Fever In, Fever Out
Squid had his first fever yesterday. After an exhausting evening of him screaming from his crib almost every hour (I haven’t had to wake up to tend to him that much since he was first born), I discovered a very hot, very unhappy Squid wailing and writhing at 5:30 a.m.
I’m not used to rising this early, as Squid has become accustomed to sleeping in until at least 7:30 in the mornings, but as soon as I felt his face, it was as though I’d just awakened from a full, comfortable night’s sleep. I was more than awake. I was as alert as I’d ever been.
It’s like when you’re really drunk or stoned out of your mind (not that that’s ever happened to me…) and your doorbell rings and it’s the cops (again, not that that’s ever happened to me…) and suddenly, you are as articulate and wide-eyed as ever. You could even recite your phone number backwards if asked. You could walk a thousand straight lines. Yeah, it was like that.
One touch of that sizzling forehead and a shock traveled through my entire body. The lights came on, Squid’s clothes came off and I ran to consult my Mayo Clinic book on everything Baby. His temp was 100.2, so while I wasn’t completely freaked, I was sufficiently worried. I sat in the living room with him, rubbing his belly and soothing him with a cool cloth. He’d displayed no other signs of sickness, so I was pretty confident it was just his body reacting to the pain of his new teeth.
It was too early to go anywhere, so we stayed put until 7. At that time, I drove to the drug store to pick up Infant Motrin (okay, okay, I also stopped at Starbucks…shhh!) and these great little Orajel cotton swabs. After dosing him up, Squid fell asleep and by the time he finished his nap, his fever had dropped.
I later called the advice nurse at our hospital and she assured me that I’d taken all the right steps and done everything I could possibly do for Squid. Still, it was heartbreaking to see him in pain and I couldn’t help but shed a few tears on his behalf. The hardest thing for me is not knowing exactly what he is feeling, and him not being able to tell me what hurts and where.
Pain - it’s one milestone I could live without.
January 6th, 2007 19:29
It’s so completely unbearable when your kids are in pain.
I think my little one might be getting the chicken pox! Agh!
Hope Squid feels better.
January 6th, 2007 21:45
While somehow I got through two infancy stages with my boys with no sickness (I know…I shouldn’t even say it outloud, let alone type it out…), I can understand what you write of here. Glad the fever dropped and hope it’s all well from here on out!
January 7th, 2007 02:13
Sorry to say there’s more to come, but I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. As he grows, so do you.
January 7th, 2007 07:10
Poor Squid and his momma…:(
Sounds like his momma has all of the right moves :)
January 8th, 2007 10:37
scary stuff, isn’t it? i remember my little boy had an awful fever at 11 weeks - i was soooo scared! of course, he was fine in the end but that feeling of panic and helplessness is just horrible. well done for surviving it!