Rough Night

We had a pretty rough night last night. (Sad trip back to reality after such a nice weekend - more on that later.)

Joseph had a low grade fever early Sunday morning, but it went away after a few cool washcloths. He was fine all day yesterday. A bit more clingy than usual, but nothing out of control. When I went to check on him before I went to bed last night, I realized he had a fever - 101.8. We brought him to bed with us and gave him some Tylenol. By 1:30, it was up to 102.6 and by 4:30 it was at 103.6. The Tylenol didn't reduce the fever. We put cool cloths on his forehead and had him "hug" two sippy cups of ice water. Nothing seemed to work. He also developed a cough, with fits so bad he threw up. By 5:30, Joseph (and we) FINALLY fell into a fitful sleep.

It's so sad when your little bug is sick. Ours is just pathetic. It's enough to break a Mommy's heart. Last night, he woke me up at one point saying, "Mommy....help me. I don't feel good." When we gave him the Tylenol, he sighed and said, "I feel better already."

We went to the doctor's this morning and, even though he's presenting with influenza, the cultures came back negative. They want us to keep an eye on him and bring him back tomorrow if the fever keeps coming back.

Joseph and I came home (Chad had another appointment), crawled into bed and crashed out for three hours. When we woke up, his side of the bed was drenched in sweat and his fever had broken. He had a Jamba Juice, some blueberries and then cuddled under a blanket on the couch with a box of tissues watching cartoons, where he is now.

The cough is getting worse and now his nose is running like crazy, but at least he doesn't feel like a flaming hot baby when I hold him.

Funny side note: While at the doctor, I was given a little sheet of paper regarding influenza. Part of the "Prevent the spread of this illness" portion provided key insights such as:

Use tissues for runny noses and to catch sneezes.
Avoid kissing your child on or around the face, though he will need plenty of hugs.

Both are great points, but it made me wonder if the person who wrote this little informational piece was ever a parent. It seems as though it's my T-shirt that catches most of the sneezes and it's my shoulder that Joseph uses to wipe his nose. And there's no way I can avoid kissing my little bug when I'm holding him close and he's so feverish and miserable. Sometimes a mother's kiss makes everything feel better and when medicine isn't working, it's the only tool left in my arsenal.