Natalie woke happily this morning around 8:15 and was fine. We took the dog for a stroll around our property, and even she seemed a bit mellow for it being such a nice day, she still seemed fine. When we stopped on the front porch to sit down, she sat in my lap with head on my shoulder for over half an hour. I just thought maybe she was still tired (we had a buys day at the park yesterday). We came in for a bit, went back out and it was then that I realized how hot she was!

Typically when she runs a fever her face turns beet red, but not today. Her body was on fire. I took her temp and it jumped to 102.7 pretty quickly. Her eyes were droopy and she was acting very tired. She told me twice that her belly hurt, and once her back, but she has not shown any signs of bathroom issues or throwing up at all. She ate a pretty good lunch and drank lots of water.

I gave her ibuprofen about an hour and a half ago and she's still burning.

I'm concerned because there are no other symptoms that I can see, just a high fever. If she were stopped up and coughing I wouldn't be as worried, but she has nothing upper respiratory at the moment.

Do I just watch her and see what happens or should I take her in?

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 01:02 pm:

I would watch her for now, but follow your mommy instincts. If you think you need to bring her in, by all means, do so. Most likely it's viral and something that will have to take it's course.

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 01:07 pm:

Certainly, at 102+ - almost 103, I'd call the pediatrician and let them make the call.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 01:19 pm:

Call the doc. My son had something similar. No symptoms and then boom a 103.5 fever. He never really gets fevers, so I was very concerned. Of course, this was a Sunday night.
We went to the ER. They gave him some Amox. and he was fine the next day. They had no explanation for the sudden onset or the sudden recovery. The doc said it didn't really follow the pattern of a virus and was probably bacterial and the Amox. in combination with the high temp killed off whatever it was.
Hope she's better soon.
Ame

By Kaye on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 02:28 pm:

My son had this a few weeks ago. His doc determined it the flu. Woke up on monday am with 102, it got up to 103.5. I took him in on wed, just to make sure. He tested strep negative and everything else looked fine. He ran a high temp until thursday and then was all better.

So personally I would keep her comfy and as long as she seems okay, I would hold out for 24-36 hours before taking her in. But as whoever said above, follow your mommy instinct. If you getting to thinking you should take her in, then take her in.

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 04:04 pm:

Sounds like it could be viral, but as everyone says, follow your mommy instincts! Does she have a headache? sore throat? body aches?

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 04:06 pm:

She doesn't complain of anything except her tummy hurting occasionally. She will lay on the carpet and say "oh mommy, oh mommy" in this quiet little voice. She's been sleeping now for about 2 1/2 hrs. which is ALOT for a kid who barely takes a nap anymore. She was exhausted and ASKED to go to bed.

I'm anxious to check her fever when she wakes. I'm going to keep her comfortable tonight and see what happens tomorrow.

Thanks everyone.

By Tripletmom on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 06:41 pm:

When this happened with Katie it was always a UTI.I hope she's feeling better soon.(HUGS)

By Bellajoe on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 07:05 pm:

aww poor Natalie.

I would call the doctors office. Do you have a nurse that answers the phone at the office? Just tell her the symptoms and ask if you should bring her in or what. That's what I would do anyway. Whenever you are concerned about her and think you should call the doc, then go ahead and do it. That's what they are there for.

I was concerned about something on my ds a week or so ago. I couldn't rest until I knew an answer about it. I asked my dh if I was crazy to call the doc and he said "no, your just a worried mom" that made me feel better and I called right away. The nurse told me it was nothing to be concerned about, after that I felt much better.

I hope she feels better soon!

By Nicki on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 08:00 pm:

Poor Natalie. I hope she's feeling better, soon.

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 08:15 pm:

aaawwww...I just hope it goes away quickly. it's hard when you don't know what it is that is truly plaguing her. {{{Natalie and mommy}}}

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 09:23 pm:

Thank you everyone!
She started throwing up early evening and had 2-3 bouts before bed. Her fever will NOT go below 100 and she wants to do nothing but lay down poor thing. At least now I feel like it's a stomach bug of some kind.

I called the nurse and she said there is a lot of gastro stuff going around right now. They don't feel I should bring her in, but just watch and keep her hydrated. (At the time of the call she hadn't started vomiting yet.)

We tried to be prepared tonight..towels everywhere, extra trashbags, lined trash cans, and NO stuffed animals on the bed! LOL She hasn't had much to eat since lunch today, so she might be okay through the night. We shall see.
Thank you again.

By Tripletmom on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 09:43 pm:

Awwwwww,Big Hugs to you {{{Nats}}}

By Debbie on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 10:15 pm:

Deanna, definitley keep an eye on her. My ds woke up a few weeks ago with a high fever, and vomiting. Everytime he seemed to get better, he would start vomiting again. I thought it was a stomach virus. But, after 3 days of vomiting, and not eating, I was worried about dehydration, so I took him to the doctor. It turns out he had strep. He never once complained of a sore throat. The doctor said that the strep that is going around is causing fever and vomiting, but no sore throat. So, they started testing everyone that came in with those symptoms.

By Jjb on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 11:01 pm:

I had the same experience as Debbie this winter. In the morning try to look in her throat with a flash light- if it looks like strep get her in ASAP, otherwise I'd wait a day (again..follow your gut). DS had very similar symptoms with the fever first and then 12 hours later vomiting. I thought it was a GI bug but it was strep. Good luck and hang in there!

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 11:28 pm:

My goodness you guys!! ugh. My heart is aching for you and Natalie. I hope she's at least able to keep some sort of fluid down? I hate that feeling of helplessness.

{{{HUGS to you guys!!!!!!}}} I really hope she gets better soon! We need to see more cute redhead pics of her smiling, laughing, and playing!!!

BTW...for those of you who look at the throat, what do you look for? curious...

By Imamommyx4 on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 12:40 am:

I have a plastic ice cream bucket that I line with toilet tissue and the bucket goes everywhere the pukey person goes. If it gets used, the contents are easily flushed down the toilet, rinsed clean, and relined with tissue.

Also there is a rehydration guideline. It's something like 1 to 3 teaspoons every 5 or 10 minutes. Any more than that can start up another round of vomiting. And my kids were always so thirsty that they wanted to drink too much.

By Debbie on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 08:29 am:

Heidi, with strep the back of the throat will look really red, and swollen, kind of beefy looking.

But, when Josh had strep this last time, his throat never even got red.

Deanna, how is she doing this morning?

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 08:33 am:

Heidi, It looks something like this....

Acute Tonsillitis (Strep Throat)

Generally it starts out looking raw, very red, instead of pink... Then the infection sets in..

We use the big ice cream buckets too with some type of paper in the bottom (paper towels, tissue) something to start to absorb the water.. Easier to clean up then a little trash bag that will be thrown in the big trash can...

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 08:50 am:

o.k, those pictures were gross. Actually my ds has had strep when i didn't even see the white stuff on the tonsils. If the throat looks really red, go ahead and bring her in to the doc.
My kids don't just get strep throat, they get the sore throat, vomiting and fever. It;s no fun.

I hope she feels better soon. This stuff usually only lasts a day or two.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 08:51 am:

I found this link... It talks about rehydrating, the BRAT diet and signs to keep an eye out for..

Dang it won't link... copy and paste...

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/treatmentguides/gastroenteritis.html

By Kaye on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 08:57 am:

I don't know why docs and those pics don't mention this...but in 98% of strep cases, the best sign is those purple spots on your soft palate. Look at the second picture and you can see them really well. My kids don't get the puss pockets.

Also for tummy issues...try some blueberry yogurt. It sounds insane, but blueberries are the homeopathic cure for naseau and the yogurt helps reintroduce the probiotics.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 09:05 am:

Patti, LOL They not only look bad but they smell bad when they get as bad as the pictures...... EEWWW!

If caught right away they often don't reach the stage of pustules, white/yellow patches of obvious infection.... Like Debbie said the beefy (swollen), raw throat is usually and indication that there is something wrong and you need to get them in... The other symptoms can be there or they won't be... vomiting, fever, sore throat, cold like symptoms.. those symptoms can come and go or not appear at all depending on how quickly it is treated and the child.. My kids all present differently...

Oldest DD hasn't thrown up since she was in 3rd grade and she is a Senior this year.. She has had the flu but she has never presented with vomiting.. One of my girls throws up anytime she has anything going on, if her allergies flare up she is throwing up.. We all react differntly...

How is she this morning???

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 11:42 am:

Gastroenteritis

Strep throat feels nasty. I think of it as the worst sore throat you can imagine, yet, Emily had strep once, and never complained of a sore throat. She had a little cellulitis on her face, that was getting worse, quickly, and that's why I took her in!

We had to go back to the doctor a few times, in the next week, to make sure that the skin infection was getting better.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 03:46 pm:

She slept well until about 3:30am, then woke with 103 fever just burning up. She tried some water (a few tablespoons maybe), kept that down for half hour, so she had some more. She hasn't vomited again, and when she woke this morning around 8:30 it seems that her fever has broken. She hasn't had a fever since and is 100% better than yesterday. Still tired of course, but talking and singing and playing quietly.

She must have had a touch of the somach bug.I expected it to be much worse. I'll remember the info about strep though - I never thought it would come with vomiting! Strep without the vomiting is the WORST. She hasn't had that yet (knock on wood!)

Thank you for checking on her and for all the advice!!

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 03:58 pm:

Glad she's feeling better,Reds When baby feels good,mama feels good.BTW how is your fur baby doing today?

By Justanaunt on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 04:13 pm:

Glad to hear that Natalie is feeling better today.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 04:40 pm:

Good to hear..

By Breann on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 05:04 pm:

Glad she is starting to feel better!!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 09:13 pm:

I'm glad she is feeling better.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 09:46 pm:

Sherri- He is doing great! Better than the last time actually, and he had 2 fat tumors removed also. I'm really pleased. Thanks for asking about him!

And thanks to everyone for the well wishes for Natalie. She's back to her old self this evening.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, April 5, 2007 - 07:11 am: