Feeling like a bad mom(strep)
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Feeling like a bad mom(strep)
Me and ds(3) had a bad cold about 2 weeks ago. Afterwards, he had a bad cough...but this has been ongoing for a few months. I took him to the doctor in Jan. She said it was nothing(the dry climate here...pssible allergies etc.)
Dh has always been worried about the cough..but he is a total hypochondriac and panics over every little thing!
He had a big blowout about the coughing on friday,and said that I didn't care about my sons health(I do- I just don't panic or go running to the dr. every time)...
On Monday I had to go to the dr(pregnancy related stuff)...so I took ds and she checked him out and said the cough was nothing to worry about. But she looked in his throat and said it was a tiny bit red so she took a swab...
guess what ????? It's strep!!
He had complained a few days before that his tongue hurt but it wasn't a big deal(I thought maybe he bit it or had a canker).
I am also getting a sore throat so I am afraid I might have caught it as well......I am pregnant and totally afraid to take antibiotics(I am allergic to penicillin and sulfa and basically get a bad reaction to every antibiotic I take)..
I don't know what to do......I read that if you don't take the antibiotics you can get rheumatic fever a few weeks later. Strep is something you HAVE to take antibiotics for. I had a doctor 6 years ago tell me-"don't get really sick-because you seem to become allergic to everything you take!".....he said it jokingly but seriously at the same time. I have never had to take anything since then.
Now I have to go get tested for strep......&*%$$$%
And I feel like a bad mom in a way. Maybe if I had taken Eliah to the dr. earlier they might have checked his throat and discovered it earlier.-I don't really believe that because the dr. said it was just a bit red......
fiona
Well you shouldn't feel bad at all. I think we have all been there. Both my kids say they are dying and need to go the ER and it ends up being gas or a cold and we have just wasted hours for nothing. We can't run to the dr everytime they don't feel good or we might as well live there. Plus it sounds like the strp wasn't severe since he wasn't feeling that horrible. If it was severe you would have know, he wouldn't be able to swallow or talk. And if the dr did not see anything wrong at first how could you? Cheer up, you aren't a bed mom just a realistic one, we can't go to the dr everyday. I hope that all goes well and you all feel better soon!!!
Fiona, Cut yourself some slack. I have done the same thing to many times to count. And I have gone in when it was nothing. We just do the best we can do..
I hope what is going on with you is nothing and that it will pass... Keep us posted.
You can't second-guess yourself, Fiona. For me, that is one of the toughest things about motherhood...to take or not to take to the doc, the ER, etc. I'm like you, I tend to not take them in for everything. How were you supposed to know it was strep?? His symptoms did not seem to indicate that...even to the doc! Dh needs to take a chill pill IMHO. I did the same thing the other week. My ds had a sore throat, but he didn't have a high fever or anything like he usually gets with strep.(He gets it at least once a year.) I didn't take him to the doc until he complained of an earrache. By then, he not only had strep, but a severe ear infection! "Bad Mommy" moment! I don't have any advice about the antibiotics for you. Your doc will have to figure that one out. Good luck!
Do you really want to have a "Bad Mommy of the Year" contest with some of us??? lol Trust me, we've all been there, done that. Don't feel bad, really. You're getting him treatment now, and you're right--it may not have shown up earlier. {{{{{Fiona & Eliah}}}}} Hope you're both feeling better soon.
Like Cat says, we have all BTDT. Give yourself a break. I've taken mine in for what I thought were *serious* illnesses and it turned out to be pretty much nothing, then I was upset for *wasting* the money. Other times, I've waited because I thought whatever it was would pass, and it turned out to be strep. You're not a bad mom, you are human. I hope everyone feels better soon!
Fiona,
Don't worry we have all BTDT!!! I missed the signs of ear infection in both kids. We took them in when their colds wouldn't claer up and they both had ear infections! Hope everyone is feeling better soon!!
Ditto, Karen, you're not a bad mom, you are human. We've all done that before, I'm sure. I know I have. It makes us feel guilty, but good mothers are always burdened by guilt over our children. Don't worry yourself. 
To echo the others... Don't be so hard on yourself! We've all had similar experiences. Oh like, when my DS's ear drum burst when he had his first ear infection at 3, for example. {{{HUGS}}}
First of all, you're not a bad mom. Don't guilt yourself---just take care of yourself and your son.
Secondly, get yourself to a doctor ASAP. Strep can cause pre-term labor. Hope you all are feeling better soon!
Fiona!!! I'm sure are a very caring and totally competently loving mom!!! If you weren't you wouldn't be second guessing yourself. Don't, though. Every decision we ever make is based on information we have at the time, which is not always perfect. Besides hindsight is always 20/20. Your son will not die. I'm sure with modern medicine you will have a healthy and happy baby.
My story: Well, how about sending your son to school with a broken arm for two days before taking him to the dr.???? My oldest seemed to keep our medical community in the black when he was in school. I got so tired of taking him to the dr. and we didn't run into the the dr. for every little cough or sneeze, either. He just always seemed to really need doctors. Anyway, he went to a school skate party when he was in the 5th grade. He wore his in-line skates outside while waiting my DH to pick him up. He slipped on a small pebble, fell backwards, landing on his elbow. Of course it hurt, but since he could move his arm, I figured just bad bruise. I sent him to school two days in a row and he came home from school green two days in a row.....literally green from the pain and nauseous. So, my youngest was due for a doctor appt. for something (time has erased the memory of what that appt. was for LOL) and since I had both boys with me, I asked the doctor about the arm. He called for an xray. The elbow was fractured in two places. He ended up in a cast, of course. Bad Mommy me!!!!!
What makes us bad Mommies is if we don't learn from the situations. The next two times Loren broke his arm (yes, he was in three casts over the years, referrencing my earlier statement about keeping the medical community in the black) and each time he got nauseaous when he had a broken bone. When ever he is hurt, I ask if he is nauseated. LOL That's my sign he has actually broken something.
Don't ask about the time we spent New Years in the hospital after I didn't believe he had anything more than the flu and it turn out to be a ruptured appendix.......
You are probably asking how my son ever reached his 20th birthday with me as a mom!!!!!
Lighten up on yourself, Fiona. In two years, you probably won't even remember the incident. You will be too busy with the wonderful children have time to worry about that past mistake.
{{{{{Mary}}}}}}
ooopppppssss
I was supposed to hugging Fiona!!!
{{{{{{{Fiona}}}}}}}
geeze!
Thanks moms....{{{{{{MOMS}}}}}}}
I called dh at work to tell him and to ask him to pick up the prescription on the way home. After supper is made I will go down to the clinic to get swabbed as well. Hope I don't have to wait too long because Survivor is on tonight!
Pretty sure I have strep though.....I am feeling pretty bad right now....
Thanks for all the kind words from all the other "bad mommies"..LOL...
fiona
Thanks moms....{{{{{{MOMS}}}}}}}
I called dh at work to tell him and to ask him to pick up the prescription on the way home. After supper is made I will go down to the clinic to get swabbed as well. Hope I don't have to wait too long because Survivor is on tonight!
Pretty sure I have strep though.....I am feeling pretty bad right now....
Thanks for all the kind words from all the other "bad mommies"..LOL...
fiona
I was sure I had strep and took the day off work today to go to the dr and rest, etc...dr told me it was just a cold. DUH! I don't feel like a bad mommy, just a dumb one... LOL
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