SOS! please send help!
Last night around 11, just after we went to bed, Maggie woke up screaming. And when I say ‘screaming’, I mean frantic, hiccuping, inconsolable screaming. The kind that was starting to scare us with its intensity and the way it just wouldn’t stop.
She didn’t feel hot, although she had be running a low fever since Saturday evening. She was drooling like crazy, and has been for days, so the obvious explanation was that her teeth were hurting- but this kind of screaming was NOT NORMAL.
We started snapping our fingers in front of her face, waving toys around, turning on the tv, singing songs- anything to get her focus on something else. She would calm down for a few seconds, but then the screaming would start again. Eventually it got so bad that I laid her down on the living room rug and stripped off her clothes so she was just in her diaper. She laid there screaming again, and started choking and gagging and rolled over, then she threw up on the rug. More screaming, more of us having no idea what to do. We gave her some Mylicon, thinking maybe it was her belly? We had been to my sister’s house for dinner earlier and Maggie had eaten some ice cream. She’s had ice cream before, but maybe it was bothering her stomach for some reason?
After about 30 minutes of the non-stop crying and screaming and near-convulsing, I called the doctor simply because I didn’t know what else to do. I felt bad calling at that hour because it was probably nothing serious, but it was so unlike her to act like this and she seemed in so much pain. I explained everything to the doctor over the phone, and she said it might just be some intestinal cramping, obviously severe, and if she didn’t calm down soon or if it happened again through the night, to take her to the ER to get checked. Of course, while I was on the phone, she started to finally calm down on Dan’s lap, so I felt even more silly for calling the doctor because MY KID WOULDN’T STOP CRYING.
After about 10 minutes, she was finally asleep. Naked except for her diaper on Dan’s lap. Snoring like an old man, clutching a fridge magnet (#6) that Dan had been using as a distraction. Now that the storm seemed to have passed, of course I had to grab my camera. The poor kid was so exhausted.
Then we had to face the delicate process of transferring her from Dan’s lap, into my arms, down the hall and into her crib. We skipped the whole ‘back into the pjs’ thing- she slept in her diaper the rest of the night.
Miraculously, she slept through until this morning. I thought for sure she’d be up again and it would be a long night, perhaps with a visit to the emergency room. But that didn’t happen, and I’m glad. She is still incredibly fussy and she threw up a little bit again this morning and doesn’t seem really hungry, but she doesn’t really have a fever anymore. But THE DROOL. So much, it’s like pouring from her mouth. So I have no idea what the problem is. Teeth? A stomach bug? I think if it were a stomach bug, we would KNOW it, and it would be much more severe. Basically, she’s just miserable. Holding her isn’t good enough, playing with her isn’t good enough, nothing is good enough.
I feel bad for Dan because he just wants a nice, relaxing day off today before going back to work. I feel bad for me because I just wanted a nice, relaxing day off today before Dan goes back to work.
This is one of those days where we think: NO. MORE. KIDS. EVER. One is enough!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go slam my head into a wall my daughter naps (FINALLY).
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Twitter: littlemisssun
THIS is when being a parent sucks. You just want to look at them and say I. DON’T. KNOW. HOW. TO. HELP. YOU.
And then burst into tears yourself.
I hope Maggie gets better soon — poor little one. And poor mama, too!
oh… wow! that sounds horrible!
I swear Maria and Maggie are telepathically sending messages (or germs) to each other or something. She had a few episodes yesterday which were rolling on the floor, crying, arching her back, and then she’d have a BM and go about the rest of her day…
I hope she is feeling better soon for her sake and your sanity!! And I would not feel guilty about calling the doctor when your child is way out of character like that. When we took Maria to the ER because she had been unusually and seriously fussy for a day, they were very re-affirming that we did the right thing.
Jane’s latest blog post: Sunday Afternoon at the Park
Twitter: jayesel
@Sunshine: oh I know- the not-having-a-clue-what-to-do thing SUCKS. Last night I was trying so hard to stay calm, all while she is absolutely melting down in my arms. I felt so bad… like I couldn’t make her feel better by just a snuggle like I usually can.
She’s taking a nice nap right now, so that’s good. She needs it really bad. (so do we!! lol)
Twitter: jayesel
@Jane: oh man, that’s weird! lol Maria and maggie have done that a few times, I think- both having similar dramatic incidents. These girls… never a dull moment!
I know in my head that calling the dr is a good idea- but I still feel bad when she answers the phone all groggy-sounding at midnight, because I know she has a 1 year old too! Poor woman ;) Especially when all I could really say was ‘She just won’t stop crying! It’s just not like her…’ Not very descriptive, heh.
Oh man. I felt sooo bad for you reading this post. Cuz I have BEEN there. Last August (T was about 5 mos old), she did the same thing. Kid sleeps through the night 99% of the time and woke up howling like she was in huge pain. Fast forward SIX HOURS and we finally took her to the hospital because we had no idea what else to do. Of course once we got there she calmed down and was AOK. Still have no idea what that was about. UGH … horrible for them, frustrating for you. Hope you can call in reinforcements and GET SOME SLEEP.
I hope she’s feeling better now. :(
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Even in the video, you can tell she isn’t feeling AOK. Poor kid. Teething sucks the big one.
Good luck with sleeping tonight!
Burgh Baby’s Mom’s latest blog post: Write Your Own Caption
groan. I swear it’s some sort of “phase”. When my oldest did it (right about Maggie’s age) it was hell for a couple of nights. We thought nightmares? teething? belly? had no idea and nothing consoled him. He was just ANGRY!
Found out that some of the other kids in his class at school were doing the same thing. Not all in the same week, but all at about the same age. (There is a spread of about 4 months within each class.)
Then my second kid did it at about the same age, with the kids in his class doing it too. It’s so weird.
We would just take them downstairs, bounce them while doing the ambient shhh-ing sounds, offer water (which would be pushed away, asked for, pushed away, etc) little snacks, MOTRIN MOTRIN MOTRIN
The good news: it didn’t last long with either kid. Although the middle of the night feels like forever….
This probably doesn’t help much. :(
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Twitter: melissity
Wow, I feel so bad for all three of you, mostly poor Maggie of course… there’s nothing worse than not knowing what’s wrong and feeling helpless when it comes to your child. :(
I wish I had some advice, but I wouldn’t know what to do either. Other than some drooling, we had no idea Oliver was teething except when the teeth appeared. (*ducking as you throw something at me*) But I’m absorbing all of this in case it happens with the next one!!
I hope Maggie’s feeling better and all three of you get some good sleep tonight. *hugs*
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Apparently NatNat and Maggie are kindred spirits. Because you just perfectly described my last 24 hours.
Wow.
I have no idea what it is either. I’m blaming the teeth… but yeah… the screaming… oh. my. word. the SCREAMING. It’s making me insane. Between it and the migraine I’ve been sporting today, all I want is copious amounts of vodka and silence.
I have zero suggestions. I’ve been doing baby Tylenol, and lots of cuddles, and passing back and forth between mommy and daddy… but I really have no clue.
If you think of anything that works… let me know.
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