Akshra had her first ever fever yesterday. Puja rushed back from work when from nothing the fever jumped to 102 degrees. She she struggled for the rest of the day. By the time I was back from work the fever had jumped to 103 degrees. At about 8.30 we decided it was time to go to the doctor's. So we left for the Seacaucus office of Riverside Pediatrics. We reached about 9.00 pm and the nurse took her temperature immediately. The temperature was a staggering 104.1. We could barely believe it. She gave Akshra a strong dose of Motrein.

Then she left us alone and the great American medical machine started moving its bearings. The doctor showed up around 9.45 and seemed to be in hurry. This was quite ridiculous considering that he could clearly be heard chatting with his patients in the other room. In any case, he seemed to think that she has some ear infection and he prescribed -- you guessed it right -- an antibiotic!

So, off we go at 10.15 searching for a 24-hour pharmacy and you will be surprised how rare they are. Normal people aren't supposed to fall sick in the night, of course. In any case, we went to the CVS pharmacy in Hoboken where Akshra did not have a 'record' yet -- which meant incredible amount of wait. Moreoever, since the health care system in this country keeps getting worse -- we need to carry two cards for health coverage -- an insurance card and a prescription card. You show the insurance card to the doctor and the prescription card to the pharmacy. The geniuses that came up with this idea should be flogged in a public square.

The pharmacist told me it was going to be 30-40 minutes for my medicine and I will have to pay in cash even though I have insurance because I don't have the stupid card. Moreover, the next time I am at the same pharmacy --the same process would ensue because he couldn't create a 'record' for my daughter because I didn't have the card. Wouldn't 30 minutes to be enough to make a call to some automated system to check coverage? I guess the idea here is to discourage patients from using the insurance that they pay so heavily for. It is working well. Look at me -- I haven't gone to a doctor for sickness in years.

So, we reached home around 12.30, exhausted and sleepy with Akshra sleeping soundly due to the medication. We knew it was going to be a long night ahead.

Last night was one of our worst with Akshu. She woke up every few hours and wailed. We weren't quite sure what was wrong with her. She was upset, cranky and was scratching as usual. I did manage a few hours or sleep but Puja didn't even get 2 hours at any one of the small stretches.

Akshra has had some stomach issues over the last few days but nothing that would warrant this violent behavior. This is a class Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale. She is the perfect little miss sunshine during the day and the devil at night.

I took her to the hospital this morning and one couldn't have asked for a happier child. It was ridiculous. The doctor thought she was just fine and nothing had to be done differently. Except that she recommended some Benadryl at night to try to get her into the habit of long sleeps and forget that she needs to feed every few hours during the night.

Puja and I, specially her, have again been brought to our knees by the little devil. We don't quite know how to deal with this. Hopefully the Benadryl will help. We will try it out tonight.

Another wonderful weekend with Akshra. We went out on long walks and made her wear all kinds of crazy outfits. She is becoming more and more of a darling. Sometimes it is hard to believe that we were ever without her. She is learning new things every day and her curiosity is just what you would expect. Everything and every move is new for her. You can see when she stares with those big black eyes that she is processing and registering all this information for future use, or not. However, it is a pleasure to watch.

We completed our very first trip with Akshu to Florida on Monday. It was a lot of work and there were tense moments but to see the little one in the swimming pool was an amazing feeling. She wasn't quite enjoying it because of the heat and the sun dazzling in her tiny eyes but there were moments when she could splash water with her little palms that was quite exciting for her and for us.

The return trip was a bit of a nightmare. We left the hotel at around noon and reached home around 9.30 in the night. Our flight was delayed by over four hours. The only one on the flight that made the best of it was Akshu. She was a doll and was busy winning everybody's hearts by not crying or getting irritated. She was just adorable. What a great kid!