Trusting Your Instincts – When to Call the Pediatrician
Being a mom can at times be very overwhelming, especially when you are dealing with potential health issues with your child. Typical things like runny noses and fevers are stressful enough, but when something happens that seems completely out of the ordinary, you have to learn to trust your instincts.
When our son first started showing signs of diabetes, I called the pediatrician. The on-call doctor told me to stop giving him juice and his frequent thirst and urination should subside. After trying that for a few days and not seeing any changes, I insisted he be seen and tested for diabetes. Sure enough, my poor baby had a sky high blood sugar and was gravely ill from going too long without being diagnosed. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had just gone along thinking that the changes he was going through were just due to drinking too much juice!
More recently, he had a few drops of blood in his urine. Of course this was cause for concern and we rushed him to the pediatrician. It turned out that he was ok and that all of his lab work came back okay. I was a little embarrassed to have taken him in and him have nothing wrong, but the pediatrician reassured me and told me that they would rather see a million healthy kids with parents who are alert and taking charge of their children’s health than one kid who was sick.
Here are a few things to remember when you are trying to decide if it’s worth calling the pediatrician over:
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If your child is experiencing something out of the ordinary and you feel uncomfortable with what is happening, call and at least talk to the doctor or nurse.
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You know your child better than anyone else and you know what is and isn’t normal for them. Don’t let someone tell you that what is abnormal for your child is okay if you don’t think it is.
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A high fever usually requires a doctor’s visit, especially in a baby or toddler.
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When in doubt, call!
All of this is just to remind you that God gave you certain instincts and it’s best to follow them, even if it turns out that nothing is wrong. The worst thing you have to deal with, if that is the case, is a trip to the doctor and a few minutes of embarrassment. Better to have a red face than a sick child!
For a short informational video on when to call the pediatrician, visit the following link…
WebMD – When to Call the Pediatrician
Have you had times when you felt torn about calling the pediatrician? What advice can you give other mom’s when it comes to trusting your instincts? Have you ever followed your instincts and been thankful that you did because you caught something that could have been very serious?
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Thank you for a great article! I just had to deal with this issue a few days ago when my son started vomiting and making trips to the bathroom for one “other” reason. When that happens, I always assume it is just a stomach virus. However, because a friend of mine has a daughter who recently had the swine flu, I was a little nervous. We spend a lot of time with them, and I wasn’t sure if my son could have the same thing! I kept hearing that the people who die from it are the ones who ignore the symptoms. So, I called my Dr., just to be on the safe side. Sure enough, she said I only needed to worry if he developed a very high fever and a cough along with the two symptoms he was currently having. I rested a little easier that night, and the next morning, his symptoms were gone. Like you said, I did feel a little red-faced asking the Dr. if I should worry about such a thing, but I didn’t care – better safe than sorry!
I’m so glad your son is ok. I think anyone would understand that fear… And see, a little embarassment brought you a whole lot of peace! To me, it’s totally worth it!
When my son was about 10 months old, we were out of town at my sister’s wedding. I noticed a few small bruises on his thighs during one diaper change. At the next diaper change I saw red spots covering his diaper area. Being a nurse, I knew that the spots were petechiae and they could signal a lot of different things. I decided to call the pediatricians office to schedule an appt for the day we returned from the wedding. My son got crankier and crankier as the weekend went on and we took him to see the doctor first thing Monday morning. I showed the “nurse” in the office the spots and she looked at me like I was crazy for rushing him in. I felt a little silly when the pediatrician came in, but I told her my concerns. Thankfully she is very cautious and sent us for lab tests. It turns out that his platelet count was very low and she sent us to see the pediatric oncologist that night! I was terrified. The oncologist started using words like leukemia and I felt really nervous. After more blood tests, we were reassured that it was not cancer. He apparently had picked up an illness that destroys the platelets, and his little body never switched off destroying platelets. If we had waited to take him in, it could have been very serious. His blood count remained low for many months and he had to be seen by the specialist for about a year. He is fine now, but it was really scary at the time. I was so thankful for listening to my instincts and that my pediatrician is so open and cautious herself. ALWAYS trust your instincts. Moms are usually right about their kids.
When my son was 2 years old he came down with a bad cough. I let it go for a couple of days because he seemed happy in every other way and acted normal. Something told me to take him in and I’m glad I did. We were there for 3 hours while they put him on breathing treatments. He had severe bronchitis and thankfully caught it in time to not send him into the hospital. It was a long day, but worth it.
There was also the time that I took him in because he was limping for 5 days and cried about every 5 steps. The minute we walked into the dr.’s office he stopped and walked completely normal ever since. I was embarrassed….a lot. I can laugh about it now though. Ha.
Thanks for sharing your stories Natalie, Stephanie and Dafne. I think a lot of mom’s question themselves and then end up in situations they hoped to avoid in the first place! Yay for instinct!!!!