Hills of Hayward

Are daughter and Mommy alike?

These past two Saturdays, we found a little gastropub named the Chop Bar in the Jack London Square area.  I’m a sucker for Eggs Benedict, and unfortunately have become a snob of sorts for this brunch staple.  When I read that the Chop Bar was having a seasonal special of Crabs Benedict last weekend, I took Christine and the two kids to try it out, and hoped the best.

Christine and I were both very impressed.  The crab meat came in large tender chunks and fused perfectly with the avocados.  The egg was perfectly cooked, and we wound up regretting that we both didn’t get the same dish.  A photographer from the San Francisco Chronicle approached us in the middle of the meal, and asked whether we were willing to be photographed for their upcoming review article.  We gave our consent and quickly forgot about it.

This last Sunday, we were craving Eggs Benedict, and we found ourselves at Chop Bar again.  The waiter recognized Anders and asked us if we saw our picture in the paper.  This prompted me to pull up the review article in my iPhone and here we all are… in the San Francisco Chronicle article “Chop Bar is a Treat in Jack London Square.”

It was scary. Arden’s temperature went up from 103.5 to 104.5 in just 20 minutes yesterday evening

Our whole family have been sick before Xmas and Arden and Anders picked up new germs from our TX trip and also from Anders’ new school in the past 3 weeks. Anders just had running nose and cough but his fever always went away in a day. Arden, on the other hand, always had two of the three symptoms at the same time – among fever, vomiting and diarrhea. However, she never lost her energy and was never fussy or cranky.

Yesterday afternoon when we realize that her temperature was high at 103.5 F again, it was pretty sudden. I gave her Motrin right away and she started being sleepy.  She was not crying or fussy.  She just did not move and kept falling asleep if she was held horizontally.  The vines on her legs were blue and purpleish. Motrin didn’t seem to work fast enough; her temperature went up to 104.5 in just 20 minutes after she took Motrin. So Tylenol again that time. I was so worried and talked to the nurse and doctor on the phone multiple times since it was after the clinic hours.

Good thing that Arden’s temperature started coming down after Tylenol and it never went up so fast and so high again since then. She started playing again and her skin tone came back to normal about an hour after the medicines.

Just some notes for myself and it may help you some time in the future too.

When the temperature is high, check the following:

• When the body shows blueish, does baby have difficulties of breathing?
• When the baby is sleepy due to the high fever, are you able to wake her up or keep her awake?
• When you tickle the feet or body, does the baby react to the tickle (withdraw or move)?
• Does the baby’s neck move up-down and left-right okay?
• When the temperature comes down, does the baby still withdraw or show no reaction to the surrounding?
• When the temperature comes down, is the baby still sleepy?

If any of these presents, it’s time to go to the emergency room!