Pneu ailment

Baby B had a slight cough this morning, but I didn't think much about it. Around 2:15 p.m., her daycare called me and said she was having trouble breathing, that it was shallow, labored, and congested. She also still had her cough and had a slight fever. I figured she was just getting another cold since she's exposed to so many germs at school, but I called the doctor and they were able to get us in at 4. I picked up Baby B and she definitely wasn't herself; she was still overall happy, but not normal and she looked sick in her eyes. I was a little annoyed to be going to the doctor, to be honest, since usually it turns out to be nothing and they just send us on our way, but ever since she had an ear infection, I've wanted to make sure we're careful since I know those can be chronic. No sense in taking any chances.

We went over her symptoms, they took her temperature (100.5), and the doctor listened to her chest and determined that she has pneumonia on her right side--on top of a double ear infection. Poor girl! No wonder she was making these awful wimpers all the way to the doctor's office. They gave us an antibiotic that should treat both ailments, and we'll keep her home from school at least for tomorrow for sure, maybe longer. They said we should call back if her fever reaches 105 or if she's taking 60 breaths or more per minute (she was doing 45 when they measured today). Before leaving the office, we did an oxygen test to make sure that was okay; if not, she would have been hospitalized. Thankfully that turned out fine.

This isn't the easiest week to be taking time off since two of my readers are out of the office, but basically it comes down to the fact that work just isn't as important as my pneumonia-stricken baby; The Husband and I will find a way to split the time off and make it work.

We stopped at the pharmacy, then I brought Baby B home and she was in fairly good spirits considering how rotten she feels. (Amazing how quickly she went downhill. I'm glad her teacher called us; she said she always likes to call when there's breathing problems like that since it could be pneumonia. Looks like she was right. I will definitely be thanking her.) I gave her a bath before feeding her one last time, then put her to bed, which went fairly well. Hopefully she'll sleep soundly tonight, which will help heal her.

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Funny thing happened, though. Baby B and I were played before her bath, and she pulled herself to standing for the first time! Maybe she's just faking this whole pneumonia thing. ;)