No one can ever explain to you how to prepare to be a great parent.
Each child is different and every home has
different needs. One thing that is for
sure is that love will guide you to do some awesome things. I am sharing my personal story of parenting a
child with the flu. My husband and I survived our baby's first flu.
When my son was 9 nine months old, I had to take him to the ER. Early in the day, he had been very fussy and not his normal happy self. We thought he needed to be outside in the fresh air. We packed him up and took him shopping. As we put him in the shopping cart, I remember him wiggling and being fussy some more. He began to cry as he sat in the store's metal shopping cart. I reached to console him, when I saw him hit his head on the metal piece of the cart. A few seconds later, he threw up. As a new parent, I thought he had injured his head. I urgently called my husband and we dashed to the Children’s Hospital ER. Both my husband and I were scared and upset over our only son being so sick. The tough part was our baby could not tell us how to help him. My son did not have a fever nor had he thrown up previously to hitting his head. There was nothing that would suggest that he had the flu.
When my son was 9 nine months old, I had to take him to the ER. Early in the day, he had been very fussy and not his normal happy self. We thought he needed to be outside in the fresh air. We packed him up and took him shopping. As we put him in the shopping cart, I remember him wiggling and being fussy some more. He began to cry as he sat in the store's metal shopping cart. I reached to console him, when I saw him hit his head on the metal piece of the cart. A few seconds later, he threw up. As a new parent, I thought he had injured his head. I urgently called my husband and we dashed to the Children’s Hospital ER. Both my husband and I were scared and upset over our only son being so sick. The tough part was our baby could not tell us how to help him. My son did not have a fever nor had he thrown up previously to hitting his head. There was nothing that would suggest that he had the flu.
In the ER, the nurses and doctors seemed very concerned over
the baby. They quickly admitted him and
shortly thereafter put him through a MRI machine to scan his brain. What they had to do to make sure they captured
a good photo was unimaginable to any parent. They had to tie him down, restrained in a
straight jacket? I could not help them
to do that so I sent my husband in to help. Crying in the hallway is where I stood waiting
for the doctors. My thoughts were racing
and I could not imagine what was wrong with our tiny baby. As a new parent, I had no idea that he was
suffering from the flu. A few hours later, the doctors released our baby with no
real diagnosis other than possibly the flu. The flu? Could the flu cause such a violent sickness in
a short time? They recommended we keep
an eye on him and bring him back if anything else occurred. They also instructed us to see his regular
doctor on Monday for a follow-up. Monday
was two days away. Both my husband and I
had to go to work. With a heavy heart
and new parent fears, we left the hospital.
At home, both my husband and I took turns not sleeping. We did not want to fall asleep at the same
time just to make sure we kept an eye on the baby. We watched our baby sleep in our arms. The whole time, his little body tilted slight
upward with a pillow. This was before
the baby wedge was sold at Babies R Us.
Monday came and I took the day off to make an emergency appointment with
our pediatrician, Dr. Akey. Dr. Akey is the most wonderful doctor in the world. He allowed me to come as soon as possible and saw
my baby first. He checked him over and
found that he had an ear infection but no fever. According to Dr. Akey, our baby should have experienced
lots of pain and uncomfortableness. Our
baby would have been wiggling, crying and most likely would have been fussy because
of the pain. This is something that the
daycare provider might have experienced and should have mentioned to us. After talking to the doctor, I realized that our baby got
sick at daycare. He most likely had had
a fever while my husband and I were at work. The daycare had a high volume of kids and
perhaps did not check on him enough. Once I had all the information from the doctor
and hospital, I realized that our baby had had a terrible flu. The head scan was unnecessary and my daycare
provider was overcrowded. I left the
doctor’s office with concerns over the caregiver and my role as a working
mother.
Not trusting my instincts and having a mortgage to pay for,
I continued to work a full-time job and taking my only son, at that time, to
daycare. The daycare was close to my
work and it had been recommended by a co-worker. She was pleasant and kind to me for the five
minutes we saw each other Monday through Friday. I was new a parent and I did not know much
about parenting or caring for a baby.
Our lack of experience forced us to trust other parent
recommendations. It would be another 9
nine months and several more illnesses to push me into quitting my full-time job
and becoming a stay-at-home-mother.
There are two things I want you to take away from this
story. One is that if you have the flu,
please stay home. Babies, pregnant
mothers, the elderly and people with weak immune systems suffer much more than
healthy adults. Two, trust your
instincts. Visit your daycare provider unannounced
frequently and if your child gets ill often it’s time to look for a better
place. Finally, know that you should error on the side of caution. If you have new parent concerns, please email us fieldtripmom@gmail.com.
If you have the flu then try to stick to the BRAT diet. Drink lots of fluids and stay away from others. BRAT Diet - Banana, rice, applesauce and toast (saltine crackers)
Prevent Dehydration with pedialyte.
If you have the flu then try to stick to the BRAT diet. Drink lots of fluids and stay away from others. BRAT Diet - Banana, rice, applesauce and toast (saltine crackers)
Prevent Dehydration with pedialyte.
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