Under the Weather

For the past 5 days, Henry hasn't been feeling well. He had a low-grade fever on Tuesday when I picked him up from daycare. The fever went away after giving him some Motrin, and he seemed as good as new. I thought maybe the fever was due to teething. Henry had 3 new teeth pop through at once last week, and many veteran moms have told me that teething can cause fevers, diarrhea, coughs, and more. So, I tried not to worry too much. I picked him up early from daycare on Wednesday, and he was really hot. When I got home, I took his temperature, and it was 103.4. That scared me! I called Kaiser, and they said that it wasn't anything to panic about. Small children can tolerate even higher fevers. She told me that I should bring Henry in if the fever continued for FIVE days, he had trouble breathing, wasn't wetting at least 3 diapers per day, or if he was listless. So, Jeff stayed home with him the next day. I called a few times to check on Henry, and when I called at 2:00, Jeff said "He's burning up. Come home." I raced home and found out that his temp was 104.4, so I called Kaiser again and made an appointment to bring him in the next morning (Friday). Poor baby seemed pretty miserable. He was whiny and clingy and didn't know what he wanted. It must be so hard not to be able to communicate what you need or how you're feeling. I took Henry in yesterday, and at the doctor's office, he was walking around the exam room in his diaper smiling at the doctor and clapping his hands. No! You're supposed to whine and look pale and not make Mommy look like a crazy overreactor. But, in the end, it turns out he has an ear infection. I was really surprised because he never had an ear infection in his first year of life. Usually babies are prone to them and get them all the time if they get them at all. So, he's on Amoxycillin twice a day for 10 days. He hasn't had a fever at all today, so I think he's on the mend.

Unfortunately, I started to feel sick yesterday. My glands were swollen, I had a fever of 101.7, and I was very achy. All of my joints hurt. Jeff had to work last night, so I was left to take care of a sick baby while sick. Not fun. At one point last night, all I could do was lie on the floor while Henry crawled around me playing. I was counting down the minutes 'till bedtime. Unfortunately, Henry wouldn't go to sleep last night. He finally fell asleep around 9:00, and then he woke up at 4:30! I feel a bit better today. No fever, but I'm still achy and have a sore throat. Hopefully we'll both be better after a weekend of lying around in our pajamas.