sick baby
Julia’s turn for the tummy bug. High fever made me take her to the GP. The GP was worried about her rash, and mentioned meningococcus. She told me to take her to hospital if she got any worse – vomiting, for example.
At the chemist, filling the prescription, she threw up all over me. I put her back in the car and drove straight to Emergency.
Nothing reorganizes your priorities like pure terror.
The staff at Sydney Childrens’ could not have been any kinder or more helpful. Julia enjoyed being examined, biting on the tongue depressers until I held her nose and made her open her mouth. The verdict is: weird viral thingy with vomiting, fever and rash. Almost certainly not meningococcus because the rash blanches when you rub it, and the Tylenol brings her fever down.
I was relieved to bring her home, but too frazzled to mount an organized campaign to get everyone to sleep. Bedtime last night dragged on till 1am, and there were tantrums and screaming and the kids didn’t behave well either. But this morning Jeremy tiptoed out to the American consulate, organized his visa and came back to wake me with a glass of orange juice. It was the first decent sleep I’d had since Friday. I feel almost human again.
Julia is still snoring, sprawled on the bed, pale and cool.
