hillary or the puking flu?

i was going to write something clever about hillary today but my energy for that has fizzled throughout the day because the girl has been hit with some kind of flu. i think. i mean, she's only puked once (and it was a doozy--all over me, herself, and in my hair. in my hair, people! like this: "mommy, i love youuuuuuu....bwarrrrrf."). she's been like a baby koala, just hanging on me. she won't lie on the couch or in bed or on the floor or anywhere but on me. and the fever has been off the hook.

105.3 last night.

swear. to. god.

so i gave her some tylenol and called the peds. who were, of course, not there, because it was sunday. so i got their answering service and was then referred to the nurse on call. betty. betty with a raspy, i've-smoked-for-the-last-thirty-years voice. and betty commenced with the questions:

105.3?

yes.

rectal?

yes.

any other symptoms?

she's had a clear runny nose for a week.

is she eating?

she had part of a muffin.

no throwing up?

nope.

really?

really.

wow.

wet diapers?

i just changed one.

really?

really.

wow.

drinking?

yes, juice.

really?

really.

wow.

what kind of juice?

um....pomegranate?

at which point betty busted out laughing and rasped, "that little girl is one tough cookie!"

then she asked if i could get her to drink water and i said yes and she busted out laughing again, rasping her disbelief that a child so obviously sick would not only consent to my crazy pomegranate juice, but would drink plain old water, too. i was instructed to give the girl a tepid bath, change her into lighter jamamas, and get her to drink.

the tepid bath nearly killed us both.

she *is* one tough cookie, my little girl. last night she was up about every hour screaming that she didn't want any more--i'm guessing it was a tepid bath nightmare.

she went to bed tonight with a fever of 104.7 and a dose of motrin. no tepid bath, because our regular nurse, Ann, confirmed that tepid baths are no longer the way to go. they can actually cause a fever spike.  i love Ann. she was there when the girl had an ear infection at 3 weeks old and we had to drive through a blizzard to get her to the peds' office. we'll be checking in with Ann in the morning.

Comments

[slouching mom]

I'm so sorry. We've just been through stomach flu too, but with nowhere near that temperature! Those are scary numbers. As much as I've been fed the "a temperature is just the body's way of fighting an infection" line, I will NEVER get used to numbers like that. I hope she's better tomorrow.

[Colleen]

Poor babe. I hope she's feeling better tomorrow and that the nasty fever disappears! Pooh on vomit.

[Mrs. Flinger]

oh, I hope she gets better. And pomegranite? I don't even know how to SPELL it, let alone drink it! ;-)