...and then there were two!

Kan Cheong Spider

DN is having a fever... again.

On Monday evening, he started feeling a little feverish and his temperature continued to climb through the night. Thank goodness we now make it a point to always have paracetamol at home. With the paracetamol, his temperature hovered between 37.8 to 38.9 degrees. I can't imagine what it would have been if we didn't have medication.

PF and I were shattered on two levels.

One - DN is sick, and that's no fun, both for him and us.

Two - He was supposed to start school at Julia Gabriel the next day! And it was water play! Alamak. First day of school already "pontang". -_-

When his fever didn't subside on Tuesday, PF brought DN to the GP who gave him some Ibuprofen. It brought his fever down, but his temperature started to climb again when the medicine wore off. At 10+ last night, DN's temperature hit 39.9 degrees!

Kan cheong spider time.

It wasn't time for his next dose of Ibuprofen, we didn't know if we could give paracetamol with Ibuprofen still in his system and we didn't know how to sponge a baby. (Do I really need a sponge???)

So I called a few friends and found out what to do.

What to do when your baby is running a fever

1. Give paracetamol if you have some on hand, if not...
2. Sponge baby by
- soaking a small towel in lukewarm (not cold) water
- place towel on baby's hot areas (neck, armpits, groin) for about 30 secs
- remove towel and rinse
- let the water evaporate off the skin (this takes away the heat)
- repeat until temperature drops
3. If after half an hour, the medicine / sponging is not taking effect, bring baby to the doctor

At about 12am, we decided to bring DN to the hospital. His fever wasn't going down and I really started to panic when he didn't wake up even after I picked him up, carried him and called his name a few times.

Kan cheong spider time again.

Thank goodness he finally stirred and waved his little hand at us. (You scared us big time, mister!) So off we went to Thomson Medical Centre - 2 kan cheong spiders and 1 hot baby. Always a bad combination.

As we approached the counter (we were still a good 5 metres away), Nurse 1 took one look at us and said, "Fever?" I think I know what she was thinking - "Alamak, why do I always get the paranoid parents during my shift?"

Nurse 1 took DN's temperature and said, "38.8 degrees. Not so bad." (Okay thanks, I'm starting to feel sheepish now.) She then called the doctor on his phone - "2 patients, Dr X (He's far from a super-hero. I'm not naming him coz I'm going to complain about him!)."

Anyway, when Dr X arrived 10 minutes later, with his supper swinging from a red plastic bag, he too looked rather sheepish (or-bee-good!). We were called in barely 4 minutes after the 1st patient and our consultation lasted only slightly longer - 4.5 minutes???

I left the room as clueless as when I went in. I didn't really know why DN's fever wouldn't go down, what was causing it and what to do if he started burning again. In fact, he even managed to make me feel bad for asking questions because of his monosyllabic answers. I bet he was thinking of his supper getting cold by the minute.

Thank goodness there was Nurse 2. When she explained to us how to administer the medicine (paracetamol & ibuprofen, both of which we already had!), she unwittingly offered extra information and answered all the questions that were swimming in my head!

What's wrong with DN?
He has viral fever, and it's a strong strain. Apparently, many children have been coming in with these long-drawn fevers that climb to the high end of 39 degrees.

When will he get better?
Not for a few more days. This particular bug has been very strong and she told us to expect DN's fever to hang around for a bit.

What should I do in the meantime?
Just give him paracetamol every 4 hours. If, an hour after paracetamol, he's still feverish, give the ibuprofen. Ibuprofen to be given only 6-8 hourly.

If his temperature goes up to 40 degrees, must we bring him to the hospital?
No. The temperature is just a number. A better indication is the child's behaviour. A child with a temperature of 39 degrees and feeling very lethargic and unresponsive should be rushed to hospital immediately. A child with a temperature of 40 degrees but is still very active needs only paracetamol.

Why is his fever so bad at night?
During the day, children are moving about so they sweat and their bodies are able to expel the heat. At night, they sleep and are inactive, so their bodies aren't able to get rid of the heat, and hence their temperatures rise. This is normal and nothing to worry about.

Am I a kan cheong spider?
(she was very diplomatic about this)
It's natural for first-time parents to get worried. They've never experienced this before and most are unsure of what to do. So we do get alot of first-time parents rushing their children to the hospital in the middle of the night and paying exhorbitant consultation fees which is not really that exhorbitant if you consider the fact that there are 3 of us here on duty tonight and what we want to do most is go back to bed.

i.e. YES!

(okay, you know that I made up that whole spiel at the back right?)

Bless Nurse 2!