SATURDAY
4am: Sofia's feeling warmer than usual. Ignored signs because too lazy to open my eyes and get up.
11am: Low grade fever, fed her 2ml paracetamol. Fever dissipates, active as usual.
6pm: 39deg fever, fed her 2ml nurofen and rushed her to GP. Requested for suppository but too soon after nurofen to be given. Doc advises to stick to paracetamol every 4 hourly throughout the night.
9pm: 2ml paracetamol, fever contained.
SUNDAY
11am: 38deg, fed her 2ml paracetamol. Not as active.
5pm: 38deg, more paracetamol. Eyes watery and tinge of redness to lips but overall active.
10pm: Sudden increase of temperature while at dinner. Forgot to bring meds so rushed home from restaurant. Otw home, Sofia weak and sleepy.
11pm: Raging hot, fed her 2ml paracetamol. Meds do NOT work, temperature drops slightly then bounces up again.
2am: Reading 39.8deg. More paracetamol, then straight into the shower to bring down temp. Body still hot after shower and she starts grating her teeth, possible fits?!?
3am: Rushed to Thomson Medical. Reading 39.4deg. Suppository given and within 15minutes she breaks into sweat. Temperature drops to 37.5deg within the hour. Doctor gave go-ahead for admission but Nurse stops us, sends Sofia for blood test @ lab instead. Test results for haemoglobin: good. Assured its a viral infection, cleared to go home and monitor closely.
MONDAY
Very little urine output over 12 hour period. Visit to SBCC for urine test: clear. Assurance from doc that viral fever will run its course over 5 days.
Tip #1:
Schedule their medication. Paracetamol every 6 hours in the day, every 4 hours from 5pm onwards for the simple reason that fevers hit its peak at night when the bubs are less active. Give medication on time even though they seem fine to the naked eye.
Tip #2:
Catch it early. Paracetamol will kick in an hour after ingesting and will bring down the temperature by a mere 0.5deg every hour for the next 3-6 hours. So if medication is taken when thermometer reading is say, 37.5deg at 11pm, you can expect the fever to go up slightly to maybe 38.5deg before it comes down by midnight. Paracetamol do not work like a miracle drug so one should not wait until the child is too feverish before giving the meds or panic might ensue even before the paracetamol has a chance to work.
Tip #3:
Sponging, maybe even dunking. Like the nurse @ TMC told me (curtly) when I said the reason I didn't wet her head at 2am was because I was scared she may catch a cold- "Mummy, cold got medicine leh and can get better, fits no medicine and can cause brain damage. You should just shower full body with lukewarm water if she is more than 39deg". Point taken.
Tip #4:
Last resort. If the paracetamol + sponging combination fails, go for the additional Nurofen dose. This does not damage her/his liver if taken in moderation as a last resort option.
Tip #5:
Viral fever will run its course over 5 -7 days if scheduled medication is properly administered. Miss a dose and you're back to square one with another 3 days added on. So goodbye sleep, hello panda eyes! *yawn*
This is how I look like in the office. Really.
