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| My lovely and brave little Euri at JDMH |
It was Friday last week when I noticed that Euri stopped asking for milk every 2 hours. My chubby newborn feeds 2 ounces of milk every two hours, and for some reason, she had lost appetite and slept more. There was also a less need for diaper change which bothered me since I know babies should pee a lot. Then came Sunday afternoon when I noticed that Euri's skin color is a little too red and her temperature seems high. The nanny said that the baby's temperature is normal, but I trusted my instinct and took her temperature -- 38.3C
I texted Euri's pediatrician and the doctor advised to give the little angel a quick sponge to lower the fever and to take her temperature every 4 hours. After giving Euri a quick sponge, changed her clothes and fed her, the little girl's temperature didn't change and she seemed to have difficulty breathing so I panicked and rushed her to the hospital.
We stayed in Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital from past 9pm until around 5am. The resident doctors and nurses gave Euri paracetamol and a quick sponge to help lower her temperature. They took some urine sample for urinalysis and urine culture and blood for CBC. The poor girl's temperature lowered only after the quick sponge but would peak to 38+C after a while, so they advised to admit my baby girl but I was so afraid that the dextrose is going to hurt her, so we decided to just take her home - wrong move, cause when 8am came, Euri's temperature reached 39.5C!
We stayed in the hospital from Monday until Saturday. I was having a laugh the other day, thinking that because I gave JDMH an excellent review, we seem to keep going back. Anyway, our hospital stay was okay and the nurses and doctors were all excellent. :-)
Here are some of the things I learned in this very painful experience:
- Always, always make sure to properly wash your baby's private parts. Double check that there's no poop anywhere near their genitals. Girls are more prone to UTI, so now I wash Euri using soap and flowing water instead of baby wipes.
- Keep track of your baby's feeding time and diaper change. I noticed that Euri slept a lot more and stopped asking for milk a day before her fever (she usually wakes up every 2 hours to ask for milk). I also noticed the lesser need to change diapers since her nappies are almost empty. These are early warnings of UTI!
- Keep your baby hydrated. Euri's doctor advised that babies should feed at least every 2 hours.
- Fever? Call your pediatrician! Fever is a sign that something is not right in your baby's body. Never ignore a fever. Some people may think that I over react when my children are down with fever. When Euan has a temperature higher than 37.5, lose appetite, has cough or colds, I never hesitate to bring him to the doctor. When I felt Euri's temperature is not normal, I didn't hesitate to call the pediatrician and asked for advice. The doctor advised to just check the baby's temperature every 4 hours and bring her to the clinic the following day - but I followed my instinct and brought Euri to the ER instead.
- Check and change diapers regularly. Change baby's diaper every 6 hours to avoid bacteria from growing. I check Euri's diaper every 2 hours and after feeding.