a Valentine scare and an ER incident

Posted on February 15, 2007

Before anything, (belated) Happy Valentine’s to everyone!

And our Mateo turns 1 month today!!!

Ramil and I are in a scare right now. We spent Valentine’s lounging around the house (he was not able to go to work/school). We were never really that observant with regards to valentine’s so just spending time at home was perfect for us. However, at around 6:30 pm, Mateo woke up and when I handed him to Ramil, he commented that Mateo feels hot. So after taking a few shots of our baby, I got out the thermometer and tried to get his temperature. I got a reading of 38.4 (Celsius)! I immediately tried the thermometer myself. We were using a digital thermometer and I wasn’t sure how accurate it is. My body temperature was 36. We tried getting Mateo’s again several times and we would get as high as 38.6 so I decided to call his pediatrician. We were advised to give Mateo a sponge bath, dress him in cool clothes, and to give him 0.5ml of Tempra. We were able to give the medicine and by 7:30pm, his temperature was down to 37.4! We heaved a sigh of relief. I almost cried from happiness. He was already perspiring and temperature went further down to 36.6.

At around 10:30pm, Ramil and I decided to join Mateo and sleep also. Ramil woke me up at around 12:30 to tell me Mateo feels hot again. Again, I got the thermometer and I was getting a 39.2 temperature! I was holding him and I can feel him having chills. His arms were stuck close to his body and he appears to be shivering. When we saw that his hands and feet are looking pale, we decided to bring him to the ER of Manila East Medical Center. Upon arriving at the hospital, they got his weight and temperature (39.5). They gave him another dose of Tempra and requested a CBC and urinalysis. Everything seems ok according to the CBC result. According to the ER doctor, only his lymphocytes appear to be not so normal and suggests a viral infection, most probably the common cold. The fever is his body’s way of fighting the virus. We were told we can bring him home or admit him. We chose the former. The doctor advised us to give Tempra every four hours for 24 hours, continue feeding him, and to just bring him back if things don’t get better.

We got home by 2:30am and Mateo had a normal temperature by then. So far, so good. His fever hasn’t recurred since then. What a very dramatic and adventurous one month birthday for our baby.

Until now, we can’t fight the fear away. We are still very much on the edge and I would find myself checking his temperature every few minutes or so. This is way too early for new parents like us. I didn’t know whether to cry or to run away. We are praying that indeed, it’s just the common cold. All the other hassles of our new life seems so trivial now. We will take on anything just as long as our baby stays healthy and safe. Pray with us please.