Better OA Than Sorry

I came home to Davao last Friday from my out-of-town work looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the heir to my stilettos Leia.

When I got home nobody was there to welcome me. I immediately sent a text to Mum to ask about their whereabouts and she replied that they were in a lab to have my daughter tested for dengue fever. My Ina-Tay heart went tachycardic so I decided to call her. According to Mum, rashes started to appear on Leia's face after she woke up from her afternoon nap. I was relieved when she told me that her platelet count was normal.



Photo from the web

Last night as I was getting ready to give my daughter her evening bath, I saw splotches of red on her back and legs. I asked Mum what it looked like to her. My brain was going on overdrive scared that the rashes could be measles! Mum tried to pacify me by saying that if Leia had measles she would not be that active jumping around the house and asking for food and water every five minutes or so. Look, I hold my Mum with the highest esteem but as a new mother (Leia is just two) I wanted to be sure. This was also one of the few times that my Jesuit education failed me because I was totally clueless on what to do. So I decided to take her to the hospital and have her checked. I was a nervous wreck that night so for safety purposes I called for a cab instead of driving.

We got to Brokenshire after 20 minutes and the pedia resident checked Leia. I was asked routine questions like if she had fever, vomiting, cough/colds and my answer was no to all. He asked if Leia is allergic to some food and again I said no. However, I was gone for five days so I was not a hundred percent certain with my answer. Pedia resident gave me a prescription for anti-allergy medicine to give to Leia for five days then we were sent home. Before leaving I asked if he was sure it was not measles. I had to dispel my fears you know! He told me Leia will be in bed if she had measles. Total expenses for the night - 700 pesos including the medicine. By the way, consultations at the Brokenshire emergency room is now a whopping 400 pesos!

I have always been able to keep my cool under pressure, thanks to my more than six years work for fast-paced development culture. Last night was my first brush with mother's paranoia; I was not ready for it obviously. I did not care if the people at the hospital thought I was over-reacting by bringing Leia to the emergency room at 9:00 in the evening worried over her rashes. The 700 pesos I spent was no match for the assurance that there was nothing "major major" wrong with her. I work out of town now so I had to be sure that I leave her in the pink of health. Better be paranoid than sorry!

This is one of the realities of motherhood - the moment you see something in your child that your layman brain can't explain you push panic button. You spare no peny, never mind if payday is another 10 more days or so. Maybe I was OA last night but really, there are just some things that I cannot leave to chance. Have you had your maternal OA moments too???