Paging Dustin Hoffman
Every baby gets sick. Some veteran moms and dads might even consider it a rite of passage for the baby, but more for the new parents. Well, it’s safe to say, we’ve been initiated.
This past Monday, I noticed my daughter felt a little warm. At 5:00 I took her temp, and it was 99.3. No big deal, nothing to worry about. After all, I have taught preschool, I know that kids get fevers, and I was not about to transition into jumpy “first-time parent” mode. I was headed to Louisburg that evening for the kcparent.com website revealing party, so I left at 6:00. My husband was going to be watching A for the evening, and I knew she’d be fine.
I arrive in Louisburg at 6:30 only to get a phone call with uncontrollable screaming in the background. A’s temp had spiked to 104.1, and my husband was a little stressed and concerned about it (he probably wouldn’t admit that to you, but you could tell).
I turn right back around, drive home, and find my husband rocking our sick little girl in our rocking chair. She’s only in her diaper at this point, very hot, and very lethargic. So, what do first time parents do when a situation like this arises at 7pm? You guessed it: we got in our car and headed to Children’s Mercy South. Is 104.1 too high? She’s never been sick. How high is too high for a fever? What if we can’t get it to go back down? All these questions led us to make the decision to take her instead of wait it out.
We walk into CMS (at the point, A is not crying, seems alert and better than before, but still feels warm), check into security, and then, I see two things that shock me. The waiting room must have at least 50 people waiting to be seen! I think to myself, by the time we actually get back there to see a doctor, her temp could be up to 107! Then, the bigger shocker….MASKS! Yes, masks. The lovely swine flu epidemic has created a fear and panic among Americans, so people (adults, children, and some babies) were wearing masks.
Almost as if I’m giving my order in a restaurant, I tell the security officer that I will take 2 masks (one for myself and my husband, who thinks I’m a bit overboard with this), and of course, one for the baby. I put mine on first, and then try to put one on A, who immediately pulls it off with a vengeance! My husband is calmly holding A and enjoying the comedy show I’m providing with my nervous eyes, worrisome comments, and mask. Do you think we really need to be here? Look – even those kids are wearing masks! I really don’t like this. Should we leave? The baby won’t even wear her mask, and that really makes me uncomfortable!
It needs to be said that in my fury to put on my mask, I managed to put it on the wrong way. I’m talking to my mom on my cell phone describing this scene out of the movie Outbreak, and my husband says, ‘Hey Merse, your mask is on upside down. Really? Frantically, I take it off (being careful not to breathe in any possible germ or swine flu that might be floating around), and put it on correctly. I resume my phone conversation, and my husband starts laughing at me again. ‘Now you’ve got it on backwards.’ Okay, can someone just please show me how this mask goes on?!? At this point, I feel like I’m going to see Dustin Hoffman turn the corner with his mask on!
Needless to say, after waiting 20 minutes in line and having still not checked in, we decided it was better to take her home for the night than wait at CMS and possibly contract something that required people wearing masks. A finally got to sleep and slept through the night, and her fever only lasted a few more days.
It’s so hard to know what to do when your little one gets sick! Ever feel like this with your kiddos?