FATHER'S DAY SCARE

I should have known that this was not going to be the greatest Father's Day ever for me when I woke up to the excruciating pain of a Charley Horse (calf muscle cramp.) Wow those thing HURT! So I lay there in bed writhing in pain while I try to massage my left calf muscle. I then tried to stretch and "walk it off" - does that ever work?! It doesn't for me. It is now 1am the next morning and I still have soreness in my calf muscle.

My wife got up and made homemade waffles for my Father's Day breakfast. My wife makes some pretty good waffles, so I was looking forward to my luck turning around. She had also went out in the rain to get the Sunday morning newspaper from the driveway so I could read it while eating my breakfast- very sweet.

My son then informed me that my Father's Day present from him (he is 7 years old) is that I would be taking him to the movies to see the new Fantastic Four movie. Actually, that is a good present, because I usually don't get a lot of quality time with him lately due to us having to attend to my baby daughter so often. We found a theater showing the movie early - 10am - which is what I needed due to the fact that I usually take a nap during the day to prepare for my first night back at work (12 hour night shifts really drain you...especially the first night of the work week.) We had 20 minutes to make it to the theater- and it was pouring rain outside. We loaded up in the minivan and trekked to the cinema. We made it into the theater just as the last preview was playing and got a good seat (as there were not many people at the early showing.)

We really enjoyed the movie. I never read the Fantastic Four comic books, but I have been pretty impressed with the movies they have made. I personally liked Spiderman 3 better, but I like the fact that the Fantastic Four movies seem to be geared more to the younger child than the Spiderman series (ie Spiderman 3 was PG-13, Fantastic Four was PG.) SO we headed back home when the movie was over. The rain had stopped so it made the trip home easy.

We arrived home around 12:30pm and I planned on taking a nap at around 1pm. I took the baby from my wife while she took a break from the baby activities. Baby was asleep as I took her from my wife and I was careful to try not to wake her, as she needed her rest. She had her 4 month checkup Friday and had been running a fever afterwards- results of the shots she received. She woke up and seemed really dazed and out of it. She usually is bright-eyed when she wakes up. So I started to look into her eyes and she seemed rather unresponsive. I thought that maybe she would just fall asleep again, maybe she wasn't quite awake yet. I noticed she was having trouble breathing with the pacifier in her mouth- I could hear a gurgling sound of sinus drainage. I asked my son to go grab the 'blue bulb' so I could suck out the snot in her nose. When I tried to clear her nose, it didn't get very much. The drainage must have been way back there or in the back of her throat. So I removed her pacifier and was horrified to see her lips were a bluish color. I called my wife over and removed the blanket from around her and noticed her arms were cold and splotchy- no color and almost a purple-ish color. And she was unresponsive and 'dazed'.

We immediately loaded up in the minivan and headed towards the after hours and weekend child care center. I told my wife to call the doctor while we were driving. She explained what was happening and they said to call 911. We called and the 911 operator asked where we were and directed us to the nearest fire station, where a police officer and EMTs were waiting for us. By the time we arrived there, she was getting some color back in her lips and skin, but was still somewhat unresponsive. They thought it could have been a seizure (my wife has epilepsy) but were not sure and recommended further testing. They offered to take her to the hospital in the ambulance, but she was stable and all they would do is monitor her on the way. They recommended we go to the Cook's Children's clinic with her, because they could not drop her at the clinic in the ambulance- they would HAVE to go to the hospital if they used the ambulance. So we proceeded to take her to the Children's clinic.

By the time we arrive, she was pretty much back to normal and was even smiling. They ran some tests (blood, urine, etc.) We found out it was a urinary tact infection- which is somewhat rare in babies of her age. They gave her a prescription for antibiotic and told us we could continue to give her Tylenol to keep her fever down. The doctor explained that the infection seemed to have cause a spike in her temperature, which- due to the way the human body functions at that age- sent most of her blood to her torso area. That explains the pale skin and pale lips. The fact that she was so unresponsive was because she was in a mild state of shock. The doctor said she should be feeling better in 24-36 hours and we need to call her primary doctor's office in the morning to schedule more testing. They need to run and ultrasound and dye check to make sure her kidneys and urinary system is functioning properly.

So that was a big scare for us on Father's Day- one to remember. Hopefully the antibiotic will clear up the issue, and we hope nothing else is wrong internally. We have an appointment scheduled for next Friday for the further testing. Well wishes and warm fuzzy thoughts are appreciated.