For the First Time

Nope, this isn't about the Richard Gutierrez - KC Concepcion movie but about my little Raine's first time ever to get really sick. Last week, as we were on our way to meet a friend for dinner, Raine threw up the milk she had just drank inside the car. She also seemed like she was running a fever so we headed back home.

My brother who's a doctor immediately examined her and said that despite her temperature, which went up to about 38 degrees Celsius, she seemed fine. No colds nor cough. Since she threw up maybe she just had something that didn't agree with her tummy. But all she had was milk, bread, cornflakes and cookies. We bought her medicine for fever. After a few hours she was already feeling better, then just as quickly her temp went up again, this time to 39 degrees. My mom, who's also a doctor, told me to bring her to the pediatrician in the morning if her fever didn't go down. We were also concerned with the rashes that appeared on her hands and legs.

Raine has never gotten sick before, save for the occasional cough and colds which never really dampened her spirits. But this time she was obviously weak and listless. She had thrown up 2 more times. My poor little girl. I gave her lukewarm sponge baths and placed an icebag on her head to cool her down. By morning her temperature had see-sawed from 37 to 39 degrees. The pedia prescribed antibiotics and medicines for high fever and a suppository in case she vomited again. She was to get a blood test in 2 days if her fever continued to go up.

We had to meet a friend for lunch to give her her husband's "padala" and Raine perked up then. But soon Raine seemed to feel sick again. We prayed hard that she would get well by nightfall so she wouldn't need to undergo any lab tests. True enough by morning her fever had gone down. She slept most of the day but sans fever.

Now I know why some parents wish they were the ones who were sick, instead of their kids. It's really hard to see your little angel ill, especially when they aren't able to fully express themselves yet. It makes it more difficult for you to really understand how they feel and pinpoint their exact symptoms.

Raine is well now. We even went to the beach over the weekend and looking at her it looks like she hadn't gotten sick at all. Babies are indeed very resilient and bounce back much faster than most adults when it comes to recovering from illness.