He's Got The Fever

Ugh.  Just Ugh.  That's what the past 4 days have been like around here.

Jackson, for the first time in his 21-month old life, is sick.  Crazy, I know.  That we've managed to go 21-months with no real illness to speak of.  I now have a true appreciation for how lucky we've been.

With a sick baby toddler at home, it's as if the rest of the world kept on moving while time stood still inside the walls of our home.  We (and I mean we...this has absolutely been a joint effort) soothe, we distract, we rock, we pump ibuprofen, we force fluids, we take temperatures, we bathe, we comfort, we worry.  We do not cook, read the paper, watch TV, talk on the phone, blog, clean, wash clothes or do anything else remotely related to keeping order in the house or contact with the outside world.  We especially don't sleep. 

Throw into the mix that we both have full-time jobs and are also doing our best to mange work schedules and appointments, stay home in shifts, field calls from the house and not fall too far behind at the office.

We're pooped.

We had a lovely weekend (gosh that seems so long ago) complete with KU's first (embarrassing) football game and a visit to Gram & Grump's house where cousin Linus was visiting.  Both of which I'll blog about at a later date.

The sickness started Monday evening.  It was clear Jackson didn't feel well and by bedtime he was running a temp and acting pretty sickly.  I stayed home with him Tuesday and his temperate escalated and behavior was more and more lethargic. I decided to take him to our pediatrician's walk-in clinic that afternoon.  I had a hunch it was going to be a "let it run it's course" thing, but his fever was high enough that I was concerned it might be an infection and wanted to get antibiotics sooner rather than later if that was the case.  While in the office, the nurse got a temperature reading of 104.5.  Yikes.

I realize it's a good thing that there was no infection, no fluid on his lungs, really no symptoms that could be treated.  But I'll be honest in that I was hoping for something that would result in a couple of doses of amoxicillin and I'd have my boy back.  Instead, we just had to treat the fever and ride out the virus.  If he's still running a temp on day 5 (Friday) back to the pediatrician we go. 

Tuesday & Wednesday were pretty much carbon copies of each other.  Fussy and uncomfortable kid who can't quite express what hurts.  Temps that would seem to simmer down but then spike up to 103 again.  Very little sleep.  A progressively more exhausted (physically & emotionally) couple of parents.

As I write this, on day 4 of the virus that has been successfully kicking our ass, Jackson is napping.  He's been fever free since this morning and med free since bedtime last night.  He's gradually acting more and more like himself and I think we're finally turning a corner.  *fingers crossed* 

For our first real experience with a sick kiddo I think we did okay.  We did all the right things for Jack.  We managed to keep our cool (though I'll admit, if today had gone differently that might not have been true).   Most of all, we have a much greater appreciation for the normal healthy days.

Because seeing my little guy like this just makes me sad.