her way to getting over her lagnat laki. But came night time, she threw up at our bed after I gave her paracetamol. Messy and fearful of what could be wrong this time, Poh and I played a bit with Lois. She couldn’t sleep so we tried the dance technique. Singing a lullaby and swinging her in my arms, she fell asleep. The following Sunday morning, she was much better. Fever gone. We decided to stay at home for Lois, so only Daddy Poh attended Sunday worship service. Came night time, her temperature was down to 37.4C.

Conjunctivitis
Everything went well the whole of Monday, but came Tuesday, Lois’ eyes were red and irritated. They were covered with yellow discharge. I thought it was just because she was sick during the weekend and it was her body’s way of eliminating all the germs out of her system. But Lois also has colds. Her tiny nose was running and she couldn’t nurse well. Since it was a holiday, end of Ramadan, Daddy Poh was at home and brought us to Medical City. I was contacting her pedia to schedule our emergency visit but she wasn’t answering her call. Luckily, there was a pedia clinic open at the hospital. Dr. Gomez, our gift from heaven, diagnosed it as conjunctivitis, an infection of the eye of some bacteria or virus, the same disease our research on the Internet yielded. Since babies at Lois’ age love to explore and touch so many things, it could be that she rubbed her eyes with her dirty little fingers which caused the disease. Erythromycin was prescripted, the same medicine given to us after Lois was discharged at the neonatal ward since oral antibiotic could possibly introduce new diseases. For her runny nose, she asked us to give her Dimetapp, which we also have at home, and the usual paracetamol and hydrite/pedialyte if Lois’ fever or diarrhea comes back. If baby Lois doesn’t improve come Friday, she advised us to have Lois’ pedia check her again.

I thought the ordeal was over. It was so simple and easy back at the doctor’s clinic - what to do, when to give the medicine, and so on and so on. Yet when it was time for Lois to have her eye medicine, it was grueling! Applying eye ointment on Lois was like getting a horse to sit on a stool! Lois was crying, protesting every bit of what I was doing to her. I couldn’t talk Lois out of it so I thought of other ways to put it on her. I waited while she was asleep and I gently opened her eyes so the ointment can get through. The doctor said it was just like applying eye liner on. Once baby opens her eyes, the ointment would get inside and all the bacteria and germs would get killed. Must kill the germs! But Lois would wake up every time I nudge her eyes open, making it harder for both of us. And her eyelashes! Oh, how I wanted to cut them in order to get those antibacterial ointment into her irritated eyes. What I did instead, I applied the medicine between her closed lids, on top of the eyelashes. Not how I typically put eyeliner on, but hopefully good enough to kill those nasty germs making our darling angel sick.