Ouch

Poor Ella Kate is sick.

It started late Saturday afternoon with fever but few other symptoms. By Saturday night her temperature was 102.9 under her arm. She was miserable and pathetic and cried and cried if I put her down. I gave her Tylenol, but her fever never broke all night. I know this because either Rob or I were holding her and going "rock, rock" all night long. I held her from 9 until 1:30am then finally managed to slip her into her bed without waking her. Exhausted, I collapsed in our bed. At 2am she woke up screaming again. Rob let me sleep and he rocked her until 4:30am. Then I got up and took over until 7:15am. Again I eased her into her bed and she slept in her bed until almost 9:30am.

The whole night was awful and heartbreaking. EK was burning up with fever and would just lay in my lap whimpering until she slowly fell asleep. A few minutes later she would wake up crying like she was in pain and say "ouch ouch ouch" and put her fingers in her mouth and cry herself to sleep again. That was the pattern all night long. I thought maybe she was having some teeth problems so I switched to Motrin on Sunday. That seemed to help some but she didn't eat much and she just acted like she felt awful. I debated going to the ER with her but I was afraid we would just sit there all night since her symptoms weren't dire. After an OK Sunday afternoon we decided to tough it out one more night and get EK in to see the Dr. first thing Monday AM.

Sunday night Rob slept in another room and I sat up in our bed with EK giving her Motrin and keeping an ice pack cold for her to lay on. We all slept much better. At 7:30am this morning I called and got an appointment with our pediatrician. When we arrived at the doctor's office I noticed a little white ulcer right in the middle of EK's bottom front lip, but she would not open up and let me look further. Dr K coaxed EK's mouth open and let me come see. It looked/s awful! There are ulcers everywhere! On her tongue, her lips, the sides of her mouth, down her throat and even all over her tonsils! Poor baby really has been in pain!

Dr K said EK has some 6 syllable virus that starts with "herp" and ends with "itus." (Don't you love how medically technical I am?) The bad news is there is nothing much we can do but treat her fever, try to keep her hydrated, and try to treat the ulcers topically with several different things. "Virus" has become a very bad word in this house. I usually walk into the Doctor's office praying in my head that whatever the illness de'jour is, it is not an untreatable, "have to let it play itself out," stinking VIRUS! (Of course I am always glad it is only a virus and not something fatal or life altering, but I prefer illnesses that can be treated with medicine and go away in 48 hours!) Dr K said this virus usually lasts 5-7 days. This is day 3.

I started crying as we drove to the store to get some of the things Dr K said we could try. I can only imagine how bad these ulcers are hurting Ella Kate. No wonder she has been so miserable! She is hungry, but everything she tries to eat hurts her mouth. She is thirsty, but everything she tries to drink hurts. I even tried to get her to eat her favorite strawberries and bananas last night! No wonder she screamed and threw them down!

When we got to the store to buy the topical over the counter things Dr K suggested, I bought EK a white cherry ICEE that she really seemed to like. That made me feel better and gave me some hope that it wasn't as bad as I thought. That hope was quickly dashed when we got home. I have tried all three "home" remedies Dr K suggested but none seem to help. EK just cries and cries and now some of the ulcers are bleeding. I hate this for her! The only thing she has eaten today besides the ICEE is a few bites vanilla ice cream softened up with a little milk. Even taking Motrin seems to hurt her!

On top of everything this isn't the best week for this to happen... The floor guys are in my kitchen re-doing our tile today and tomorrow. My house is a torn-up, dusty, loud chaotic place. Also this week Kolby has the TAKS test Tuesday and Wednesday. Rob and I are both supposed to go to the zoo with Rhett's class Wednesday. Not an ideal time for the virus from ___ to invade Ella Kate's little mouth. But more than anything, I hate seeing my baby hurt! I hope we can keep Ella Kate knocked out with Benadryl and Motrin until this awful virus is over! If you have any ulcer soothing secrets please share because I'm all for anything to make EK feel better!

If I'm not around much this week, you know it's because I have my hands full with a hurting baby girl! Hope the rest of you are having a much happier and healthier Monday! :)