Although we’ve had a couple of colds to deal with, we’ve been really fortunate that Oliver has never been really sick. In fact, the only time we’ve had to take him to the doctor for anything other than a wellness visit was for a weird poop issue that turned out to be nothing. He’s never run a fever over 100, never had an ear infection, never been visibly sick. We made it almost an entire year without major illness... almost.
Oliver woke up out of sorts on Tuesday morning. He was trying to grin and bear it but was obviously not comfortable. He would play for a little while and then start to whine. We felt him and he was burning up. We took his temperature and it was 102.3. I gave him some Tylenol and since he was acting really exhausted I took him to bed with me to see if he would nap (I called in to work since his fever admittedly freaked me out). We napped for about thirty minutes and then got up so he could eat some cereal and fruit. He ate fine but was immediately wiped out after breakfast. So, I nursed him and put him to bed in his crib. He slept for over an hour. When he got up, he still seemed tired. We went out to the living room, grabbed a stack of books and he proceeded to sit in my lap for almost an hour while I read him books. Anyone who’s spent more than three minutes with Oliver knows that this is completely out of character. He’s a squirmer and a mover. He doesn’t sit still. That sealed it. Between the fever and the change in personality and energy I called the doctor and we booked an appointment for 2:30 that afternoon.
He spent the early afternoon lying on my chest, napping and nursing. When 2:30 finally rolled around we took him in. The doctor came in and asked us a bunch of questions. We told her that the main problem was the fever and his lethargy. He wasn’t showing any other symptoms other than being a little crabby (he would be fine one moment and then start to whine out of nowhere... it seemed like maybe he was in some pain). The doctor checked his ears and they were clear. She checked his throat and although it was a little red, she thought it was fine. After being prodded by her for awhile, Oliver’s patience had disappeared and he started crying inconsolably. So, here we were trying to talk about our son’s symptoms with the doctor and none of us can hear each other. She decided to check him for a urinary tract infection because he’s not circumcised and, at that point, seemed to be in a certain amount of pain.
To test for a UTI they needed a urine sample. How do you get a urine sample from an eleven-month old? You insert a catheter. It was awful. It took two nurses and Brian to hold him down and he looked at me the entire time, bawling his eyes out. They finished and left us to try and calm him down. I had just gotten him calm (by nursing him) when the nurse came back in and said that the doctor wanted her to get a throat culture, too. So, they got him all worked up again. I got him calmed down yet again and the doctor came back in with the results. There was no UTI and his throat looked fine. So, it wasn’t an ear infection, it wasn’t a UTI, it wasn’t strep throat, it wasn’t the flu (he had a seasonal flu shot and two doses of H1N1 vaccine)... but we still didn’t know what it was. The doctor told us to keep an eye on his temp and to bring him back in on Wednesday for blood tests if his temperature stayed over 102 on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. So, we left the doctor’s office with no answers and one completely wiped out little boy. (Truth be told, as I’m writing this I’m a little ticked that they agitated him so much but I think I understand why it happened. He had no history of illness, he seemed to be in pain and his fever was so high that the doctor had to try to look for the source. I’m grateful that she was thorough but frustrated at the lack of answers).
We got him home and we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening like this (Oliver hasn’t slept on me since we started sleep training at five months). When he was done sleeping on my chest, he spent some time sleeping on Brian’s.
We checked his temperature early in the evening and it was up to 102. 7. We gave him Motrin and one hour later he was at least able to sit up, eat his dinner, and enjoy a bath. He went to bed without incident Tuesday night and only woke up once during the night. He got up at 2:30 so I went in and gave him more Motrin (it had been eight hours since his last dose) and rocked him to sleep for about an hour. He slept until 6:30 Wednesday morning. Not a bad night’s sleep for a sick kiddo.
Yesterday, he was still running a slight fever (but only 101 or so) and was a little lethargic. Still not up to his usual rambunctious self. Today, he acted like he wanted to go at life 100% but we tried to keep him as calm as possible so that he wouldn’t overdo it. I think within a day or so he will be back to terrorizing the whole house. I guess it was just a cold or some passing virus.
I know I’m going to get some flack for this but, while I hated seeing him so sick and tired, part of me enjoyed all the cuddle time I got with him on Tuesday (I’m a horrible Mom, right?). It’s just that he never sits still, he’s not a cuddly baby and he hasn’t slept on my chest in seven months. I’ve missed snuggling with him and part of me felt good that I could provide some physical comfort for him when he was feeling so miserable. Of course, I’m glad he’s feeling better and, of course, I would never want him to be sick but it was nice to cuddle while he needed it.
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