Vi is still sick

Violet has been in various stages of compromised immune system for the last two weeks. She never really fully recovered from her bronchitis episode insomuch as she had a runny nose and an occasional dry cough. Sometime shortly thereafter (couple of weeks) she developed an ear infection, but since she is not a complainy baby it took us a while to convince ourselves that she needed to go in for a visit to the pediatrician. Actually, it was the 102 deg fever that convinced us. We left the doctor with a prescription for amoxicillin and high hopes for a speedy recovery. Two days into her antibiotics course she was showing signs of improvement even though a mild fever persisted. We were encouraged. A week later she still had a mild fever and was getting clingy and irritable again, giving us cause for concern... what affliction could survive a week of broad spectrum antibiotics? Back to the pediatrician. Her ears were clearing up nicely, so the next thing to check was for secondary infections elsewhere in her body.

Urinary tract infections are the next likely target. This is when we were introduced to pediatric urine collection bags. This bizarre construct is literally a plastic bag with a hole in it and a sticker to affix it to the baby's crotch. The first bag didn't really work out, if you know what I mean, so we had to go back to the doctor's office to get a second bag. This bag both stayed on and collected urine. Great success! Our little color test dipstick that detects UTI bacteria did not turn purple, which puts the risk of a UTI pretty low, say 10%. But we saved the rest of the urine, just in case, I mean you never know when you will need some urine. Her ears, nose, throat, and lungs checked out just fine. We went back home with an inconclusive diagnosis and instructions to continue with the Tylenol and make sure she is drinking as much as she can.

This afternoon around 6 PM her temp spiked from 100.1 to 104.5 deg F. Yikes! Off to the pediatrician for a third visit. Good thing we saved the urine (!) as it's now on its way to a lab somewhere for a thorough urinalysis. Same exams, ears/nose/throat/lungs are fine... so even though Vi is noticeably uncomfortable with the high fever there isn't any clear indication that it's bacterial. A virus is the most likely candidate, whether it's H1N1 or some other beastie, you can't treat a virus. The working hypothesis is that the amoxicillin treated the ear infections but that just as the ear infection was clearing up she picked up a secondary viral infection that is also causing a fever. Now a bacterial infection (like a non-typical UTI or a sinus infection) hasn't been ruled out; but unless the lab results or a change in booger color (from clear to green) indicate infection it's still Tylenol and lots of love for the little Vi.

Pics from the last few days.

Ummm, no comment.

Shopping at Cabella's. What do you think of the hat?

Violet got a birthday card this week. Thanks, Dave/Julie/Benjamin!

Violet likes tomatoes!