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The week before their birthday (of course), James started running a fever of 103.8 on Monday. He was very lethargic (quite unlike him) and just obviously didn't feel good. We took him in to an "after-hours" (read: after 5 pm and 10 bucks more expensive) appointment. Of course, our normal pediatrician was out of the office, so we saw another doc. He gave him some advil, informed me that he had a virus, and sent us on our merry way. I wasn't thrilled - my friend who sees the same doctor we do told me this other doctor (who was actually Peter's pediatrician) has a "been there, done that, seen it all" attitude. So while his diagnosis may be right, he is not reassuring and doesn't really give you any tips as to how to manage symptoms while you get through the virus.
The next day, we were over at my mom's, and James had been passed out in her lap for quite some time, when she told me he was feeling super hot. We took his temperature, and it was 105.2. I was terrified. We called the pediatrician, and of course our doctor still wasn't there, but they told us to bring him in and he would see another pediatrician. Well, after I did some very stern talking (no actual yelling, mind you), because we were stuck in the waiting room with a severely ill child for nearly an hour, we got back to see the doctor, who was really nice. Unfortunately, at this point, James started crying/screaming uncontrollably, interspersed with bouts of just passing out. When she examined him, it seemed like he was in a lot of abdominal pain. She said she was afraid of intussusception. Basically this means that the intestines have telescoped into each other, and it can cause huge problems - it happens to a lot of preemies, and I had read about it when I was having such early contractions and put on bed rest. So of course, at this point I was terrified, although trying to be as calm as possible. She called Texas Children's Hospital and told them she was sending us for an abdominal ultrasound. As we headed over there, mom texted my sister that she needed to come pick up Bobby. She met us at the hospital and took Bobby in his carseat, put him in her car, and drove him to our house, where Peter met her and took Bobby. In the meantime, mom and I took James to wait for his ultrasound - after 5, there's only one tech, so it took a while. He did really well for the ultrasound - he screamed for a little bit (the exam took forever), but he then was so tired and sick he just passed out. We got word that the ultrasound was normal (thank God), and that we could either take him to the ER if he was still screaming, or take him home. After taking one look at the line for the ER (it was now about 7:30 pm and the ER was packed), we headed home. When I checked his temp before bed, it was down around 100 - the ultrasound gel all over his belly really cooled him down.
The next day (not to sound repetitive), we were able to take him to see his normal pediatrician, whom I adore. He catheterized him to take a urine sample, just to rule out a UTI, but told us that since his fever was decreasing, it was probably just a really awful virus. We could alternate doses of advil and tylenol every 3 to 4 hours to keep the fever down. The next morning, his fever was gone, and he was covered in spots. The pediatrician called me to check on him (and to tell us the urine was clean) and told me that the rash was a great sign - it was confirmation that he had roseola, a virus. Basically, there was no way to confirm that that's what it was until the rash appeared (which it always does at the very end), and of course nobody wanted to take a fever that high lightly - it could have been any number of other things. I was so relieved. By the end of the day Friday, Jamesie was feeling much better. We were able to have their first birthday party on Saturday as planned, and celebrate their actual birthday Sunday.... that's my next post!
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| James (feeling much better) climbing around in a cabinet I was clearing out in the kitchen |
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