Fevers fevers fevers

Would it surprise anyone if I wrote that William's been sick again this week? Nah, I didn't think so. This time, he's had high fevers all week. It started on Tuesday, around mid-day. David had Dr. Perkins look in W's ears and do a throat culture that afternoon, and we started giving William regular doses of Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fevers down. We found out later that the strep test was negative, but his throat was red and had some white patches on it.

I was pretty surprised, however, that the fevers continued beyond 24 hours. Usually, when William gets a fever, it lasts a day, and that's about it. Poor little guy. This time, the fever would spike, I'd give him medicine, he'd cling to me and shiver in my arms for awhile, and then the medicine would kick in and he'd perk up. But it didn't stop after 24 hours. I've even had to give him Tylenol and comfort him in the middle of the night, and I never have to go into his room in the middle of the night.

In the wee hours of this morning, I was summoned by a pitiful cry--around 4:30. He was sitting with his back against the crib rails, holding Natty and sobbing. His fever was 101.2, which I took as a good sign because it's soared over 103 several times over the last few days. I coaxed some Tylenol into him and read Good Night Moon to him while I waited for the medicine to take effect. Luckily, his eyes were already shutting, so I was able to put him back down again.

I'm cautiously optimistic now, though. He didn't seem to have a fever when I woke him up for the day. And he ate breakfast without a protest, which was very reassuring (he didn't even want to eat his beloved cheese the last couple of days, so I knew he was not feeling well at all). And he gave me a bunch of hugs earlier...all together now....awwwww. He's napping now, but I'm taking him back to see Dr. Perkins at lunchtime, just to make sure nothing else is wrong. We're headed to Natchez on Monday, and I really hope he's back to his normal self by then.

I hate it when William's sick. He's just not himself. You can tell by the way his eyes look sunken in and the way that he will sometimes just sit on the floor and cry, rather than crawl off to find toys. And of course the lack of interest in food. William loves to eat, so when he pushes my hand with a spoonful of yogurt away, there's definitely something wrong with him. I bought him a big helium balloon at the grocery yesterday morning because it made his eyes light up when he saw it, and I was desperate to find something to cheer him up. I wrapped him in a blanket and held him to my chest yesterday afternoon and turned on the Braves game on TV. When David came home, he joked that I must enjoy it when William is sick because I actually get to snuggle with him. I do love the snuggling, but not if it's because William doesn't feel well.

Besides, I will take the hugs any day!