I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging ever since it began. I've been so crazy busy lately, I really feel like this is the first time I've been able to really sit and not feel like I have a million other things to do.
I guess the big thing right now is that Leni is sick. Actually, she is looking pretty good today and seems happier. She even slept the entire night, which wasn't the case for the last few.
Last Sunday evening, Leni started getting cranky and it was becoming obvious she wasn't feeling so well. Jesse, Gemma, and I drove Jesse's sister, Leah, back to the airport and when we got back, my mom told us how whiny and cranky Leni was.
Next morning, Leni woke up with a fever and she kept getting hotter and hotter. At one point I measured her temperature and she was 38.7, which, to me, seems pretty substantial. But she didn't have any other symptoms, so I kinda just wrote it off to teething.
But the fever persisted and I was just pumping her full of Tylenol. As long as the Tylenol was working, she seemed okay. When I'd be late on giving her next dose, however, and her fever would creep back, she would be all whiny and wanting nothing else but to cuddle in my arms.
On Wednesday, I had to take mom to an ophthalmologist appointment for her cataract surgery assessment. I left Gemma at a friend's house, but took Leni with us. The appointment turned out to be way longer than expected (2.5 hours). However, Leni did okay. She was pretty happy and it was only on our way home that she really started to get cranky. Still a bit feverish, but she seemed to be getting over it.
Thursday morning, we had to go back to the ophthalmologist to get mom's eyes measured. This time, we took both kids. While we were at the appointment, I noticed Leni had a rash on her face, kinda just under her eyes. Then, within 15 minutes, it was all over her face.
Unfortunately we didn't get back to Okotoks until later and Leni was sleeping in the car and slept when I moved her into her crib, so she didn't get seen in Urgent Care until maybe 2 pm. Thankfully the wait wasn't too long, but the doctor was in such a hurry, I didn't get much information or much discussion out of her. She examined Leni and after reviewing her history, thought Leni had scarlet fever. She said she was 80% sure it was, but there was a good chance it was just a virus needing to clear her system. She took a swab and told me I could wait til the results or start her on antibiotics right away. If you know me, you know how anti-antibiotics I am and so I told her I would wait for the result. Then she left, saying something along the lines of "so I'm writing in here that you are refusing the antibiotics". She never really told me what scarlet fever is, how a baby would get it, what kind of damage it could do, and what the long-term complications of it are. So once I got home, I did some research of my own. The only time I've heard of scarlet fever is in Little Women, when the babies that Beth looks after die from it and then she gets it and then dies. HOW REASSURING.
The internet told me that it's not a big deal as long as it's treated, but it can leave complications, such as kidney damage, heart damage, rheumatic fever, etc. I still figured I could wait 2 days for the swab results, but Jesse and my mom kept worrying me and guilt-tripping me, making me feel as though I should've taken the prescription.
So the next day, I went back to Urgent Care, explained my situation and they told me I would still need to have Leni reassessed. So she was. By a different doctor this time. He wasn't convinced it was scarlet fever and reassured me that even if it was, the damages don't occur for some time and we definitely had time to wait for the swab results. When I told him I thought I was such a bad mother, he disagreed, saying that he preferred more people to be more like me in being cautious about antibiotics instead of coming in, demanding antibiotics.
Anyhoo, today is day 2 of the swab and so I hope to hear back some time today. Actually, I hope I don't hear back at all, which would mean the swab was negative. Nevertheless, Leni's rash has significantly improved and she is in much better spirits today. I hope it really is just a flukey virus that will just flush out of her system and leave her alone from here on.
