roseola

on saturday night leon felt warm to me. i wanted to check his temperature, but didn't for fear of disturbing me. it didn't seem to be much higher than 101, and he's normally warm before bedtime. all night long i felt the back of his neck, no change.

sunday morning i checked his temperature. 102.8. i called the nurse, who suggested we give him motrin every 6 hours, tylenol at the 4 hour mark. we didn't have motrin, so we gave him tylenol and then headed up to nashua, nh, to pick up his new jogging stroller. when we returned, he was burning hot. 104.5. i freaked out, gave him motrin, and freaked out some more. the fever would come back at the four mark, so i would give him tylenol. it went back up to 104 once more that night.

monday morning i took leon to the pediatrician. she said it might be a urinary tract infection and that i should keep alternating motrin and tylenol. that day the fever went between 103 and 100. he had no other symptoms aside from the fever. feeding was difficult, but i compensated by nursing more frequently.

tuesday, more of the same. the fever would go down to 100, and then jump back up to 102. 5. the pediatrician called and said we should only give tylenol if it was above 101, and motrin only if it was above 102.5. i gave him motrin once that day. i guess they wanted to see whether the medicine was masking anything.

wednesday morning his temperature was 99.7. it stayed down until mid afternoon, when it shot back up to 102. i gave him tylenol once that day. still eating only half of his regular amount, still crabby.

thursday, the fever is suddenly gone. but he's extra clingy and irritable.

friday. i notice a rash of tiny red bumps on his face, chest and back during his evening bath. we google it. roseola.

i've been watching leon for 7 hour days while matthew finishes his thesis, and i am exhausted, both physically and psychologically.