Alarmist

A few weeks ago, the last time Olivia was sick and needed to see the doctor, I vowed that the next time she showed even the slightest signs of illness, I'd take her to the doctor right away rather than wait and see if she could kick it on her own.

Except...Monday morning when I dropped her off at my mom's Olivia seemed 'off.' Not sure what that means, exactly, except she wasn't her usual, bouncy self. My mom said that throughout the day, Olivia often came up to her and asked to be held for a few minutes, just to soak up some body heat.

At Alyssa's gymnastics class, Olivia fell asleep on me. She slept through me putting her coat on and carrying her to the car. She woke up enough to get strapped into her car seat and snuggle under a blanket. She said she wanted ice cream from Dairy Queen but fell asleep during the three-block drive from the gym to the DQ.

She slept the entire way home and through me carrying her into the house. I held her for a bit and then took her to bed. When I went up an hour later, I found her curled into a ball. I pulled her close to me to share body heat.

I woke up at 11:00 to find Olivia hot with a fever. I got her some children's Advil and a drink of water and she fell into a restless sleep. I rubbed her back, scratched her arm and let her lay half on me until she finally found a comfortable position.

The next morning, she woke with color in her cheeks and a bounce in her step.

My mom reported that she was fine all day. She was bouncy and chirpy and chased after her cousin all day long.

When I got home last night, she looked tired and didn't eat much for dinner. She fell asleep at around 7:30 but this, in and of itself, isn't unusual.

She slept soundly all night without a sign of a fever.

This morning, she again woke looking great.

So...I'm putting off taking her to the doctor. Because she seems fine.

But I fear I'll be posting her on Friday that we're off to the doctor with Olivia because she didn't kick this, whatever it is.

See, Olivia tends to get sicker than her typical peers. Her illnesses last longer, her fevers rage higher, her coughs go deeper and her snot, while perhaps not grosser, is maybe thicker. Ewww.

So I worry. Should I take her to the doctor and be THAT MOM, who rushes to the doctor for every sniffle?

Or do I wait and let her suffer needlessly? For now, we wait. She doesn't seem to be suffering, so there is that.

For the record, I made an appointment for her with her developmental pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children in May. I'm going to ask her doctor about this very thing. How soon should I take O into the regular doctor? What is more worrysome, a fever or a cough or what?

I also want to know if there are any serious illnesses that seem to affect 5p- kids more often then their typical peers. Not that I think I can stop something like that from happening if we're fated for it to happen but knowledge is power and knowing what to look for will give us the chance to catch something, anything early.

So there we go. Again, we wait and see. We hope that she's kicked it all by herself this time. And maybe in a few days, I'll be wallowing in mommy guilt for not calling and getting her in to see the doctor today. But...today, she's fine.

We wait and see. And hope. And try to learn each time. Though it seems I might be a bit slow at this mothering thing.