My Baby!

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this because I know moms have had sick kids at one time or another throughout the span of time, but this is about MY baby girl...

As I was driving home from the WOF conference (previous post), Greg called and said Claira was running a fever. =( I got home Saturday evening - she felt pretty warm but didn't wake up enough for us to take her temp or try to get Tylenol into her again, so she went down to bed. Sunday morning, when she got up, she was pretty warm and I knew we were in for it.

Now this is Claira's first real illness and it required a visit to the E.R. She had a fever (101.4), wasn't wanting to eat or drink, was clingy & restless, and even her little voice sounded hoarse. Kyle & Emma had been to the dr on Thursday - Kyle had strep, Emma had a cold. I completely understand the realities of trying to keep kids apart who are sick but who LOVE each other to death. Claira wants to be all over them whenever she sees them and Mama Taylor had her hands full!!!

So the dr checked her out - of course, her temp at the ER was normal - but he saw her throat and said it was red and looked infected, SO she's on antibiotics for 10 days, and tylenol/motrin and popsicles as needed.

I'll tell ya, when her temp popped up to 101.9, and I put her in a warm bath to help cool her off. She loves her bath time, and she was almost instantly whining and crying and her little body was shaking and THAT was that moment when, as a mom, I wanted to trade places with her and have her be well and me be sick. The water was warm - I kept feeling it thinking I had made it more "luke" than "warm" but it was the fever. So we wrapped her up in towels and Greg cuddled her close while I fed her a popsicle and she just kept trying to jabber and was still shaking and her voice quivered - I just wanted to BAWL!!!

Note: This was in the same week that she (finally) fell off the bed and bumped her head. I knew the day was coming, and as far as I'm concerned, it does not have to happen again. Now, Claira is a fairly cautious baby when it comes to the edge of things. She has learned to back herself down off a couch and down the stairs and moves slowly and takes her time. I was in the bathroom - I heard Greg holler - followed by a loud "crack" I'd been dreading since she was born - and instantly a high-pitched SCREAM! She & daddy were playing and apparently she turned the wrong direction and backwards off the bed she went. I walked in to see Greg about as pale as I've ever seen him holding her and Claira was just screaming. All of a sudden it was all I could do to keep from wrenching her out of his hands. It wasn't Greg's fault - I did not blame him at all - it was just an accident that happened. But it was the first time I felt what I would describe as an "animal" instinct that nearly took over my body and I just wanted her in my arms so I could see if she was okay. Thankfully, he just let me take her when I reached for her and I was able to calm her just a tad.

I checked to see if she'd bitten her tongue or lip - no blood - just a bump on the back of the head. After about 10 minutes she seemed to be crying cuz she was just MAD more than hurt, and she'd let up for a few seconds and then start all over. I checked her eyes and they were fine - pupils matched and were reactive to light. We just sorta held each other tight and she fell asleep after crying for about 20 minutes. We woke her up - she woke right up and wanted to eat with us and get down and play. Greg's parents came over to check her out (this was OUR first major injury experience with her - although she'd slipped between the bed & the wall once, and had rolled off the couch onto the carpet once when she was much smaller) and they seemed to think she was okay, too. She didn't even have a bruise to show for it.

Whew!!! These are the times that will probably remain imbedded in my brain forever that I don't want to remember. They are balanced by the times she first said, "Mama", "Daddy", etc., takes her first steps alone or tries to say "I Love You" the first time (which she also attempted this weekend...)