Not the Party We Imagined

We were supposed to have our family birthday party for Mia today. We had the food ordered, cupcakes made, presents wrapped, house cleaned...it was going to be fun. Unfortunately, Mia had other plans.

She started running a low fever and coughing yesterday. We decided to keep an eye on her. However, she didn't sleep well last night and this morning, she just didn't look or act like herself. While Ryan took Lily to her friend Peyton's birthday party, I called our pediatrician's after-hours line. They connected me with a nurse from Children's Hospital who walked me through lots of questions. She concluded that we didn't need to go to the ER, but it would be a good idea to go to an immediate care facility. Her fever is slightly higher today than yesterday, she has a runny nose and sounds like a little old smoker man when she coughs. Liz and I took her up to the Childrens Immediate Care on Barrett Parkway. Ryan and I decided to cancel the party once we realized we needed her to be seen by a doctor.

We only had to wait about 25 minutes to be seen first by a nurse and then a doctor immediately afterwards. The nurse took her temperature (100.8), weighed her (21 lb, 3 oz) and took her oxygen level (99 - fyi, 93-100 is normal). Her heart rate was a little high, but she said that was normal with a fever. Oh, we had given her Tylenol before leaving, and I am certain that brought her temperature down to the 100.8; she was burning up before we left (we couldn't get a good read with our thermometer).

The doctor then examined her and decided she is in the beginning stages of RSV, and she has an ear infection. He prescribed an antibiotic for the infection and an inhaler for the RSV; we'll see how giving her an inhaler goes. He also said to alternate between Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever under control. Thankfully we caught this early because RSV can lead to hospitalization. She is resting now, and we hope she will get better very quickly. The party will go on another day!