Who's the doctor?

So the wee man is on the mend and what a difference it makes. Finally he is smiling and playing and nearly like his self again. During this illness it's amazing though how everyone has an opinion. Everyone had there own idea of what he may have. 

The nonni have previous experiences of illness of course. As soon as the red rash appeared the word morbillo/measles began floating around. Even I found myself checking Google because I wanted to play the part of doctor as well. Just in case you are wondering that is not a good idea.While I was phoning my sister, nonna was phoning her sister who has studied some medicine. I always trust my sister and whatever she prescribes I follow as you always get better. She said not to worry and continue what I was doing so I did. We should all have a doctor in the family. 

I guess though all mummy doctor wants is for the wee man to get better whatever the prescription!

A mothers worry

I have always thought and now I know for sure that you don't know the truth about motherhood until you become one, A MOTHER. You see it really is a secret club that they don't let you join until you go through the labour pains and enjoy the first week of sleepless nights. All you are entitled to know before that is the happy stories and if you are lucky maybe a bit of general bitching but this is accompanied by laughter because don't worry it's not all that bad. Now I have entered the club finally I KNOW THE TRUTH! 

The wee man has given me my fair share of worries which I have managed to work my way through. Finally though I have been met with a real challenge. I realise like with most feelings you hear others are feeling; as much as you can empathise you never really know what is going on inside. You see I thought I knew how to manage a sick baby until now. The hardest part is that you know they are not well but the only way they can really tell you is to cry and be generally miserable but they can't point to specifics so you are left guessing. At what point do the signs point to REAL danger! Nothing could have prepared me for what has happened in the past few days. 

I guess I should not scare you because according to the paediatrician here in Italy it's only a sore throat. I knew things were getting bad when after a long sleep in Gatwick while travelling on the plane to Italy he was still tired and just wanted to sleep. I could feel the heat emanating and was not surprised that once in Italy his fever clocked 38.9. Some paracetamol and bed he managed to make it though the night. The next day saw him refusing any food to pass his lips, I took this all lightly, still thinking maybe teeth until he refused his yoghurt. I decided a trip to the doctor would allay some fears and we were prescribed antibiotics and paracetamol. The damn fever just would not go away. That night he was at 40 and I thankfully had my sister to rely on to give some further advice. So with some ibuprofen and further doses planned through the night the wee man settled to bed.

It's a bit silly of me I guess but when I headed to my bed and I could smell the vomit without thinking I ran to his room. Yes I actually wondered if my little wee man was still breathing and had not choked while sleeping. Simply the worst thought ever. There he was whimpering in his sick. I did not even think about it I just said I want to take him to the hospital. A long story short, when given ibuprofen at the hospital the fever refused to abate so he stayed with me there for the night on a drip to keep him hydrated. He cried and cried as they searched for a vein. I'm the mummy so I had to be strong and be the comforter but the tears came to my eyes as I watched not able to stop his tears. Thankfully that night he slept. Today has been a long day but we are now home and the fever slowly fades away.

Its at times like these that make you understand what it means as a mother to worry about your child. That I can't always take risks when it comes to his health. That I want to be stronger than I can always be. That there is so much to being a mum that I'm learning everyday. I'm on this emotional roller coaster ride which I never ends.

Say no to drugs

We all hate it right...when our little one's get sick. The first time is the worst and I'm actually not sure it ever gets any better but at least you start to learn what you are dealing with. In the beginning there was more of a willingness though to check things out, just in case, make sure the wee man was okay and book an appointment with the GP. The thing is more often than not I was always told not to worry about it, calpol if they had a fever was the most you were offered. Once after weeks of my wee man suffering I decided that I had to keep going back because surely this was not good for him and the doctor had to do something about it. What seemed rather grudgingly I was actually given some antibiotics to give him and behold he became better. The next time he got sick he didn't have a fever and he was running about quite happily but he was just not keeping any food down. I was pretty lazy about taking him to the GP *NOT because I was not worried honest but what were they really going to do?* but he was starting to miss nursery because of it so that pushed my butt in gear. I was horrified to find out he had an ear infection and that this was his bodies way of showing it and he was severely dehydrated. Let's say that we won't just be looking out for a fever again!

I've been quick to realise that when it comes to babies, children and medicine there appears to be different approaches toward it depending on where you are. I really love the GP surgery I am at at the moment and thankfully at least they take the time to listen. It's a struggle sometimes though that if there are any general concerns over my little man it means a referral to a specialist and a long wait by which point sometimes the worrying rash or the persistent cough suddenly decides to disappear. They don't like to prescribe medicine for children here and usually just let them work their way through it. In Jamaica you go to a paediatrician not just a General Practitioner. I'm pretty lucky that my sister is one so she is not only a brilliant Auntie she is also a very useful host of knowledge for me as well. As soon as he arrived in Jamaica I was promptly told that he has allergies and should be on certain medication regularly which she quickly prescribed without thinking about it. While there he also came down with a fever after the first few nights and he was again quickly given a whole host of medication to help him get better because as my sister says 'It's much easier to prevent than it is to cure'. I trust my sister and wanted my son to get better and I did not even think twice about questioning whether it was right to give him medication or not.

As soon as we are back in the UK the constant sniffles, cough and rashes return and I'm back to second guessing about how I should respond. With the medication we had in Jamaica running out the question rears it's head again...does he need to take something or is he just going to grow out of it. Most of the over the counter allergy medication are 6 plus years. Anything for toddlers expressly says it's free of anything that was recommended to me when I was at home. So what do I do...should I go to the GP and argue the point that these are the medications which have worked please prescribe me some? The wee man is now teething and in obvious discomfort....the homoeopathic things are not working...I'm tempted to give some paracetamol...how much? how often? Is it really necessary? Is it really teething (that's another post)?

So do medicate or do you say no to drugs?