First Cold Blues

Sophia almost made it 6 months without getting a cold. It all started last Sunday. My mom and her friend came over for a visit and Sophia was unusually grumpy. I didn't think too much of it because often she doesn't like to nap on the weekends when we're home and sometimes gets a little fussy. Her fussiness continued into Monday with the addition of not wanting to eat her bottle. She was a bit congested and I think it was hard for her to take the bottle because she couldn't breathe. We could get her to eat cereal and veggies, so I gave her an extra helping of that so that she'd have some food in her tummy. Monday night, I put her to bed around 8 like usual. She woke up about 20 minutes later but I was able to calm her down and after a few minutes she went back to sleep. Then she woke up at 10. I stayed up with her for a bit but couldn't get her to go back to sleep, so I broke my rule -- I brought her in the bed with us. She stayed in our bed until around 11, when I decided that I couldn't have her in bed with us. I couldn't fall asleep because I was too afraid I'd roll over on her or my pillow would smother her. So I got up and put her back in her crib. She woke up almost immediately. We decided to let her cry for a little to see if she'd cry herself to sleep, but after about 30 minutes, it was quite clear that was not going to happen. I got up and layed on the couch with her. She fell asleep right away. I sat there with her for about 2 hours until I thought she was good and asleep and wouldn't notice that I moved her back to her bed. That, of course, didn't happen. She woke up right away again and started crying. It was clear that I wasn't getting any sleep that night. So we went back out on the couch; again, she went right to sleep and fell asleep somewhere around 5. When my alarm went off at 6, I woke up and noticed that Sophia was pretty hot, so I decided to take her temperature. 102.6. Great. I'd remembered the pediatrician telling me that babies tend to have higher fevers than adults, but I couldn't remember his magic cut off temperature for when I should call to bring her in. I thought it was 101. So I gave her some Tylenol and decided to see if the fever would break. I didn't want to rush her in to the doctor's office if she only had a little cold. No need to expose her to other germs when her immune system is weak. I figured it was a cold because the week before, I'd had one. She's survived many colds that have come and gone through our household, so I figured maybe it was time that she caught one. I was going to the hospital with my mom that morning for an ECG, so I decided that I would call and check in with the nanny after that was over and see how Sophia was doing. Around 10, Brooke told me that Sophia's temperature was around 99, so I didn't think she needed to go see the pediatrician. Again, I figured it was just a cold and he'd tell me to give her Tylenol and monitor her temperature. Later that afternoon, Brooke called and said that Sophia's temperature had returned to around 102 but that she was still in a good mood and not acting sick. So I asked Brooke to give her some more Tylenol and to keep me posted. Just for piece of mind, I decided to call the pediatrician's office and speak to a nurse. She said that Sophia had probably just caught my cold and to give her Tylenol. She said that if her fever hit 105/106 then I should bring her in. So I felt pretty good. Around 2:30, Brooke called and said that Sophia's temperature had spiked to almost 104 and that she really felt I needed to take Sophia to the doctor. I still thought it was just a cold like the nurse said, but since her fever had spiked that high, I figured I'd take her in. I could also hear Sophia whimpering in the background while I was talking to Brooke and knew that she wasn't feeling good now. We went to the doctor and, just like I thought, he said that she probably caught my cold and to give her Tylenol. That'll be $85 please. He checked her ears to make sure there wasn't an infection and said he saw a little fluid in her right ear, so we went ahead and gave her a prescription for amoxicillin just to be safe. They weighed her while we were there and she was 18.2 lbs, so that meant I could also give her some baby Motrin. A friend told me that alternating the baby Tylenol with the baby Motrin often helps fight the fever quicker, so that's what I did. The Motrin knocked her fever out in about 30 minutes. That night, Anthony stayed up with Sophia since I didn't get any sleep the night before. The next morning, her temperature was back down to 99 and she was already showing signs of improvement. She was still pretty congested, but the fever never came back and by Thursday, she was back to her normal happy self again -- that is, except for the snot! The snot is still with us, but that's it. I am now obsessed with baby snot. The aspirator is my new best friend!