On the Mend

Thank you everyone for your kind words. It IS so hard to see your baby sick. We were just beside ourselves because she went down for her nap in a very cheery mood. She woke up miserable and soon became unbelievably hot and the worst was her breathing. It was very labored and very short panting breathing. Luckily we got a hold of our guide who took us to an American/Canadian clinic. It was something like out of a movie. The clinic was closed so all the lights were off but we obviously woke up the nurse and doctor on call, they were the only two people we saw in the place. After seeing her and knowing that the Tylenol we were giving her wasn't breaking her high temperature, they do it in celsius so I think it was around 102, they gave her the suppository then advised us to go to the hospital. On the ride over in the back of a cab holding on to her for dear life, she started to break it. I'm not even sure I can describe the Guangzhou Children's Hospital, it was the craziest place I've ever been. There weren't even entrance doors, just open air, it reminded me of an old run down bus station or subway station. People among people, babies, so many babies. We had to take her temperature under her arm, one that took 5-8 minutes, no instant read thermometer here. All the while we drew a lot of stares and people coming in our face to see this Chinese baby we were carrying. All of the children and babies had big white rectangle stickers on their foreheads. I asked our guide why this was. He said the Chinese believe the high temperature will cause the baby's brain to fry so they believe these stickers will help. I have no idea what was in them but it was a funny sight to see all these babies and kids with them on. When it was our turn to see the doctor you had to fight your way into the room and other parents would shove their way in even it was your turn, it's like whoever can get there first. There were 2-3 other parents with their babies in the room trying to get the doctor to see them, no respect, no privacy, it's all just fending for yourself. The doctor ruled out pneumonia but ordered a blood test. Same thing, no line for the lab just people shoving their way to the front of the line. Magnolia did well, cried but oh, she's such a strong little girl. Then we had to wait 30 minutes for the results. Our guide, Simon, took us next door to a McDonalds where it was cool and we were finally able to get some food in us. The stares, pointing, and whispering was abundant in the McDonalds. Sometimes it's like we're a circus show and people actually encircle us to watch not caring at all that they are staring. I've learned to make eye contact, smile, and say Ni-Hao with Magnolia and that usually stops people. The blood test confirmed a bacterial infection and the doctor advised us to use the antibiotic we brought from home for her, thank goodness we had it! The doctor was also concerned that she get better before we leave for home. We assured him that we had 9 more days here. We have to go back if she's not better in 4 days. She's definitely a sick baby but already had 2 rounds of antibiotic and hasn't run that high of a temp. since last night. Sleep, sleep, sleep. George just went out to find a pharmacy to buy more bottles. Since all the nipples have huge holes cut in them, it's hard to get a lot of water in her since it flows too quickly. SO, nothing like breaking in new parents by coming all the way to China and receiving your 9 month old baby having no idea of her previous medical history, allergies, and being in a health care system so unbelievably foreign to you and relying on your guide for translation and trusting doctors you've never seen before. Not only that, neither of us spoke of it until today, but were both terrified last night that something was horribly wrong with her...we were brought back to the trauma of losing our three girls. George was wonderful last night, my body was like lead and I went into complete shock and he took over. The good news about all of this is that Magnolia is on the mend and she really bonded with her daddy last night.