SICK

When Ruth was just 8 days old, Keith went back to work for the first time since she was born.  I was doing fine home with the girls while the boys were at school until about lunch time I started feeling kind of yucky.  I had a headache, which I thought was from crying at the movie we'd watched that morning (Sophie and Sheba).  But my body kind of ached too, so I took my temperature, 99, and took some tylenol; I drank some water and was feeling okay again.

I had been engorged all week since my milk had come in and it wasn't improving and was quite painful, especially on my right side by my armpit.  By the time Keith got home from work that day, my headache wasn't improving, so I laid down to try to take a nap.  I couldn't fall asleep I was so uncomfortable, so I knew that wasn't good!  I called my OB's office and talked with the RN on call, then the doc on call, who said to keep taking some Tylenol and if wasn't better by morning, go to urgent care.  If it got worse during the night, I was to go to the ER. 

All night I was freezing with chills, my body ached and my fever was climbing.  By 1AM it was 102.8 and Keith decided we were going to the ER.  He had plans to take the boys and their grandma's to Cleveland the next day and time was short the next morning for a visit to the urgent care.

So ER visit took about 3 hours, and they decided I had pneumonia.  They gave me some antibiotics and we were on our way home.  Luckily my mother in law was staying with us for the weekend and had stayed with the older kids, while Ruth went with us to the ER.   She was also nice enough to let us sleep in and get up with the older kids too.  (Thank you!)

The antibiotics helped and with the help of regular Tylenol it was a decent afternoon with the girls.  Elinore behaved well, which helped, and I squeezed in an hour nap too. 

I was skeptical of the pneumonia diagnosis, but the antibiotics works, so I went with it.  All along I suspected I had mastitis again.  There were no visible signs of it, but everything else aligned.  The chest x-ray they performed said showed the infection.  Conveniently in the same area I was struggling the most in my chest!  And I had no cough, who has pneumonia without a cough at all!

I had my follow up appointment with my doctor's office the following week.  It was with the nurse practitioner, and she agreed with me, she thinks I had mastitis too.  (This makes twice the ER has misdiagnosed mastitis for me!)

Either way, the antibiotics worked, and I'm back to normal again!