Last night our darling 6 year old daughter, our Storm Baby, told us she had an upset tummy. Peppermint normally calms it down and she drifted off to sleep on an over sized bean bag we have on our room specially for any of our kids that might want to be closer to there adults at night. She is normally the child that needs such comfort and we are happy to be here for her of course.
In the morning she woke up and let me know she felt sick, worse than when she went to bed, and also that she had a horrible nightmare about a dinosaur. She was giggling though as we talked, being her shy little forest creature self that is so very specially her. Why would she lie about being unwell I wondered. We are homeschoolers and she isn’t pressured with tests for the sake of tests. So she had to be sick, smiles and all, she had to be. How sick though?
When do you take your child to the doctor?
We are not the kind of parents who take our children to the doctor for every small thing. We don’t want to be part of the clogged up medical system unless it is needed. Our kids tend to be healthy and we know that taking them into the very place all the sick people go can make them more sick. Of course there are cases when that risk is very worth it. Was this such a case though?
What got me to call my husband at work (he has our working van at the moment) even though husband just got to work an hour away was when she told me every time she bent over it hurt a lot but that she couldn’t stop doing it. How weird I thought. I hugged her, pulled her into bed, and was glad when my husband answered his phone. Sometimes he is unreachable in one of those “save the world” meetings. Not even into the office yet, my good luck. I mentioned the situation and he could hear her being her cirpy happy self, but with words of pain. Yes, peculiar indeed. What sealed the deal for the doctor visit was when I asked her if it hurt to poop. One must love the Mom questions…. not many people get to ask such things right? LOL She said it didn’t. I asked if it hurt to pee, she said it did. I checked her temp and it was normal. It had been normal last night as well. Still, she had to go in.
Husband called the Doctors office while our little miss got into a warm tub to see if it would help with the pain. It would be an hour before husband got home, and then another hour to drive back to the post medical building. They were booked…. rather than an ER visit though they found a place down the street from us. This was the best news so far today. Husband came home to find our Storm Baby sleeping again after her bath. It had helped. Woke her up and off she went.
They tested her urine, swabbed her throat, and took and x-ray. They think it is constipation. I hope that is all it is. As for the belly pains at night, post nasal drip was suggested as the Doctors son has it often. I have never noticed her having a runny nose or any allergies but will be looking out for it for sure now! So some medication and thought on hydration and we shall see.
Mean while…. I now have a belly ache….. my head hurts….. and there is no way I am going into the doctors office. Yes, I am still smiling. Maybe Storm Baby gets the smiling when in pain from me.
