Adeline's First E.R. Trip

Our little girl had been to the E.R. twice while growing inside of me, but last night she took her first trip since being out of the womb. She's fine now, thank God, but I was a worried Mama. More precautious than anything. Heading into her check-up yesterday I wasn't planning on giving her any vaccines since she's still on an antibiotic for rhinitis, but her doctor said that since she hasn't had a fever or drainage in several days that she recommended Adeline catch up on some of her immunizations. She's behind schedule because we're doing an alternate schedule that divides up the shots and because I had to cancel her last two appointments as she was sick. 

So, yesterday she received three shots. (I usually only have her get one or two.) The nurse said that the particular immunizations Addie received should not cause fever so if she reached a fever of 101 or higher we needed to take her to the emergency room. They also informed me that since she reacted to egg on the food allergy test that she will not ever receive MMR.  Adeline handled the shots like a champ and acted normal when we got home. I gave her Tylenol to ease the discomfort from three deep tissue shots and she seemed alright until after waking from her nap. She was really fussy, which I know is expected after vaccines, and cried every time she was touched or moved, yet wanted to be held. Finally I took her back into her room to rock her and she fell asleep in my arms.

When she woke up from an hour snooze she was burning up. She's generally a hot child and I had a blanket around her so I thought that might have been the cause. I took off her clothes to cool her down and tried to feed her but she didn't have an appetite (nor did she at lunch). Her fever was 102.5 so we headed to the E.R. just to be safe. 

I wasn't about to make her endure a seven hour Army hospital wait so we went to a children's hospital near UTEP and we were seen immediately. So much better! The nurse gave her Motrin right away and then we waited for the doctor. Addie was pretty unhappy and really tired, as it was two hours after her bedtime. The doctor who saw Addie was nice and spent time explaining everything we needed to know about vaccines and when to bring her to the hospital. With her allergies, a slight ear infection, and fever he said it was right to bring her in, which I appreciated because I wasn't sure if I was over-reacting by following the nurses 101 degree recommendation. 

We were in and out of there in an hour, pretty impressive if you ask me! Unfortunately, our insurance does not cover urgent care visits, unless pre-approved, so we always have to go to the E.R. if it's after hours. Adeline did great on the way home and passed out as soon as she was in her crib. It's been a rough three days of poking and prodding for her, but hopefully she'll be doctor-free for awhile!