I have a notebook with all the rectal temperatures that I have taken on myself. It is a five-hundred-page spiral notebook. I document the date, time, location in the house, and clothing if any is worn. Most of my rectal temperatures are done with me laying on my bed. on my tummy, with my arms at my side, and my underwear at my knees. This is the way that mom and all my four older sisters took my rectal temperature with a glass rectal thermometer in my bottom when I was younger.
After Spreading my bottom cheeks apart with my thumb and finger, I slide the pre-lubricated glass rectal thermometer in my bottom, while twirling it numerous times until it is properly placed in my bottom. After that, I place my arms at my side and watch the clock on the wall for the five-minutes. Numerous times, I reach back and twirl the glass rectal thermometer in my bottom to attain a proper rectal temperature reading.
After the five-minutes, I spread my bottom cheeks apart again, gently twirl the glass rectal thermometer several times, as I slide it out of my bottom. From here, I reach for a tissue in a nearby box and clean the glass rectal thermometer. I then look at and memorize the glass rectal thermometer's silver mercury location reading. The glass rectal thermometer is then placed on a tissue on the side-table for a short time until I get up from the bed.
I then take several tissues, reach back, spread my bottom cheeks again to clean the excess Vaseline from my bottom. These tissues are then tossed into the nearby small trash container. After this, I lay backdown on the bed and place my arms at my side. After a few minutes, I get up from the bed. I then document my rectal temperature reading, and the other items in each column of the notebook page. The glass rectal thermometer I just used is then taken into the bathroom and cleaned in the sink, and wiped with a clean tissue, then and placed in the spare small refrigerator in a numbered metal can at the far back corner of the lower bottom shelf.
This is a mirrored image of the procedures that mom and all my older sisters followed when they took my rectal temperature with the glass rectal thermometer. However, after one of my older sisters took my rectal temperature, one of my other older sisters or one of their friends would want to take my rectal temperature again. They always did this so they would be confident and proficient taking rectal temperatures and other healthcare procedures. Mom told them that they would need to have this knowledge when they were older and have their own children.
When I was younger mom always had her own notebook with all of my medical history information with her. This included all the clinic visits and any other procedures that were done on me since I was a baby. Mom also had a dedicated area of the notebook for tracking all of the rectal temperatures that were taken on me. This section identified each rectal temperature taken by mom, all four of my older sisters, several of mom's neighbor lady friends, numerous friends of my four older sisters, and all of the nurses at the clinic. Mom always took it with her or gave it to the older sister that was taking me to the clinic for my checkup procedure or sickness visit on that day.
All of the doctors and nurses at the clinics told mom that the notebook was a great way to track my medical history. All of the nurses thought the rectal temperature tracking history was amazing, and they said they would recommend it to other parents when they brought their children to the clinic for their checkup procedures and sickness visits.